Romania marks decision to teach Jewish history, Holocaust in schools

FILE PHOTO: Romanian soldiers walk after laying a wreath during ceremonies at a Holocaust memorial in Bucharest October 8, 2014. REUTERS/Bogdan Cristel/File Photo

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania, a former ally of Nazi Germany, on Tuesday marked its decision to make the Holocaust and Jewish history part of the school curriculum, with Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu saying facing up to a dark past was necessary for a strong democracy.

Romania was a German ally in World War Two until August 1944 and hundreds of thousands of Romanian and Ukrainian Jews and Roma were killed in areas it controlled.