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UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London, 7th Annual International Postgraduate Conference

Inclusion Exclusion

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Thursday 16 February 4:30 – 6:00: Panel C3: Immigrants and Inclusion

Damiana Gabriela Otoiu (University of Bucharest): ‘Restitution in post-Communist Romania: keeping the "Others" out?: the case of the Jewish community’

At the beginning of the ‘90s, the policies concerning the restitution of nationalized properties which were implemented generally in the Central and Eastern European countries privileged one group of victims (the "majority" group) and excluded from compensation the minorities (notably two prominent minorities in the region: the German and the Jewish minorities). "The underlying moral economy framed a regionwide rhetoric of restitution as a reconstruction of national identity". This stems from the fact that, "in the post-communist world, restitution had become an adjudicator of national identity and ethnicity". Some of the CEEC restricted initially restitution to current citizens and permanent residents (such as Croatia, Czech Republic, Lithuania), so the legal status of the minorities’ property was often part of "the agenda to keep all types of « others » out".

From this point of view, Romania is a typical case: Romanian citizenship was the main criterion for the restitution of individual properties. As for the assets of the Romanian Jewish community, such as synagogues, cemeteries, schools, hospitals, etc, these constitute the focus of special legislation, adopted only in the late ‘90s.

My research concerning the restitution of Jewish properties in post-communist Romania is based on the concept of privileging and exclusion, as well as on the idea of restitution as an attempt to reconstruct national identity. My research is based on a field-work done in Bucharest, Romania (October 2005 – October 2006). Our sources of information are mainly:

1. Written sources:

• Archive sources: National Romanian Archives in Bucharest, the Archives of the Center for the Study of Jewish History (Bucharest), the Archives of the Hebrew Studies Center (Bucharest University), the Archives of The Federation of Jewish Communities (Bucharest), the Archives the Foundation "Caritatea" ("Charity", the Romanian representative of the World Jewish Restitution Organization), the Archives of the Center of Jewish Contemporary Documentation (Paris)
• Statistics, especially data from the National Institute of Statistics or reports elaborated by the Word Jewish Restitution Organization
• Legislation (Monitorul Oficial)
• Autobiographical and scientific literature
• Complementary sources: the review of The Federation of Jewish Communities, Realitatea Evreiasca (Jewish Reality), newspapers, websites of the international or local Jewish organizations, etc.

2. Oral sources: in – depth interviews