President Basescu : "A phenomenon of the size and tragic proportions of the Holocaust cannot and must not be forgotten"

President Traian Basescu sent a message to the participants at the commemoration of the Jews in Romania , victims of the events on January 21 st – 23 rd , 1941 . The commemoration took place on Thursday, January 20 th , 2005 at the Bucharest 's Great Synagogue.

"A phenomenon of the size and tragic proportions of the Holocaust cannot and must not be forgotten", Basescu said in a statement read by adviser, Claudiu Saftoiu .

Basescu also pledged to implement the recommendations of an international panel set up by his predecessor, Ion Iliescu , which studied the Holocaust in Romania . The panel urged Romanian authorities to do more to educate the public about the country's role in the Holocaust.

Dozens of elderly Jews from Romania 's dwindling Jewish community, Culture Minister Mona Musca , diplomats and other officials attended a ceremony held at Bucharest 's Great Synagogue.

Six candles were lit at the synagogue in memory of the 6 million Jews who were killed during the Holocaust.