House Unit Investigating Why Radio Free Europe Gave Trifa Air Time

The House Judiciary Subcommittee concerned with Nazi war criminals residing in the United States, is investigating why Radio Free Europe, which is supported by government funds, broadcast an interview on May I with Valerian Trifa, Archbishop of the Rumanian Orthodox Church in America who faces deportation hearings in July on charges of fraudulent entry into the U.S. Trifa, a leader of the Rumanian fascist Iron Guard during World War II, has been accused of atrocities including the mass murder of Jews in Bucharest in 1941.

Rep. Elizabeth Holtzman (D. NY), Subcommittee chairman, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency today that it is “unconscionable and inexcusable to give a forum to some body under proceedings by the U.S. government for fraud on entering the U.S. with relations to war crimes.” Holtzman said she “first read about it” (the Trifa interview) in a JTA story “and we tried to verify it.” The story appeared in the JTA Daily News Bulletin May 8.

“We’re in the process of determining who is responsible for enabling Radio Free Europe to provide this forum for Trifa,” Holtzman said. She said the 45-minute interview by the government-funded broadcast facility was “adverse propaganda for the U.S.”

The broadcast was made in connection with the 50th anniversary of the Rumanian Orthodox Church in America which is headed by Trifa, 64, and represents about 80 percent of church-affiliated ethnic Rumanians in the U.S. The remainder are affiliated with the Rumanian Missionary Orthodox Episcopate headed by Archbishop Victorin Ursache, which is also observing its 50th anniversary.

A VERY UNCOMFORTABLE SITUATION

William Buell, senior vice president of Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty operations in Washington, told the JTA today that “we can’t deny that the whole thing is very uncomfortable.” He said “We don’t know exactly how the decision to air the interview was made despite the judicial procedure. It would not be correct to say we did not know who Trifa is.”

However, Buell said the church anniversary could not be ignored considering its importance to Rumanian Americans and the Rumanian people to whom the interview was broadcast. He stressed that the interview dealt exclusively with the church and its history in the U.S. and not with “Trifa’s problems with the U.S. government, which are considerable.

Buell said Radio Free Europe attempted to give balanced coverage by sending a reporter to interview Archbishop Ursache in Detroit. But Ursache refused the opportunity and “had unkind words to say in a heated way about Radio Free Europe,” Buell said. He said Ursache was sent to the U.S. by the Rumanian Orthodox Patriarch in Budapest, Justin Moisescu who does not recognize Trifa.