Ana

Gheorghiu

History 6030

3 December 2018

Thirty Years Later: How Romania Has Dealt with the Lingering Effects of Communism

Although the Romanian Revolution of 1989 brought an end to Communism, its

effects still linger in Romania today. Under President Ion Iliescu, Romania first utilized the

politics of amnesia, to avoid dealing with its communist past. Romania then shifted to a

confrontationist method, finally starting to address the communist past, once President

Traian Basescu came to power. While Romania has made much progress since the

dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu, and has since become a democracy (with the

amendment and adoption of the Romanian Constitution on November 20, 1991,

underscoring these democratic ideals1), corruption is still present today.

The Romanian Revolution of 1989 was a result of Nicolae Ceausescu’s twenty-four

year communist rule. Under his regime, Romanians suffered as Ceausescu took drastic

measures to pay back foreign debt. His oppressive, authoritarian rule resulted in shortages

of many essential items: food, heat, hot water, electricity, and gasoline. Along with these

tangible scarcities, the regime spread propaganda and had full political control. Citizens

were closely monitored, and were punished if they criticized the Party.

Ceausescu also had a network of secret police called the Securitate, which he used

against the Romanian population for arrests, coercion, torture, and even death. This

1
"Constitution of Romania." Chamber of Deputies. Accessed December 14, 2018.
http://www.cdep.ro/pls/dic/site.page?id=371.

1
network was extensive, with an estimated one in thirty Romanian citizens being an

informer for the Securitate. This adds up to about 3% of Romania’s entire population in

1989. Most were forced into spying, through the Securitate’s blackmail and intimidation

tactics.

One woman, Germina Nagat, told the story of how a Securitate officer offered her a

passport and cancer drugs for her sick father, in exchange for becoming an informer. When

she refused, the secret police began to keep tabs on her. 2

An even more drastic example is the story of George Marzanca, who also refused to

spy for the Securitate, and was subsequently arrested and sentenced to four years in

prison.

Still another story is that of a woman named Dorli Blaga, who read her records

when some of the Securitate files were released to the public. Her records consisted of a

shocking hundreds of pages of notes with information about activities such as her

telephone calls, conversations in her home, when she woke up, and when she ate.3 With

this, it is easy to see how Ceausescu was able to exert such control over the Romanian

people.

Ceausescu received inspiration for his brutal rule from visits he made to other

Communist countries, such as China, North Korea, North Vietnam, and Mongolia.4 After his

2 Vaida, Elad. "How Ceausescu's Secret Police Still Influence Romania Today." Victims of

Communism Memorial Foundation. May 15, 2018. Accessed December 12, 2018.
https://www.victimsofcommunism.org/witnessblog/2018/5/14/ceausescus-secret-police.
3
Lovatt, Catherine, and David Lovatt. "Securitate Files Opened." Central Europe Review. April 2,
2001. Accessed December 13, 2018. http://www.ce-review.org/01/13/romanianews13.html.
4 Sauciuc, Andreea. "What Did Romania Look like during the Reign of Nicolae Ceausescu?" Rolandia.

March 15, 2018. Accessed November 15, 2018. https://rolandia.eu/romania-ceausescu-

communist-regime/.

2
travels to these countries, he established a cult of personality, creating a revered and heroic

version of himself as Romania’s great leader. Ceausescu greatly utilized the media to

uphold this image. For example, he limited Romanian citizens’ television viewing to two

hours per day, and most of the content was news surrounding him and other members of

the Communist Party. In fact, the Romanian people could only hear news of the outside

world through radio stations such as Voice of America and Free Europe.

Ceausescu aimed to control every aspect of Romania, even outlawing abortion, in an

attempt to increase the number of people living in Romania. Between 1966 and 1989, this

new law led to over 10,000 women dying from abortions gone wrong. Additionally, the law

led to an enormous amount of orphans forced to live in filthy conditions, 5 as women could

not afford to take care of so many children and thus abandoned them.

Ceausescu’s totalitarian rule came to an end after the 1989 protests, which resulted

in over 1,100 people killed and 3,500 wounded.6 The Revolution ended with a one-hour

trial and subsequent execution of Ceausescu and his wife, Elena, on December 25, 1989.7

5 Sauciuc, Andreea. "What Did Romania Look like during the Reign of Nicolae Ceausescu?" Rolandia.

March 15, 2018. Accessed November 15, 2018. https://rolandia.eu/romania-ceausescu-

communist-regime/.
6
"No Justification to Keep Records of Crimes against Unarmed Civilians Secret." Platform of
European Memory and Conscience. December 28, 2015. Accessed November 14, 2018.
http://www.memoryandconscience.eu/2015/12/28/no-justification-to-keep-records-of-crimes-
against-unarmed-civilians-secret/.
7
Nelson, Soraya Sarhaddi. "25 Years After Death, A Dictator Still Casts A Shadow In Romania." NPR.
December 24, 2014. Accessed November 14, 2018.
https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/12/24/369593135/25-years-after-death-a-
dictator-still-casts-a-shadow-in-romania.

3
 After the Revolution, Ion Iliescu became president in 1990.8 As Vladimir

Tismaneanu discusses, Iliescu’s regime was a dichotomous mix of the authoritarian and

nationalist ways familiar from the days of Communism, and emerging democratic norms.9

In terms of international relations, Romania had to become a democracy, to maintain

international credibility and have a chance to integrate into the rest of Europe.

Additionally, the Romanian population demanded a democracy, after suffering so greatly

under the Communist regime.

However, Iliescu and many of his allies had just been members of the Communist

Party, so there was no genuine break from the past regime. Being involved in the Party,

such officials clearly would not want discussion or condemnation of communist crimes, lest

they or others they knew be found guilty and punished.

For example, one man, Adrian Kali, witnessed a two-year old child being shot in

front of him during the 1989 Romanian Revolution protests.10 However, no investigations

were ever made into this shooting of defenseless protesters, namely because Iliescu’s new

regime was made up of members previously part of the Communist regime.

As Tismaneanu discusses, there was no legitimate effort to come to terms with the

past, and thus corruption was still prevalent. All of this, along with the fact that Iliescu and

8 Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Ion Iliescu." Encyclopædia Britannica. July 18, 2018.

Accessed December 01, 2018. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ion-Iliescu.

9
Tismaneanu, Vladimir. "Communism and Post-Communism in Romania: Challenges to Democratic
Transition." March 26, 1998. Accessed December 1, 2018. https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/nceeer/1998-
811-23-Tismaneanu.pdf.
10 Dumitrache, Nicolae. "Teacher Recalls Being Shot in 1989 Romania Anti-communist Revolt."

Deseret News. December 17, 2014. Accessed November 14, 2018.

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/765664516/Teacher-recalls-being-shot-in-1989-Romania-
revolt.html.

4
his associates were ex-Communists, combined to form Romania’s institutionalized

amnesia.

As Mihai Rusu discusses, from 1990 to 1996, there was “official silence” as the

government attempted to forget the past.11 Their policy of “forget and forgive” went to such

measures as to remove any public reminder of the communist regime. For example,

between 1990 and 1997, 288 street names were changed in Bucharest, and statues of

communist figures like Vladimir Lenin were taken down.

Officials also demanded that school history textbooks be edited, with Romania’s

official history ending right after World War Two. The new textbooks now also lacked any

references to the Party or Ceausescu. Such eradication of physical things and censorship of

textbooks were drastic efforts to erase the past.

Iliescu and the Social Democratic Party (PSD) utilized the politics of amnesia in

many other ways, as well. They delayed access to secret files. They impeded trials and court

proceedings of former Securitate officers and Communists that were accused of violating

human rights. If they could stifle any trace of Communism, perhaps they could maintain

their power and not have to deal with the consequences that come with confronting

Communism – addressing the victims, as well as the perpetrators and their heinous crimes.

Although the official policy was to silence the past, others rebelled and began

“counter-memory” movements.12 For example, some survivors of the Romanian

11
Rusu, Mihai Stelian. "Transitional Politics of Memory: Political Strategies of Managing the Past in
Post-communist Romania." Europe-Asia Studies 69, no. 8 (2017): 1257-279. Accessed November 28,
2018. doi:10.1080/09668136.2017.1380783.
12
Rusu, Mihai Stelian. "Transitional Politics of Memory: Political Strategies of Managing the Past in
Post-communist Romania." Europe-Asia Studies 69, no. 8 (2017): 1257-279. Accessed November 28,
2018. doi:10.1080/09668136.2017.1380783.

5
Communist Gulag wrote literature, and director Lucia Hossu Longin made a documentary

series called “Memorial of Suffering.” The show’s subject was Communist repression, and

delved into labor camps, the secret police, and anti-Communism resistance.13

Through such projects, victims’ voices could be heard and the horrible truth of

Ceausescu’s reign could surface. Of course, this was exactly the opposite of what Iliescu was

striving to do as president.

However, the majority of the population did not participate in these memory

projects. On the one hand, there was a generational gap between survivors of these terrors

in the 1950s, and those individuals who lived during the subsequent decades. On the other

hand, some also experienced nostalgia for the Communist past.

A 2014 poll showed that about 44% believed that living conditions were better

under Communism, and about 48% believed that Ceausescu had a positive role in

Romanian history.14 This surprisingly positive view of Ceausescu, a draconian dictator,

could be due to people’s dissatisfaction with the current government and its inability to

ensure its citizens’ wellbeing.

Under Communism, everything was publicly-owned, and so people knew what to

expect, and what resources they had. Once Ceausescu and the Communist regime were

eradicated, people were left without initiative or resources.

13
Budeanca, Cosmin, and Dalia Báthory. Histories (Un)Spoken: Strategies of Survival and Social-
Professional Integration in Political Prisoners' Families in Communist Central and Eastern Europe in
the '50s and '60s. Zurich: LIT VERLAG, 2018.
14
Besliu, Raluca. "Communist Nostalgia in Romania." OpenDemocracy. April 13, 2014. Accessed
November 14, 2018. https://www.opendemocracy.net/can-europe-make-it/raluca-
besliu/communist-nostalgia-in-romania.

6
 As Rusu discusses, the economic hardships people faced when Romania transitioned

to a market society may have resulted in this nostalgia. 15 The older population struggling

to survive on their meager pensions were the hardest hit economically, so they were also

among the first to show nostalgia for the Communist era. Others may have felt nostalgia

due to Ceausescu’s beneficial additions to Romania: a Metro system in Bucharest, and more

roads and factories.16

It was not until 2006 that Romania finally condemned Communism, under President

Traian Basescu, who was elected in 2004.17 Basescu established the Presidential

Commission for the Analysis of the Communist Dictatorship in Romania (PCACDR), led by

Vladimir Tismaneanu. This Commission, made up of historians, social scientists, and other

important democratic figures, analyzed the institutions and methods that resulted in

crimes and abuses under Communism. They also analyzed the regime from a moral

standpoint.

15
Rusu, Mihai Stelian. "Transitional Politics of Memory: Political Strategies of Managing the Past in
Post-communist Romania." Europe-Asia Studies 69, no. 8 (2017): 1257-279. Accessed November 28,
2018. doi:10.1080/09668136.2017.1380783.
16
Besliu, Raluca. "Communist Nostalgia in Romania." OpenDemocracy. April 13, 2014. Accessed
November 14, 2018. https://www.opendemocracy.net/can-europe-make-it/raluca-
besliu/communist-nostalgia-in-romania.
17 "Profile-Romania's President Traian Basescu." Reuters. February 13, 2012. Accessed December

01, 2018. https://www.reuters.com/article/romania-leader/profile-romanias-president-traian-

basescu-idUSLEADERRO20120213.

7
 The PCACDR’s Final Report officially declared the Communist regime illegitimate

and criminal. Through this, Basescu took the opposite approach of Iliescu, by not only

recognizing, but also denouncing, crimes against humanity during Communism.18

This Final Report stated that “Romania’s future rests on mastering its past.” As Rusu

discusses, the Final Report did just this. It brought the Communist past into the spotlight,

and did not let it flee off the stage. The language it used was vivid and strong, literally

demonizing the past regime, and referring to the Romanian secret police as a “diabolic

organization.”

The Final Report also criminalized the Communist past. For example, in 2014, it

resulted in Alexandru Visinescu’s sentencing to twenty years in prison for crimes against

humanity. Visinescu was the commander of Ramnicu Sarat, a prison for political detainees.

He participated in human rights abuses such as beating and depriving prisoners of food and

medicine, and was ultimately accused of genocide. 19 This was the first sentencing of a pre-

1989 Communist perpetrator, even though the trial occurred fifty years after the events

happened.20

18
Tismaneanu, Vladimir. "Democracy and Memory: Romania Confronts Its Communist Past." The
Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 617, no. 1 (2008): 166-80. Accessed
November 28, 2018. doi:10.1177/0002716207312763.
19
Rusu, Mihai Stelian. "Transitional Politics of Memory: Political Strategies of Managing the Past in
Post-communist Romania." Europe-Asia Studies 69, no. 8 (2017): 1257-279. Accessed November 28,
2018. doi:10.1080/09668136.2017.1380783.
20
"Prosecution Of Communist Crimes Against Humanity: Platform Commends Romania and
Welcomes Estonian EU-Initiative." July 27, 2015. Platform of European Memory and Conscience.
https://www.memoryandconscience.eu/2015/07/27/prosecution-of-communist-crimes-against-
humanity-platform-commends-romania-and-welcomes-estonian-eu-initiative/. Accessed December
6, 2018.

8
 This delay in justice was the norm in Romania. In fact, it was not until 2012 that the

Romanian Parliament allowed the prosecution of people who had committed crimes during

the Communist era. In March of 2012, Romania changed the statute of limitations for

serious crimes, to up to forty years in the past. Now, Communist-era crimes were able to be

taken under consideration.21

Basescu also created the Consultative Commission for the Analysis of the

Communist Dictatorship (CCACDR), in April of 2007.22 This commission, which consisted of

twelve experts, aided the executive branch’s initiatives regarding dealing with the

Communist past. Topics included lustration law, commemorations, textbooks, and laws

regarding victims, survivors, and perpetrators. It was directly related to the PCACDR, as the

group took some policy recommendations from the PCACDR’s Final Report and began a

campaign and research about them.

Through examples such as these commissions, Tismaneanu emphasizes that the

process of “de-communization” is a moral, political, and intellectual one. To implement the

confrontationist method of remembering the past, is a truly complex process.

Rusu describes other ways to apply this confrontationist method. First, a country

must take on the past by publicly remembering it. This remembrance often occurs through

memoirs, commemorations, and memorial sites. Next, a country must engage in memory

work, to remember and work through the past, that thus far has been buried. In this case,

21
Besliu, Raluca. "Communist Nostalgia in Romania." OpenDemocracy. April 13, 2014. Accessed
November 14, 2018. https://www.opendemocracy.net/can-europe-make-it/raluca-
besliu/communist-nostalgia-in-romania.
22
Tismaneanu, Vladimir. "Democracy and Memory: Romania Confronts Its Communist Past." The
Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science617, no. 1 (2008): 166-80. Accessed
November 28, 2018. doi:10.1177/0002716207312763.

9
as soon as Romania eradicated Communism in 1989, the past was intentionally buried,

under Iliescu’s rule. It was not until Basescu purposely brought the past into the spotlight

that people could begin to work through the past.

Romania has had other remembrance efforts to memorialize the Communist past.

For example, the Sighet Memorial is a museum dedicated to victims of Communism.

Additionally, the Platform of European Memory and Conscience, an international NGO

established in 2011, strives to increase awareness about European history and crimes

under totalitarian regimes.23 For example, in 2015, the Platform sent President Klaus

Iohannis a letter requesting the de-classification of records of the 1989 Revolution.24 The

Platform’s aim was to discover the truth, to get justice, and to learn lessons from the events,

for a better future.

The Platform also held an international conference on August 20, 2018, titled

“Totalitarian buildings of Memory and Conscience.” Its discussions were aimed at exploring

the many totalitarian prisons throughout Europe that today are empty, and to preserve

them as symbolic European sites of conscience.25

23
"About the Platform." Platform of European Memory and Conscience. December 1, 2014. Accessed
November 14, 2018. https://www.memoryandconscience.eu/about-the-platfor/about-the-
platform/.
24
"No Justification to Keep Records of Crimes against Unarmed Civilians Secret." Platform of
European Memory and Conscience. December 28, 2015. Accessed November 14, 2018.
http://www.memoryandconscience.eu/2015/12/28/no-justification-to-keep-records-of-crimes-
against-unarmed-civilians-secret/.
25
"International Conference "Totalitarian Buildings of Memory and Conscience" on 20 August in
Bucharest, Romania." Platform of European Memory and Conscience. August 20, 2018. Accessed
November 14, 2018. https://www.memoryandconscience.eu/2018/08/20/the-international-
conference-totalitarian-buildings-of-memory-and-conscience/.

10
 Such conferences emphasize the importance of remembering, through the creation

of memorial sites. The stark contrast of once-totalitarian buildings in a now-democratic

setting is astounding. Only about thirty years ago, these buildings were brimming with

prisoners, some truly innocent and simply (and rightfully) opposing Communism and

Ceausescu’s draconian ways. Today, they are symbols tucked away in democracies.

Another means for remembering is the European Remembrance Symposium,

organized by the European Network Remembrance and Solidarity, in which history

scholars, academics, and researchers discuss and debate the idea of European

remembrance. They strive to answer questions such as whether or not a common

European culture of remembrance exists.26 Such discussions are important, as they bring

awareness to the issue and emphasize the importance of continually remembering the past,

not simply admitting an event happened and then never thinking of it again.

As Rusu discusses, while monuments are created to publicly remember and keep

events alive, there is a paradox in that they can also induce forgetting. Once a monument is

built, an individual may no longer feel the need to participate in memory work, actively

engaging with the past, often traumatic, events. Thus, it is imperative for a country to both

publicly recognize the past, through memorial sites and monuments, but also to encourage

this continued memory work.

Although it is clear that Romania has made much effort to confront and condemn its

Communist past, through the Final Report and other various remembrance efforts, today

26
"International Symposium of European Institutions Dealing With 20th-Century History European
Culture Of Remembrance." European Remembrance. Accessed November 14, 2018.
https://www.enrs.eu/european-remembrance-symposium.

11
corruption, prevalent under Communism, still lingers. It seems the effects are too deeply

engrained in the politics and inner workings of Romania, to be fully eradicated.

President Basescu was met with much opposition after the Final Report was

released. While Romania today is no longer a Communist country led by a draconian

dictator, and citizens are not at risk of human rights violations, corruption is still rampant.

For example, in 2017, Romanians began protesting the Social Democratic Party (PSD). The

protests were led mainly by Romanians living abroad, who came back to their home

country to fight for justice.

Citizens protested the government’s attempts to weaken anti-corruption measures

and judicial systems. 27 The PSD has battled the court in order to decriminalize some acts of

corruption, and to change legislation. These political elites take such measures to attempt

to stay out of jail, or have their sentences reduced.

The PSD also employs populist and authoritarian language. For example, it claims

that prosecutors’ anti-corruption goals are politically driven. This is all too reminiscent of

President Iliescu’s regime not making a clean break from the Communist past after the

Romanian Revolution.

These recent protests have been the largest since 1989, and in August of 2018, what

started as over 100,000 peaceful protesters, turned violent, with about 450 people injured.

The Green group, one of the political groups of the European Parliament, even called on the

European Commission to defend the rule of law. This would include, at the very least,

27
Brett, Daniel. "There Were Huge Protests in Romania - but What Happens Next?" The Washington
Post. August 21, 2018. Accessed November 14, 2018.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/08/21/there-were-huge-
protests-in-romania-but-what-happens-next/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.80b7ed9f2137.

12
European Union talks with the Romanian government about judicial changes and anti-

corruption.28

Corruption in Romania has presented itself in other various forms. In May of 2010, a

lustration law was passed to prevent people who were members of the Communist Party

between March of 1945 and December of 1989, to access public functions. However, a mere

two months later, in July of 2010, Romania’s Constitutional Court rendered the law

unconstitutional, reasoning that the Romanian Constitution guarantees everyone the right

to hold public office and be elected. Simply belonging to the Communist structure does not

mean one is guilty.29 The decision to repeal the lustration law was an important one, as

many of the current government officials and Parliament members were once members of

the Party, so revoking the law of lustration was to their benefit.

Although short-lived, the law was a true demonstration of both confronting and

breaking from the Communist past. By not allowing those who had previously been

members of the Communist regime to participate in government functions, Romania

showed that it condoned the Communist past. Such legislation also demonstrated a clean

break from the past regime, showing that Romania was looking ahead to the democratic

future, and denouncing the Communist past.

28
Rankin, Jennifer. "EU Urged to Step in after Romania Protests Led to Violence." The Guardian.
August 17, 2018. Accessed November 14, 2018.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/17/eu-urged-to-step-in-after-romania-protests-
led-to-violence.
29
Dix, Holger. “The Short History of the Romanian Lustration Law.” Konrad Adenaue Stiftung. July
21, 2010. Accessed November 14, 2018. https://www.juridice.ro/wp-content/uploads/2010-07-
21-The-Short-History-of-the-Romanian-Lustration-Law.pdf.

13
 Romania originally implemented anti-corruption measures to increase its

transparency when it joined the European Union in 2007. However, the European Union

recently accused Romania for democratic backsliding. Deputy Speaker of Parliament Florin

Iordache responded by giving two middle fingers during his speech at the assembly, and

said they will “go on despite all the opposition from the European Commission.”

Interestingly enough, Iordache is close friends with Liviu Dragnea, PSD’s leader, who

has two criminal convictions that prevent him from becoming prime minister, and so an

easing of anti-corruption laws would greatly benefit him.30

Also recently, lawmakers approved a bill that would retroactively cancel wiretap

evidence that prosecutors used in past corruption cases. This could withdraw hundreds of

convictions, including Dragnea’s aforementioned cases, which include electoral fraud and

other abuses of office.31 Dragnea is an example of the political elite attempting to be above

the law, which is reflective of Communist Romania, when elites held power and did as they

pleased; corruption was the norm.

Such recent events show the strain between Romania trying to be a democracy, but

the ruling elite wanting to evade punishment even when they are breaking the law and

deserve to face the consequences of their illicit actions.

Not only is this aforementioned bill an example of corruption, but also it is an

example of injustice. If the bill passes and hundreds of convictions are overturned, what

30
Vilcu, Irina. "EU Corruption Report Gets The Middle Finger In Romania." Bloomberg. November
14, 2018. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-14/eu-corruption-report-gets-the-
middle-finger-in-romania. Accessed December 6, 2018.
31
"Romanian Ruling Lawmakers Push Bill to Cancel Wiretap Evidence". November 14,
2018. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-romania-corruption-law/romanian-ruling-
lawmakers-push-bill-to-cancel-wiretap-evidence-idUSKCN1NJ212.v

14
does this mean for all of the victims of Communism? The perpetrators were convicted for a

reason. To overturn these convictions, simply because prosecutors used wiretapping to

gather evidence, is unfair.

President Traian Basescu and his various commissions worked hard to make sure

Romania confronted its past and remembered the victims of Communism. However, it is

clear that the Romanian government today considers the preservation of officials’ power its

primary concern, and its own citizens’ wellbeing, many of which suffered through

Communism, as secondary.

As Vladimir Tismaneanu once said, "an authentic democratic community cannot be

built on the denial of past crimes, abuses, and atrocities."32 With all of this, one can see how

complicated it is for any country, especially Romania, to deal with a brutal and ruthless

past. The Romanian people suffered greatly under Nicolae Ceausescu’s authoritarian rule.

Once Ceausescu was overthrown and executed, Ion Iliescu became president, and

did everything in his power to ignore the Communist past and yet continue the Communist

ways, under the guise of a democracy. Only when President Traian Basescu came to power

was there a shift to confronting and condemning the past.

Whether it is those who have nostalgia for Communism, or those still negatively

affected from corruption, Communism must still be remembered and discussed, especially

because it has not been completely removed from Romania’s present regime. For Romania

to be a successful, fully-functioning and healthy democracy, it must continue to confront its

past and eradicate corruption present in daily life in Romania.

32
Tismaneanu, Vladimir. "Democracy and Memory: Romania Confronts Its Communist Past." The
Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 617, no. 1 (2008): 166-80. Accessed
November 28, 2018. doi:10.1177/0002716207312763.

15
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

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16

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