june-2014

I hadn’t been in Romania for some years andof course as a country it’s changing rapidly.It’s in the EU now, (don’t get me started onthat one!), and apart from a lucky few, it’sstill very poor, underdeveloped and corruptionis endemic.Even in the capital Bucharest, away from theglitzy spin the tourist guides give you, it’sabout as far from having a European feelingas you could get. Off the grid, Bucharest ismost defiantly not a city you want to wanderalone at night; crime is rampant, muggings,stray dogs and street kids sniffing glue. Romaniawas once home of course to one of theworst dictators the world has ever seen - egotisticalmadman Nicolae Ceausescu and hisevil wife Elena (who some say was the brainsand real power behind the dictatorship).There were only two places I really wanted tosee and soak up again. First was the The Palace– The House of the People, or as Ceausescucalled it – Casa Poporului, which simplyhas to be the most appalling building I haveever seen in my life. By that I mean the historybehind this monstrosity.misses eh?) All this was built at a timewhen there were shortages of basicfood items for his impoverished people.So called Socialism at work folks!I stood outside the building, walked around itand even had a tour inside the few rooms youare now allowed to visit. I didn’t feel good inthere. Vulgar!There is one other place though that I feelreally sums up Bucharest - its history and itsvery delicate transition to democracy - andthat is the building that was the Centre Committeeof the Communist Party. It was hereon the balcony overlooking the Square thatCeausescu gave his fateful last speech on22 nd Dec 1989.Whilst communist regimes were falling likehouses of cards in Hungary, Czechoslovakia,Poland and East Germany, Ceausescuspoke out and derided these pro-democracysupporters, but as he stood there bangingon about socialism and how good life was inRomania, the unthinkable happened and hisown people turned on him for the first timeever. They started to boo him and he wasgob smacked. Very brave people the Romanianswere, after all. The secret police, theSecuritate were known to be brutal. Ceausescuwas forced to abandon his speech andretreat inside the building as people took tothe streets. Troops loyal to him then fired ontheir own people. Over 1000 innocents weresubsequently mown down and killed.Ceausescu tried again the next day, but itwas game over and he was forced to flee byhelicopter. The regime collapsed almost immediatelyand the Ceausescu’s were sooncaught, arrested by the army who turnedon him, tried in a show trail and on 25 th Dec1989, were both shot dead by firing squad.on You Tube. If you’ve never seen it, I urgeyou to do so. See the dictator astonished asthe people boo him, see him flee, then seethe shootings on the streets.I visited Ceausescu’s grave in Ghenceacemetery and was astonished to learn whenchatting with a waitress later that night, thatin 2010 they actually exhumed his body forDNA tests. There has been much internal bitternessin Romania since his death; his stillmany supporters claiming it was murder andsome even claiming he’s not dead and hadescaped, therefore the bodies in the grave areof someone else. Even for the vast majoritywho hated Ceausescu, there is still a feelingthat it was all done too hastily. There shouldhave been a proper trial where all the crimesagainst the Romanian people were broughtup. They should have been held to accountproperly, then jailed for life. I actually agree,for if that had happened, then I feel Romaniawouldn’t have the huge mental hangoverthat it so evidently still has. Elena and NikolaiCeausescu may be long dead, but they stillvery much hang like a black cloud over thepsyche of the Romanian population.In association with Costa Cálida International Radio and www.angloINFO.comIn order to achieve his dream and stroke hisown ego, the demented Ceausescu demolishedhuge swathes of old Bucharest in an attemptto build a Stalinist paradise and thiswas the 1980’s when the rest of communismwas crumbling. In order to fund this sick joke,Ceausescu, between 1983 and 1989, spenta staggering 40% of Romania’s entire GDPand exported virtually of all its food. What asick man!It took 20,000 workers and 700 architectsto build his Palace and after the Pentagon inAmerica, is officially the largest building in theentire world. Some disgusting facts for you:It boasts 3,500 tonnes of crystal, 480chandeliers, 200,000m2 of carpets,underground parking for 20,000 cars,1,100 rooms and of course escapetunnels for Ceausescu if needed.(Nice little pad for himself and theI took more photos, lingered in the Squareand tried to imagine what it must have beenlike to stand there in ‘89. In the evening, sittingin my hostel in the outskirts of Bucharest,I watched again the footage that’s nowJust like in Erich Honecker’s East Germany –possibly the worst crime that was done underCommunism was to suppress and destroy thesoul of the nation.For more information on George’s writing, goto georgermitchell.comPage 80Costa Cálida Chronicle: Please tell our customers where you saw their advertisement tSales Contact Teresa 619 199 407 or for the Editor Contact Patti 646 005 017www.costacalidachronicle.com email: costacalidachronicle@gmail.com