After Part 1 and Part 2, when I tried to give you an everyday life picture of Romania during the communist regime, here we are with the last post. Objectively speaking, communism did have its good points, and some of these values still have an imprint in the mentality and behaviour of many Romanians, especially if they are past a certain age. But the bad outweighted the good, especially during the last phase, and things couldn't go on, especially with the fall of the Berlin Wall, and because all the Warsaw Pact countries in Central and Eastern Europe had already abolished their own communist regime. We didn't know much about it at that time - you can imagine that the Romanian media were not saying much, or at maximum they were downplaying what was going on.
In Romania, the Revolution started in the western city of Timisoara, on the 16th of December 1989, but Ceausescu attempted again to conceal the facts to the population. Did the "grown-ups" (a.k.a. my parents, grandparents, neighbours, and other relatives) know anything? Well, you can imagine that nobody was telling ME anything. And, later on, I actually found out that they only heard things "from the grapevine", so not as official information.
I only realized what was going on when Ceausescu escaped. Not a second earlier. And it was precisely today, 22nd of December, 25 years ago. I was at home, playing in the living room, when a group of revolutionaries, which included some famous people, appeared on TV. At first, I didn't pay attention, but their final words struck, and I will remember that scene for the rest of my life: "The dictator has escaped! (...) We won!" Cue for general euphoria. What dictator (the first time I heard this word, as you can imagine nobody would have dared to call Ceausescu like this)? Who won? My mother started to cry, and I understood that something really sad, drammatic, or life-transforming had happened. Then, I was quickly filled in: during the past few days there was some sort of war in our country, and many people died. We left the apartment, on the hallways: general euphoria among the neighbours in our appartment building as well. "He escaped! He escaped!" Who the frick escaped?? Later, we saw on TV the images of demonstrators in the center of Bucharest, shouting the words: "Jos Ceausescu!" ("Down with Ceausescu!") and "Ole-ole-ole, Ceausescu nu mai e!" ("Ole-ole-ole, Ceausescu is not here anymore!"), as well as ripping or burning the portraits of Ceausescu and his wife. The "communist" coat of arms had been removed from our national flag, so now it was red, yellow and blue with a hole in the middle.
At that time we used to live quite far from the city center, so in our neighbourhood nothing was really going on. The big manifestations and episodes of street violence were happening in the center of Bucharest, around University Square (Piata Universitatii), around the Central Committee headquarters, where Ceausescu escaped from (now called Piata Revolutiei - Revolution Square), and around the most circulated areas of the city. Sometimes, even in our neigbourhood we could hear rifles and cannons. We had to lie down, on the floor or on the bed, so in case a bullet penetrated a window, we wouldn't be hit. It was scary and exciting at the same time, and sometimes even funny, as we have, for example, stories of some of our neigbours tripping over each other on the floor, in the dark, in a desperate attempt to lie down. At some other point, there was the allarm that water was poisoned. Cue for all friends and family members calling and warning each other in the middle of the night. But with further verification, it was proved that it was a false allarm.
At that time we used to live quite far from the city center, so in our neighbourhood nothing was really going on. The big manifestations and episodes of street violence were happening in the center of Bucharest, around University Square (Piata Universitatii), around the Central Committee headquarters, where Ceausescu escaped from (now called Piata Revolutiei - Revolution Square), and around the most circulated areas of the city. Sometimes, even in our neigbourhood we could hear rifles and cannons. We had to lie down, on the floor or on the bed, so in case a bullet penetrated a window, we wouldn't be hit. It was scary and exciting at the same time, and sometimes even funny, as we have, for example, stories of some of our neigbours tripping over each other on the floor, in the dark, in a desperate attempt to lie down. At some other point, there was the allarm that water was poisoned. Cue for all friends and family members calling and warning each other in the middle of the night. But with further verification, it was proved that it was a false allarm.
Was I scared? Only after I started seeing images of dead bodies on TV (yes, they were showing them, filming from the morgue). More than a thousand lives were lost, but we hardly know why and how. Children, youngsters, army officers and civilians, men and women of all ages. People didn't know who was who, and whose side the other person was on. Random shooting in the street, in public buildings, or in other public places. There was talk of "terrorists", but nobody knew who they were. Rumour had it that they were not Romanian, and they were completely dressed in black. Yeah, whatever, find them if you can! Children were on holiday and were advised not to leave the house, but adults were not, and they still had to go to work, and even do special shifts. Sometimes, they could hear shootings from unclear directions, and all they could do was keep walking or run and hide. At home, people were crying while cooking sarmale and sausages for Christmas, and at the same time watching funeral procession pass towards the cemetery. Actually, a children's park was turned into a cemetery and it became the Cemetery of the Revolution Heroes.
When Ceausescu was executed, I was home alone with my friend and neighbour, who is just a few years older than me. And our playing with dolls session was disrupted by the trial on TV. And we saw it. It was spooky, but somehow I felt that the Romanian nation was happy, and that "justice was done". I had understood, during the past few days, that Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu were "bad people", so they deserved to die. Do I think the same now? No. But, given what had already happened in all former communist countries, it would have been historically and geopolitically impossible for us to remain a communist country. And, unlike other political leaders, I wouldn't have imagined Ceausescu resigning peacefully and voluntarily. But I wouldn't have killed them. I think recovering them in a sanatory for mental illness would have been a better option, as the harshest, yet humaine decision.
We celebrated Christmas and New Year with our neighbours, we were still nice and elegant, with our traditional food and season's entertainment. But something felt different. We had gotten rid of the bad guy, and from now on we were a free country and everything in Romania will be perfect. Or at least, so we thought. But let us dream free for now! ;)
After Ceausescu's death things around the country started to calm down, but not straight away. I remember that I only left the house for a walk in our neighbourhood after the 1990 New Years Eve, on the occasion of a much-welcome visit from my grandparents. And I was scared to go out. "Grandpa, what about terrorists?" And I was told that... they are not here anymore, and they're hiding in the mountains. Ok, then! Deal done! ;)
We celebrated Christmas and New Year with our neighbours, we were still nice and elegant, with our traditional food and season's entertainment. But something felt different. We had gotten rid of the bad guy, and from now on we were a free country and everything in Romania will be perfect. Or at least, so we thought. But let us dream free for now! ;)
After Ceausescu's death things around the country started to calm down, but not straight away. I remember that I only left the house for a walk in our neighbourhood after the 1990 New Years Eve, on the occasion of a much-welcome visit from my grandparents. And I was scared to go out. "Grandpa, what about terrorists?" And I was told that... they are not here anymore, and they're hiding in the mountains. Ok, then! Deal done! ;)
And the rest is history. Do we miss Ceausescu? Definitely not! Although some people (especially the elderly) regret those days in which everybody had a job and social inequalities were unperceivable, I'm sure that nobody would REALLY want him back.
Now we have democracy, what will we do with it? The first years after the Revolution also saw various phases, as a transition from communism to capitalism, but we will talk about them in later posts. But what I really want is for us (Romanian people, myself included) to honor all those people who lost their lives, more or less randomly, and certianly unfairly, by making the most of our country and our lives, even if our attempts in these 25 years may not have been the most successful. All hope is not lost, and all we can do is look forward!
Now we have democracy, what will we do with it? The first years after the Revolution also saw various phases, as a transition from communism to capitalism, but we will talk about them in later posts. But what I really want is for us (Romanian people, myself included) to honor all those people who lost their lives, more or less randomly, and certianly unfairly, by making the most of our country and our lives, even if our attempts in these 25 years may not have been the most successful. All hope is not lost, and all we can do is look forward!
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