Romania is to open its first museum commemorating Jewish history and the Holocaust, almost three quarters of a century after the end of the Second World War.

In a speech on Tuesday, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis backed the creation of The National Museum of Jewish History and the Holocaust in Romania, which would memorialise the country’s Jewish heritage.

“Young generations will never cease to wonder how the Holocaust was possible,” he said.

“Many of us have tried to understand what cannot be understood.”

“Uniting our memories is a common good,” Mr Iohannis added.

“Therefore, my hope is that this museum will bring us together."

As many as 380,000 Jews were killed in Romanian territories during the Second World War, according to Yad Vashem.

Before the war, Romania had a Jewish population of about 757,000. However, latest estimates say they now number only 8,000, of which less than 4,000 are ‘registered’ Jews.

This means a 99.56 per cent reduction in Jewish population since before the war.

It took until 2003 for the Romanian government to recognise the role it had played in the Holocaust, which saw the Iron Guard — Romania’s fascist movement — beat Jews and loot their shops, before the Romanian Army began ethnic cleansing through mass killings of Jews and long marches to concentration camps.