Hello Mastodon, I used to post book reviews on the Meta plattforms, now I want to do the same here ^^

I just finished reading "In cautarea romanului perfect (searching for the perfect Romanian)" by Marius Turda. This is an overview of Romanian eugenic history from the 1880s to the 1950s. It was a tough read, firstly because of its academic structure, as well as the author listing one racist, ableist and eugenic statement after the other with very little criticism or disagreement. The vibe I got was that in regards to Roma people, Jews and other nations, the author completely disagrees with eugenic measures, when it comes to disabled people he isn't quite so sure anymore, maybe some of the measures or talking points were valid - I am sure they weren't. There are a lot of thoughts that still prevail in Romanian society today, and it's important to read about their roots and the crimes these thoughts led to - forced deportation, deaths in concentration camps, lives spent in prisons and asylums, infant killings and so on.
I think it becomes very obvious, in this book as well as to anyone diving into Romanian society, that this country sanctions everyone and everything who is not "normal", in the very narrow definition of normal that they have.

#books #reading #review #romania #eugenics #racism #ableism #history #society