RRI Live!

Listen to Radio Romania International Live

Reconciling with the Past

Romanians are still coming to terms with the traumatic heritage of communism.

Reconciling with the Past
Reconciling with the Past

, 27.01.2015, 13:51

Twenty-six years ago to the day, on 26 January 1989, Romania endured for the last time one of the gigantic ceremonies organized to celebrate dictator Nicolae Ceausescu’s birthday. In the other countries behind the Iron Curtain, communist regimes were falling like dominoes, from East Berlin to Sofia, from Budapest to Warsaw. The tyranny in Bucharest, however, defended staunchly by the ferocious Securitate, the political police, seemed impervious to change. The lack of home heating, the food shortages, the fear Romanians lived under, were drowned under the deafening clarions of the propaganda that fed Ceausescu’s cult of personality.



In less than a year, in December 1989, everything was over. Romanians took to the streets, the Securitate opened fire on the demonstrators, then turned tail and abandoned their supreme commander. Ceausescu fled in a helicopter, was captured, summarily tried and executed. This was the end of the almost half a century of communist dictatorship installed here by Soviet occupation troops after WWII.



Hundreds of thousands of Romanians, democrats and nationalists, Orthodox or Catholic, peasants and professors, soldiers and students, workers and priests, had paid for their opposition to the communist regime getting arrested, interrogated and sentenced to long years in brutal jails or death. The toughest repression came in the 1950s, when Ceausescu’s predecessor, Stalinist dictator Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, had to consolidate his regime in a country where, before the war, the Communist Party had less than 1,000 members, and communism was quite unpopular.



In a symbolic gesture, Romania’s new president, the Liberal Klaus Iohannis, visited, on 26 January, the archives of the former political police, kept in the vicinity of Bucharest. According to the president, “the files there hold in their pages countless innocent human lives” and are “a part of the history of Romania.” The National Council for the Study of Securitate Archives, the keeper of the Securitate archives, holds the third largest collection of former communist secret service documents after Germany and Poland, Iohannis emphasized. He pleaded once again for the opening of a Museum of Communism, to contribute to a deeper understanding of recent history and help reconciliation with the past.



Almost 10 years ago, the former president, Traian Basescu, officially condemned the Romanian communist regime as criminal and illegitimate, based on a sizable report issued by experts. The gesture, however important politically, has remained a platonic gesture, unfortunately. Romania has never passed a lustration law, like the Czech Republic and East Germany. With the exception of a few Ceausescu acolytes apprehended after the Revolution and a few torturers, today in their eighties, investigated recently by prosecutors, no one had to answer for the crimes of communism, the most atrocious in the history of Romania.

Signing of the protocol (foto:
Today in the News Friday, 22 November 2024

Transition program towards F-35, launched

The Romanian Air Force’s transition program to 5th generation aircraft has been launched.   Romania’s decision to acquire advanced fighter...

Transition program towards F-35, launched
Energy (foto: EdWhiteImages / pixabay.com)
Today in the News Friday, 22 November 2024

The National Energy Strategy, adopted

Using local resources, reducing imports and making massive investments in production capacity are important elements of the new National Energy...

The National Energy Strategy, adopted
European Commission (photo: © European Union - Source: EC - Audiovisual Service / Photographer: Christophe Licoppe)
Today in the News Thursday, 21 November 2024

Political agreement on the new European Commission

    The leaders of the three major political groups in the European Parliament have given the green light to the members of the next...

Political agreement on the new European Commission
Photo: aep.ro
Today in the News Thursday, 21 November 2024

13 for Romania

    In Romania, presidential elections usually spark the greatest interest and emotions. Even more so this year, when the two rounds of the...

13 for Romania
Today in the News Wednesday, 20 November 2024

Romania’s natural gas, available for trading

On Tuesday, the Romanian company Romgaz launched its first issue of bonds on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, worth 500 million EUR. Romgaz is the...

Romania’s natural gas, available for trading
Today in the News Tuesday, 19 November 2024

Romania ahead of the presidential election

Next month, President Klaus Iohannis will end his second and last five-year term in office according to the Romanian Constitution. The so-called...

Romania ahead of the presidential election
Today in the News Tuesday, 19 November 2024

Romania’s Prime Minister on a visit to Brussels

NATO welcomes Romania’s continuous efforts and its significant contribution to strengthening the Alliance and Euro-Atlantic security, NATO...

Romania’s Prime Minister on a visit to Brussels
Today in the News Monday, 18 November 2024

Downward forecast from the European Commission

Romania’s economic growth estimate has been recalculated by the European Commission (EC), at a value well below the initially established...

Downward forecast from the European Commission

Partners

Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român
Liga Studentilor Romani din Strainatate - LSRS Liga Studentilor Romani din Strainatate - LSRS
Modernism | The Leading Romanian Art Magazine Online Modernism | The Leading Romanian Art Magazine Online
Institului European din România Institului European din România
Institutul Francez din România – Bucureşti Institutul Francez din România – Bucureşti
Muzeul Național de Artă al României Muzeul Național de Artă al României
Le petit Journal Le petit Journal
Radio Prague International Radio Prague International
Muzeul Național de Istorie a României Muzeul Național de Istorie a României
ARCUB ARCUB
Radio Canada International Radio Canada International
Muzeul Național al Satului „Dimitrie Gusti” Muzeul Național al Satului „Dimitrie Gusti”
SWI swissinfo.ch SWI swissinfo.ch
UBB Radio ONLINE UBB Radio ONLINE
Strona główna - English Section - polskieradio.pl Strona główna - English Section - polskieradio.pl
creart - Centrul de Creație Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului Bucuresti creart - Centrul de Creație Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului Bucuresti
italradio italradio
Institutul Confucius Institutul Confucius
BUCPRESS - știri din Cernăuți BUCPRESS - știri din Cernăuți

Affiliates

Euranet Plus Euranet Plus
AIB | the trade association for international broadcasters AIB | the trade association for international broadcasters
Digital Radio Mondiale Digital Radio Mondiale
News and current affairs from Germany and around the world News and current affairs from Germany and around the world
Comunità radiotelevisiva italofona Comunità radiotelevisiva italofona

Providers

RADIOCOM RADIOCOM
Zeno Media - The Everything Audio Company Zeno Media - The Everything Audio Company