Romanian officials commemorated for the first time the victims of the sinking of the Struma 80 years ago, which was carrying hundreds of Holocaust survivors from Romania.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
The ceremony took place on Tuesday in the coastal town of Constanţa, in southern Romania, from where the ship left port in 1941 with around 770 people, including more than 100 children and 10 crew members.
A Red Army submarine mistook the Struma for a hostile vessel after Turkish authorities towed it away from the dock in Istanbul and left it in international waters without a working engine or anchor. Only one person survived.
During the ceremony, which was attended by around 80 people, Romanian Rear Admiral Mihai Panait, the country's Navy commander-in-chief, and Florin Goidea, the port director of Constanţa, laid wreaths on the waters next to the wharf where the Struma set sail.
"This is the first time that Romania has officially commemorated the tragedy of Struma on its soil and it is part of the efforts of successive governments in recent years to confront the past and the events of the Holocaust era, when the half of the country's Jewish community was murdered," said Israeli Ambassador to Romania David Saranga.
The Struma was trying to carry nearly 800 Jewish refugees from Axis-allied Romania to Mandatory Palestine when it was sunk on Feb. 24, 1942.
It was the largest civilian Black Sea naval disaster of World War II.
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
