Israel's ambassador to Romania attends commemoration ceremony for Iasi pogrom victims

Israel's ambassador to Romania, David Saranga, while on a two-day official visit to Iasi, attended this Friday a ceremony at the Jewish Cemetery for the commemoration of the pogrom victims, the Embassy said in a release. This is the diplomat's first official visit out of Bucharest since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic; the ambassador answered the invitation extended by Iasi mayor Mihai Chirica on the occasion of the commemoration of the pogrom victims, 79 years since the tragic event that saw at least 13,000 Jews tortured and killed. David Saranga joined the Iasi mayor, leaders and members of the city's Jewish community, in the tribute ceremony held at the Jewish Cemetery; the Israeli ambassador laid a wreath and lit a candle in memory of those who perished. "It is our duty to remember. We cannot talk about the future without remembering and assuming the past. Especially today, when extremist, xenophobic and anti-Semitic attitudes are increasingly present in Europe. These attitudes represent not just a threat to the Jewish state and people, but also to European values," Saranga said on the occasion. According to the release, during his two-day visit to Iasi, the Israeli ambassador met with Iasi County Prefect Marian Grigoras, with County Council president Maricel Popa, with archbishop of Iasi and Metropolitan of Moldova and Bucovina, Teofan and with the Rector of the 'Alexandru Ioan Cuza' University Tudorel Toader. Ambassador David Saranga also visited the Pogrom Museum and the Museum of the Jewish Theater in Iasi, which are to officially open on June 29. The terror and unimaginable violence unleashed in June - July 1941 have made the Iasi pogrom the greatest massacre in the modern history of Romania. AGERPRES (RO - author: Daniela Malache, editor: Diana Dumitru; EN - author: Simona Klodnischi, editor: Simona Iacob)