Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
fetus is the property of the entire society...' A
celibacy tax was charged on offenders with up
to 10% of their monthly wages docked until
they had children. Romania's birth rate predict-
ably swelled, with the country's infant-mortal-
ity rate soaring to 83 deaths in every 1000
births. Women under the age of 45 were rounded up at their workplaces and examined for
signs of pregnancy (in the presence of government agents - dubbed the 'menstrual po-
lice'). Many fled to Hungary, leaving a legacy of millions of hungry orphans - many with
serious developmental problems - to the outrage of the international community when the
story broke in 1990.
The Securitate (Secret Police) was Ceauşescu's chief instrument and it ruled with an
iron hand, proliferating paranoia and fear, delivering torture and threatening to place
people on its infamous 'blacklist'. Estimates suggest that as many as one person in 30 had
been recruited as a Securitate by the 1980s - many Romanians couldn't trust their own
families for fear of them being informers. Worse still, many of them were children. In
March 1987 Ceauşescu embarked on 'Systematisation', a rural urbanisation program that
would see the total destruction of 8000 villages (mainly in Transylvania) and the resettle-
ment of their (mainly Hungarian) inhabitants into ugly apartment blocks.
End of Communism, the Failure of Democratic Re-
form, and the Theft of a Nation
(2005).
The 1989 Revolution
In late 1989, as the world watched the collapse of one communist regime after another, it
seemed only a matter of time before Romania's turn would come. The Romanian revolu-
tion was carried out with Latin passion and intensity - of all the Soviet bloc countries,
only Romania experienced a government transfer that ended with a dead leader. The spark
that ignited Romania occurred on 15 December 1989 when Father László Tökés publicly
condemned the dictator from his Hungarian church in Timişoara, prompting the Reformed
Church of Romania to remove him from his post. Police attempts to arrest demonstrating
parishioners failed and within days the unrest had spread across the city, leading to some
115 deaths. Ceauşescu proclaimed martial law in Timiş County and dispatched trainloads
of troops to crush the rebellion. The turning point came on 19 December when the army in
Timişoara went over to the side of the demonstrators.
On 21 December in Bucharest an address made by Ceauşescu during a mass rally was
interrupted by anti-Ceauşescu demonstrators in the 100,000-strong crowd who booed the
dictator and shouted 'murderer'. The demonstrators retreated to the wide boulevard
between Piaţa Universităţii and Piaţa Romană - only to be crushed a couple of hours later
by police gunfire and armoured cars. Drenched by ice-cold water from fire hoses, they re-
