Romania - Eastern Europe - page 547

more information about the synagogue and other aspects of Maramure @ 's Jewish his-
tory, visit the adjacent Jewish Community Center ( & 0262/31-1652; Tues-Sun
10am-4pm). Just outside of town, Sighet's Village Museum is another of Romania's
many open-air exhibitions curating compendium-size collections of traditional home-
steads; you'll get far more pleasure out of experiencing the villages firsthand.
Sighet is also very convenient for the nearby village of S â pân $ a, where one of the
country's most imaginative and unlikely attractions—a colorful cemetery (reviewed
below)—is located.
Memorial Museum of the Victims of Communism and the Resistance
One of the most evocative museums in Romania, Sighet's Memorial Museum was
built as a prison in 1897; in 1948 it became a political prison and remained as such
until 1955. During that time, around 200 political prisoners—former leaders, aca-
demics, Catholic priests and bishops, and other enemies of the state—were detained,
tortured, and kept hidden from public view; a quarter of these men died during their
imprisonment. In 1997, the prison became a museum—alongside similar projects at
Auschwitz and Normandy—dedicated to the memory of those who became victims
of an authoritarian political regime. The 80 or so cells serve as exhibition rooms, each
one shedding light on a different aspect of the tyrannies of Romania's 20th-century
history, with particular focus on the atrocities of Ceau @ escu as well as the abuses
wrought on individuals and groups during the transition to Communism in the wake
of World War II. Among the stirring exhibits is a corridor wall lined with 3,000 pho-
tographs of Romanian political prisoners. You'll see the tiny cell where 80-year-old
former Prime Minister Iuliu Maniu died in 1953. Less important prisoners shared
larger cells with up to 80 inmates. The so-called Black Cell was used for punishing
inmates, who were often forced to stand chained and naked for “offenses” such as talk-
ing or looking at one another. The courtyard, one of two spaces where prisoners were
allowed outside for 10 minutes per week, now houses a memorial chamber inscribed
with the names of thousands of victims of Communism.
Str. Cornelieu Corposcu 4, Sighet. & 0262/31-9424. www.memorialsighet.ro. L5 ($1.80/£1) adults; L2 (70¢/40p)
students, children, and seniors; L3 ($1.10/60p) photography. Apr 15-Oct 15 Daily 9:30am-6:30pm; Oct 16-Apr 14
Tues-Sun 10am-4pm. Last entry 30 min. before closing.
Sâpân$a's Merry Cemetery Apparently, the genealogical line from the
ancient Dacians and the people of Maramure @ is purer than elsewhere in Romania, as
is evidenced in their cultural attitude toward death. The Dacians were often praised
for their fearlessness in battle, which was linked to their belief in their supreme god,
Zalmoxis, and in the afterlife. In contemporary Maramure @ , villagers still don't see
death as a tragedy; this pragmatic understanding of the relationship between life and
the hereafter is exemplified in the unusual artistry practiced at S â pân $ a's Cimitirul
Vesel, or “Cheerful Cemetery,” a zany collection of over 800 carved and colorfully
painted wooden headstones surrounding the village church (built in 1886). The idea
of marking the graves with anecdotal images and amusing epitaphs was that of Stan
Ioan Pâtras, who died in 1977 and now occupying his own blue-marked grave facing
the church entrance. P â tra @ dedicated himself to creating grave markings that truly
served the purpose of remembering those who lie buried here; the dedications either
encapsulate the spirit of the life or describe the moment of death of the individual
buried beneath it. Some simply describe the occupation of the buried person, while
others come across as damning messages from beyond the grave; the poem on the
tombstone of a baby girl reads: “Burn in hell, you damn taxi that came from Sibiu. As