Mr. Andrei Muraru

Professional Background

Andrei Muraru is a Ph.D. candidate in history at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University in Romania where he also received an M.A. and a B.A. in history. For his Tziporah Wiesel Fellowship, he conducted research for his project, “Transnistria War Criminal Trials.”

Mr. Muraru is a researcher within the Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and the Memory of the Romanian Exile, coordinates research programs within the Romanian Institute for Recent History, and is a former personal counselor of the General Director of the National Archives of Romania. He is the coordinator of the publication project, The Dictionary of the Romanian Communist Prisons, 1945-1967 (2008); co-editor of, Guide of National Archives of Romania (2010); and co-author of, A History of Communism in Romania: High School Handbook (2009), the Romanian version of, The Dictionary of Communism (2008), and the forthcoming book, The Survivors: The Decrees of the Release of Political Convicts (1962-1964). He is also author of numerous articles, including the forthcoming, “The First Trial of the Romanian War Criminals: Unedited Aspects from the Trial’s File” in Revista Arhivelor (Archives Review), “The Profile of a Torturer: Biography of Gheorghe Crăciun” in Forms of Repression in the Communist Regimes (2008), and, “The History of the Iaşi Penitentiary from 1945 until the end of the Gheorghiu-Dej Era: Some Notes” in Yearbook of the Al. I. Cuza University of Iaşi, History (2006-2007). Mr. Muraru is the recipient of various scholarships and awards, including the Erasmus-Socrates Fellowship, the New Europe College Fellowship from the Institute for Advanced Study at the New Europe College, and the POSDRU Scholarship from the European Union Program, and he has participated in numerous conferences throughout Europe. A native speaker of Romanian, Mr. Muraru has additional language skills in English and French.

Fellowship Research

During his tenure at the Center, Mr. Muraru researched the history of postwar prosecutions regarding Transnistria. He conducted both a quantitative and qualitative evaluation, giving special attention to the role of responsibility in the Transnistra war criminal trials. His research focused on the mechanism of planning and putting into practice the massacres, the analysis of individual guilt and of decisional complicity, and the documents pertaining to the victims and the perpetrators. Mr. Muraru analyzed how perpetrators regarded responsibility for the crimes and what strategies they used to absolve themselves. To complete his research, Mr. Muraru utilized the Museum’s collections from the Romanian National Archives, the Romanian Intelligence Service, and the National Council for the Study of the Securitate Archives. He also used legislation and media from the time period, as well as memoirs and studies which focus on the time period of 1941-1944.

Mr. Muraru was in residence at the Mandel Center from October 1 to November 30, 2010 and January 1 to May 30, 2011.