Romanian fact and fantasy
Sir: Ion Ratiu's letter (27 October) gratifyingly exemplifies the vehemence of the Romanian nationalism about which I wrote (13 October). To answer his specific criticisms: I did not write 'the trouble with Romania is the Romanians'. This was said to me by a German pastor, as the article makes perfectly clear. For the territorial claim against the Soviet Union the reader is referred to page 94 of Dr R E H Mellor's scholarly work on Eastern Europe. The fate of the Jews in wartime Romania is chronicled at greater length than I could afford in Lucy Dawidowicz's The War against the Jews 1933-45. Mr Ratiu mentions the phrase 'large areas of Hungarian territory' out of context. In its context it referred to the Treaty of Trianon, when Transylvania and the Banat were part of the kingdom of Hungary. The number of Hungarians who live there today has nothing to do with it. Dr Payne (Letters, 17 November) accuses me of 'perversely' ignoring the obvious. I plead guilty. Perversely, I wonder if Spectator readers really want to be told the obvious.
Tim Garton Ash Uhlandstrasse 127, Berlin, West Germany.
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