Sarah in Romania

'Despre mineri, manipulare, si un miracol blestemat' de Roxana Dascalu

Sarah in Romania — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 13:14:00 GMT

This afternoon, I received this very moving and superbly written note on FB by my friend, journalist Roxana Dascalu, in response to my post HERE yesterday (which, I'm ashamed to say, reads like a cold list of distant events rather than something emotional by comparison). She has given me permission to share her text with you here and so I beg you to read it and then circulate it far and wide. It should be published in the Romanian national press for these are memories that make blood run cold and hair stand on end - and it is REAL, HONEST history. To live such times, to witness such horrors as the gratuitous violence carried out by frenzied, manipulated henchmen (miners along with the miscreants who pretended to be) on 13-15 June 1990 in Bucharest, to fear for ones life and to need such presence of mind to survive... Talk about painting a picture with words. Memories such as these on the savagery of the regime are, every one of them, a lesson - both a cry of pain for the present and an anguished howl of warning for the future.

Of course, there are many witness statements to be found all over the web. But these memories are Roxana's and, because she is my friend, they are also now a little bit mine too for I see them all unfold in the text below just as one would in a film. With my heart in my mouth and with horrified goose flesh, I watch it all through her eyes and yet, I cannot begin to imagine her terror and her nauseating grief. My luck? That I was born elsewhere in another world - and that I never knew such things....

[15th June: Roxana's exceptional text was published today in Revista 22. It couldn't be more deserving.]

Here is Roxana (in Romanian):

Despre mineri, manipulare, si un miracol blestemat

Dear Sarah,

Cred ca imi este mai usor sa scriu o nota despre lucruri pe care le-am trait acum 23 de ani si care ma mai infioara inca...Si am sa o scriu in romana, pentru inceput, limba parintilor mei, nu si a celor fara de Dumnezeu si lege, despre care voi scrie in cele ce urmeaza.

Eram jurnalist la Reuters, si nu mai aveam somn de mult, deoarece Romania se incapatana sa tina prima pagina a ziarelor lumii in lunile care au urmat "revolutiei" din decembrie 1989...

Pentru mine, ca roman, alegerile din mai 1990 fusesera o catastrofa. Ca jurnalist, obtinusem insa un ''premiu'' - trista distinctie - primul interviu pe care l-a acordat presedintele proaspat ales Ion Iliescu, in sufragii de-a dreptul ametitoare, pe care noi, cei de la Reuters, fusesem singurii care le anticipaseram, celelalte agentii supralicitand venirea la putere a democratilor anti-comunisti, pe modelul din celelalte foste tari comuniste din Est...

"Premiul" a constat din interviu, si din fotografia color, facuta de colegul meu, excelentul artist vizual Adrian Popescu, in care Iliescu, arborand faimoasa lui cravata cu trandafiri rosii, ma tine de mijloc, plin de curtoazie...in cealalta parte, regretatul Hugh (Huge) Pain, unul dintre cei mai mari, la propriu si la figurat, jurnalisti pe care mi-a fost dat sa ii intalnesc vreodata, si impreuna cu care facusem celebrul interviu - Iliescu acceptandu-ne doar pe noi, cei de la Reuters si pe cei de la TF1, principala televiziune privata din Franta.

Am pe undeva, prin cotloanele casei mele, poza respectiva, dar nu o voi folosi inca, in ilustrarea acestor note, care sunt despre o intamplare a mea, de acum 23 de ani, jour pour jour, din iunie 1990.

Plecasem de acasa imbracata in negru de sus pana in picioare, ca sa nu atrag atentia minerilor si a cetanenilor ''de bine'', care ii semnalau, spre bataie, pe intelectuali si pe femeile imbracate occidental, sau cu fusta prea scurta. Atlfel spus, eram imbracata dupa canoanele LOR, fundamentaliste.

In geanta, am avut prevederea sa pun faimoasa poza color cu Iliescu, care avea sa imi salveze viata sau macar pielea, asa cum vei vedea.

Biroul nostru era la Intercontinental - acolo functiona presa internationala, acolo aveau loc principalele conferinte de presa, acolo era centrul viu al Bucurestiului, langa Piata Universitatii, unde avusese loc acea demonstratie-maraton, anti-comunista, a oamenilor care isi doreau o Romania normala si civilizata, europeana.

De la birou, am decis sa merg vis-a-vis, la vechea mea Alma Mater, sa vad ce au facut minerii care ocupasera vechea si draga mea Universitate. Nu le-am spus colegilor mei britanici decat ca merg sa iau pulsul Pietei, acum ''curatata'' de protestatari si invadata de politie si mineri...

Am intrat in cladirea Universitatii, la Facultatea de limba si literatura romana. In decanat, doi mineri tocmai terminasera pranzul copios, asezati la biroul decanului, unde inca mai exista un resou improvizat, de pe vremurile de trista amintire a iernilor fara incalzire, din Bucurestiul tot mai cenusiu al lui Ceausescu...

Cand m-au vazut, cred ca aveam o figura foarte solemna, dar amenintatoare, toata in negru imbracata, au dat repede jos cizmele de pe catedra decanului, de sub tabloul lui Eminescu, inca agatat pe perete...Le-am impus cumva respect, caci m-au insotit spre partea din cladire unde un profesor de geologie, putin cunoscut lumii la vremea aceea, inca tinea orele cu studentii sai. Am aflat mai tarziu ca se numea Constantinescu, Emil. Dar asta e o alta poveste romaneasca, cu final trist si dezamagitor...

Revenind spre Intercontinental, plina de furie greu stapanita, si de teama abia mascata, l-am vazut pe un tanar fotoreporter, la vremea aceea, Tudor Lucaciu, cum apare cu camera de gat, in fata mea. Mi-a inghetat sangele in vine...

Stiam ca exista consemn ca nimeni nu are voie cu camere de filmat sau fotografiat in zona, cel putin asa ne avertizasera cei de la Inter...altfel riscam distrugerea aparatelor, in cel mai bun caz, si bataia sfanta cu batele, spre luare aminte...

O incarcatura proaspata de mineri tocmai coborau dintr-un camion, pe bulevard, la o aruncatura de bat de noi. I-am facut semn lui Tudor sa stea lipit in spatele meu, si sa-si ascunda camera de fotografiat in vesta larga, neagra, pe care o purtam...

Cat ai zice ''miner'', am fost inconjurati de o gloata furioasa si agitata, cu bate si fetze care nu prevesteau nimic bun...

Unul dintre ei m-a intrebat unde stau Coposu, Ratiu si Ana Blandiana...Le-am spus ca nu stiu, dar tot nu ne-au lasat in plata Domnului, Le-am aratat legitimatia/acreditare de ziarist la Reuters, emisa de Ministerul de Externe...Asta nu a facut mare impresie, dimpotriva...

Cand menghinea se strangea mai tare in jurul nostru, care formam o stranie struto-camila neagra, mi-am introdus lent si deliberat, privindu-i tot timpul in ochi, mana in geanta, si am extras poza color cu Iliescu (iarta-ma Doamne!) ...

Mi-am pus-o scut, pe piept. Am auzit un oftat orgasmatic, cum ar spune prietena mea Sanda, tasnind din cele peste 20 de piepturi de miner...S-au strans si mai aproape, iar unul dintre ei, mai tanar, si-a desclestat incruntarea de pe fata, transformand-o intr-un rictus stirb, a intins mana si a inceput sa mangaie, aproape obscen, poza lui Iliescu de pe pieptul meu": "Om bun!, Om Bun!" repeta el, ca intr-o litanie naucitoare.

Un ofiter de securitate, costumat in miner, (dupa aspectul impecabil al mainilor si hainelor sale), a rasarit de nicaieri si le-a strigat un ordin de incolonare...Au disparut, la fel de repede, tropotind ca niste bizoni salbatici, cu batele la purtator, asa cum si venisera...

Ca o paranteza, - ajunsa in fine inapoi la birou, aflu ca, fara sa stiu/vreau, ajunsesem ''top of the news", deoarece echipa unei televiziuni americane, ABC, daca nu ma insel, filmase toata scena, de sus, de la unul dintre ultimele etaje ale Intercontinentalului. Vazand minerii napustindu-se asupra noastra, au crezut ca va urma un macel - nu intelegeau ce miracol se produsese acolo, langa Inter, cum de scapasem nevatamata din gloata aceea furibunda...

Obiectivul lor nu putuse focaliza pe damnata si salvatoarea poza cu Iliescu...

Un alt flash-back, sau flash-forward...O zi mai tarziu, cred, am fost trimisa la sediul Partidului National Taranesc, din Piata Rosetti, deoarece mi s-a spus ca pot intra acolo, impreuna cu procurorii, sa vedem ce s-a intamplat peste noapte. Televiziunea romana de stat relatase ca minerii descoperisera bancnote false de dolari si droguri...Dumnezeule Mare!

Ajunsa acolo, am vazut iadul pe Pamant. Pentru prima si ultima data, sper, in viata, m-am blocat...In biroului Seniorului Coposu, portretele lui Mihalache si Maniu zaceau pe jos, printre schelete si oase de peste, resturi soioase de mancare, urme de cizme si hartii si carti rasturnate si calcate in picioare...Devastarea fusese totala, simteam inca urma urii cum musteste din peretii descojiti...

...M-am intors, muta, la birou, si am rugat-o pe o colega britanica, mult mai detasata si proaspat sosita la Bucuresti, sa mearga ea sa relateze scena dezastrului de acolo...

In rest, mai tin minte ca spre Intercontinental, am fost acostata de o femeie in straie de miner, cu unghii incredibil de lungi si vopsite intr-un rosu intens, spilcuite, care mi-a spus ca este mineritza si vrea sa dea interviu presei internationale...o alta incercare de manipulare a securitatii...eram prea stoarsa si epuizata ca sa mai reactionez...

Am debarcat, pentru prima data in viata, cinci zile mai tarziu, la Londra...Colegii de la sediul Reuters, de acolo, erau curiosi sa ne cunoasca, pe noi, cei doi romani, Adrian si eu, care relatasem "totul", de la fatza locului, zilele, noptile, saptamanile si apoi lunile de dupa 25 decembrie 1989, cand ne-am intalnit si am inceput sa lucram cu ei...

Nu m-am putut bucura, asa cum ar fi trebuit, de spectacolul fascinant al Londrei...aveam inca un gust de zgura de carbune in suflet...Imi era literalmente, greu sa respir...

Mi-a fost greu sa ii fac pe britanici sa inteleaga ca totul este pierdut pentru Romania...si ca asta NU este Romania mea...

De ce nu am cerut azil politic atunci, sau la urmatoarea mineriada, este o intrebare pe care, draga Sarah, te rog sa nu mi-o pui...Cel putin nu inca...Mi-o pun eu in fiecare clipa acum, a posteriori...

In rest, despre mineri, manipulare, securitate, iliescu & Cie, sa auzim cat mai repede, si numai de bine, de pe banca azuzatilor, in justitie. Desi, tare ma tem ca nu...

Cu drag,

Roxana Dascalu

14 iunie 2013

Iunie 1990, Piata Universitatii, Bucuresti

Politie, mineri, demonstranti, de pe Intercontinental, iunie 1990, Bucuresti

Bucuresti, iunie 1990

La Universitate, mineri, iunie 1990

Mineri cu efigia lui ion iliescu, Bucuresti, iunie 1990

"We want to make something good, but instead, we break our heads..."

Sarah in Romania — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 19:54:00 GMT

(Photo source) Today is the twenty-third anniversary of the 13-15 June 1990 coal miners' massacre ('mineriada') when an estimated 10,000 miners from the Jiu Valley invaded Bucharest at the behest of Ion Iliescu (to help 'suppress' student protests) and rampaged their way through the capital indiscriminately killing, maiming, beating up innocent people, vandalising both the Liberal Party and the National Peasant Party HQs, newspaper offices and private houses as they went. Carnage. Pure and gratuitous carnage.

Only a few weeks after the FSN had achieved a landslide victory in the May 1990 general election - the first since the fall of the Ceausescu regime - armed with bats, chains and axes, the miners brutalised and terrorised the old, the young and the defenseless, ransacked offices of an association for victims of the 1989 anti-communist lovilutie, an association for Romanian political prisoners of the communist regime, a womans' rights organisation, a writers' association and two Bucharest universities. Here's what happened.

Two days later, addressing a gathering of miners in Bucharest, Iliescu publicly thanked them for their 'assistance' and 'high civic discipline'. 60 people had been killed and over 1000 injured. Another 1000 were arrested and held without charge for as long as four months... For personal witness statements, see HERE.

To think that the seemingly untouchable Ion Iliescu was exhonerated by the courts - an insult to the memory of those who were attacked, assaulted, unjustly arrested or ultimately lost their lives - and another instigator, Vadim Tudor, is today a member of the European Parliament, is beyond foul. It is HIGH TIME that Iliescu and all those others who played key roles in such terrible brutality were brought to book, judged, sentenced and the keys to their prison doors thrown into bottomless pits. So far, apart from a handful of soldiers, none of those responsible have been charged for the crimes of the 13-15 June mineriada.

Here are some details from the 1990 statistics showing the effect of the student suppression. There are no words.

Frank Sellin, political scientist, wrote in 2007: "June 1990 represented not the first, not the second, but the third mineriadă on Bucharest. The first two dry runs were in January and February 1990, used to intimidate opposition demonstrations against the National Salvation Front of Iliescu and his fellow workers, mostly second and third tier ex-communists from pre-1989 days.

Most importantly, a mineriadă doesn't just spontaneously generate itself among not-so-educated miners who are just barely past the sudden exit of a communist regime, not to mention severely repressed after the 1977 miners' strike and infiltration by the Securitate. It has to be organized.

Transporting hundreds of people from the Jiu Valley to be prepared to bash heads in Bucharest -- at least five hours by train -- required trains, weapons, and according to news reports at the time, plenty of alcohol.

So if the coercive forces of the state were no longer able to control the situation in Piaţa Universităţii in June of 1990, who still had the organizational capacity to transport and arm the miners?

Just like two times previous? Iliescu can rewrite history all he wants, but that just adds insult to what should be a search for redemption for the young and innocent lives lost in June 1990 to aggravated assaults by the miners."

Here is his excellent blog full of information - please visit it. The comments which accompany the post are also well worth your time.

This 274-page report compiled by the "21 December 1989" association on the events of 13-15 June 1990 makes compelling reading. It is available to the general public on the website of the Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and the Memory of the Romanian Exile in Bucharest.

For more articles, click on this link. Here is the report from the NYT dated June 15, 1990:

Evolution in Europe; ROMANIAN MINERS INVADE BUCHAREST

By CELESTINE BOHLEN, Special to The New York Times

Published: Friday, June 15, 1990

Responding to an emergency appeal by President Ion Iliescu, thousands of miners from northern Romania descended on the capital city today with wooden clubs and rubber truncheons and sought crude revenge for anti-Government rioting Wednesday.

In grimy work clothes and helmets, their faces blackened by soot, the miners took control of Bucharest's main boulevard and central square, menacing and beating passers-by whom they apparently suspected of having tried to bring down the Iliescu Government.

Their suspicions appeared to be indiscriminate; motorists in their cars, well-dressed professors, students, photographers, reporters, mothers with children and girls walking their dogs were chased off the street, sometimes hit across the shoulders with rubber hoses.

By evening, the miners had emptied University Square, which was the setting of a marathon anti-Government demonstration that was broken up in a police raid before dawn Wednesday.

Summoned by Mr. Iliescu to save the Government from a ''fascist rebellion,'' the miners joined other workers loyal to the governing National Salvation Front early this morning and ransacked the headquarters of the two main opposition parties, setting fires, breaking windows and carting off or destroying equipment and documents.

The miners' arrival in the city came the day after soldiers opened fire on anti-Government demonstrators outside the Interior Ministry, killing at least four and wounding scores in the worst violence in Eastern Europe since December, when Nicolae Ceausescu was overthrown in a popular revolt.

Opposition Papers Seized

In the violence today, pro-Government workers laid siege to the apartments of prominent Government opponents and halted the publication of Romania Libera, the main opposition newspaper.

By the afternoon, the miners were still in control of the headquarters of one opposition party, the Peasants Party, lounging in the courtyard and on the balconies amid broken typewriters and piles of trash. At the Liberal Party headquarters, militiamen guarded the doors, while party members stayed away.

''We took a common decision to stay home and stay in touch by telephone,'' said Sorin Botez, a spokesman for the Liberal Party. Other critics of the Government also stayed off the streets today.

The rampage by the miners and other workers, tolerated by the few policemen visible today in Bucharest, came just as Romania's new Government, headed by Mr. Iliescu and the front, is about to take office. Although bitterly opposed by students, liberal intellectuals and the so-called historical parties, the front won the May 20 election by a landslide, buoyed by Mr. Iliescu's personal popular appeal.

Attacks by Miners Assailed

The extent of the Government's role in bringing the miners to the city, beyond Mr. Iliescu's appeal, was not known. A Government spokesman, Ion Pascu, said the police and the army had not responded to save the Government in what he called a coup attempt by opposition forces. The spokesmen said that in the absence of an adequate police force, the Government would continue to rely on the miners, who he said might stay in the capital for another two or three days. The miners are thought to number about 7,000.

Although the miners said that they came to Bucharest spontaneously after Mr. Iliescu's summons, the Government has clearly taken responsibility for them. This afternoon buses arrived at University Square to take the miners to an exhibition hall where they watched the World Cup soccer match before being bused back to the square and then to some location in the city where they were spending the night.

Mr. Botez criticized the attacks against the Government on Wednesday, but said they did not justify Mr. Iliescu's call to the miners. ''It is not a good beginning for a new Government to start with acts of terrorism,'' he said. ''It is a unique case in European history, a world premiere, for a president to incite one part of the population against the other.''

Dumitru Mazilu, who resigned from the leadership of the front last winter in a dispute over the Government's response to a demonstration against the front, said today that his apartment was surrounded for about five hours by a group of belligerent miners, armed with sticks, who threatened to kill him.

In a pre-dawn raid Wednesday, the police cracked down on the protest that had occupied University Square for seven weeks.

Witnesses to the raid Wednesday said a number of protesters were beaten as they were dragged off by the police and 253 were arrested - although all were released a few hours later.

Later in the day anti-Government protesters armed with gasoline bombs and guns seized in a raid on Central Police Headquarters, laid siege to the Interior Ministry, the state TV station and the Government's central offices at Victory Square. Five people were killed and 277 were wounded, the Health Ministry said.

Because of the crisis, sessions of the assembly and senate scheduled for today were postponed until Monday. A joint session after that is formally to appoint Mr. Iliescu head of state.

A miners' spokesman said in a statement carried by the Rompres press agency that they would stay in Bucharest as long as necessary. ''We shall stay here until we are sure that order is reinstated and people go back to work,'' the statement said. ''Nobody called us to Bucharest so we won't accept anyone telling us to go back home.''

Mr. Pascu said the Government would continue to rely on the miners while examining the creation of a new police force, a kind of national guard, that would supplement the function of the municipal police. ---- 'Vigilante Violence' Assailed WASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - The United States accused Romania today of using vigilante violence against anti-Government demonstrators and said it would defer a decision on normalizing trade ties.

''The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms the rioting of the past two days, and the Government-inspired vigilante violence that departs from the commonly accepted norms of democracy and the rule of law,'' said the White House spokesman, Marlin Fitzwater. ''We are concerned that the deplorable events of the past two days are being used to justify the suppression of legitimate dissent in Romania.''

The State Department spokeswoman, Margaret D. Tutwiler, replied affirmatively when asked if it was fair to assume that Washington would defer a decision on granting most-favored-nation-status to Romania until it is satisfied with the human-rights situation there.

The British Government accused the Iliescu Government of using the tactics of the Ceausescu regime. In London, a Foreign Office official, William Waldegrave, said: ''What is depressing is both the rhetoric - talking about all their opponents of being fascists and gypsies, just like Ceausescu - and the way in which they called out the 'rent-a-mob' of coal miners who were bused in, armed with pickax handles and knives, and loosed off into the streets.''

***

Another article can be found HERE from The Independent dating from 1999, and please also pay a visit to this blog.

So much pain in this dear country of my heart. Any effort to make things better always seems to end up in some kind of battle to the extent that the majority these days opt for the alternative choice, ie. sit and do nothing at all - sometimes, it's hard to blame them. How many times can one stand up and get knocked down again. Has so little changed since the lovilutie of 1989? If anything, things seem to have become a whole lot worse. What is one to do in any case when the people at the top are the most corrupt of the lot? The fish rots from the head down, after all...

Elena Negula, a hunger striker and victim of the miners' attack, summed it up in an old Romanian saying: "we want to make something good and instead we break our own heads."

Decapitation, June 11th, 1948

Sarah in Romania — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 20:39:00 GMT

(Image source) Today, June 11th, marks the anniversary of an appallingly tragic stain on the page of Romania's history. In short, it was the decapitation of Romanian industry in order to ultimately liquidate the bourgeoisie. It was the day of nationalisation, 1948 - a page that brought with it 65 years of suffrance, loss, pain and grief for hundreds of thousands of Romanians.

Wikipedia explains: "The early years of Communist rule in Romania were marked by repeated changes of course and by numerous arrests and imprisonments as factions contended for dominance. The country's resources were also drained by the Soviet's SovRom agreements, which facilitated shipping of Romanian goods to the Soviet Union at nominal prices. In all ministries there were Soviet "advisers" who reported directly to Moscow and held the real decision-making powers. All walks of life were infiltrated by agents and informers of the secret police. In 1948, the earlier agrarian reform was reversed, replaced by a move toward collective farming. This resulted in forced collectivisation, since wealthier peasants generally did not want to give up their land voluntarily and had to be "convinced" by beatings, intimidation, arrests and deportations."

The 1950s, under Ceausescu's predecessor Gheorghe Gheorghiu Dej, was the harshest period for land, building and industrial plant owners. Ceausescu exacerbated the problem yet further still with his plan for "village systematisation", in which he wiped out entire rural communities and moved people into towns - a scheme that was stopped only when he was overthrown.

(Photo source: Petru Groza and Gheorghe Gheorghiu Dej, 1948. Arhiva CISAC)

"The nationalisation of the means of production was a measure taken by Romania's new Communist authorities to lay the foundation of socialism. Law 119, Article 1," says Wikipedia, "decreed subject to nationalisation "all the wealth of the soil not in the property of the state at the time of entry into force of the Constitution of the Romanian People’s Republic, as well as individual businesses, societies of any type and private industrial, bank, insurance, mining, transport and telecommunications associations". Nationalised (generally without any form of compensation) were 8,894 industrial, mining, transport, banking and insurance companies, followed in November 1948 by 383 cinemas and medical-sanitary facilities. By 1950, the measure was applied to chemical businesses, pharmacies and remaining economic entities.

The nationalisation also included a significant number of homes. The figure of around 400,000 buildings is regularly mentioned. According to Societatea Academică din România (SAR) between 241,000 and 600,000 properties were affected by the measure.

The nationalisation of 1948, together with the collectivisation of agriculture (1949-62), were decisive in undoing the capitalist economy and establishing a socialist economy based on state-owned or cooperative property."

Later on, under Ceausescu, the country's resources were abusively used to construct ridiculously grandiose projects devised by sheer megalomania, which contributed to a dramatic decline of the population's living standards.

(Photo source: Arhivele Naţionale Iaşi, fond Comitetul Judeţean de Partid Iaşi, dosar 95 /1948, f. 21)

Anybody reading this is doing so because of some connection with Romania. Either you are Romanian yourself, of Romanian origin, or you are a friend to Romania. And in each of these cases, anybody reading this post will either have been affected by this terrible 'law' - or will know someone else who was. No one can remain untouched by it. No one can remain unmoved nor immune to what such a decree wrought.

This subject is simply too vast for just one blogpost, but there will be more to follow. In this particular post, despite today being about the nationalisation of industry of which I know very little (for now at least), I would like to talk about the loss of properties which went hand in hand with Dej's attack on the country's riches. As you read, please bear in mind the desperation and misery that nationalisition of industry and agriculture had unleashed.

Gradually from 1946 and then with the Decree 92 of April 19, 1950, a huge number of private houses and lands were confiscated by the state. People were thrown out of their homes with very little notice and 'allocated' lots - a room or two, shared bathrooms and kitchens - elsewhere. The villas were targeted first (Kiseleff, for example, was choice real estate). Others were made to share their own homes with numerous families. Classes and backgrounds were thrown together higgledy-piggledy (favouring the working class, said to be the ideal under communism), often with catastrophic results, see HERE for an example. Beautiful villas belonging to the 'enemies of the state' class were often wrecked by ignorant high-ranking communists who wouldn't have known architectural value if they fell over it, whilst the home-owners themselves were renegated to tiny rooms, store rooms, cellars or even bathrooms (if they weren't in prison) or they were simply shoved into communist blocks if they were lucky. The stories one hears of nationalisation are horrifying. Rarely do people have any happy memories of it - and if they do, I'd be deeply suspicious. See another story here.

The Romanian state has been extremely backward (putting it politely) in the restitution of property to those who lost their homes to nationalisation during the communist era. Since many were evicted without even the time to grab their property deeds, this has been repeatedly used as an excuse to refuse any kind of compensation to the victims. Many others have since died of old age waiting for either their homes to be returned or financial compensation.

Some senior officials from the communist era remain in high office, while hardly any crimes have been prosecuted.

(Photo source: Propunere: cine si-a cumparat casa nationalizata sa cumpere si terenul!)

Please read THIS superbly informative article by Lavinia Stan (Associate Professor of Political Science at St. Francis Xavier University) for the Journal of Property Rights in Transition and one must not overlook, either, the scandal of the Fondul Proprietatea in 2005 - see HERE, where people were literally robbed of their constitutional right to own property...

The restitution of properties confiscated by the Communist regime, in addition, became a very lucrative real estate business for some and turned certain people into millionaires having bought litigious rights over restitution files, but that's another story for another post soon to follow....

In 2007, Romania was ordered by the European Court of Human Rights to return apartments and buildings it had nationalised in Bucharest in the 1950s or compensate their owners.

In an initial case, Romania was ordered to return two Bucharest apartments to descendants of owners within the next three months, or pay the two Romanian nationals, currently living in Canada, a joint 140,423 euros (182,500 dollars) for material damages and 6,000 euros for pain and suffering. The state was also ordered to hand back a Bucharest building with a garden to its owner, also within three months, or pay a total of 143,000 euros in damages.

In both cases, the court ruled that Romania had violated the plaintiffs' property rights when, in 1996, it resold the building and apartments seized illegally by the communist regime a half century before. In both cases, the plaintiffs had demanded that the state pay reparations for the nationalised dwellings, but had received no response and had not been notified when the properties were sold.

By May 2010, the National Agency for Property Restitution had received more than 63,000 property return claims, but only about 4,000 had been resolved. Experts at the time estimated that the government would have to come up with around 21 billion euros to compensate the owners of confiscated properties.

On 12th October 2010, the ECHR gave Romania an ultimatum to amend its law on the restitution of, or compensation for, communist-era confiscated property within 18 months, following a ruling it issued in the first pilot-decision on the matter in two (aforementioned) separate cases. It stated that, after repeated encroachment upon 'fundamental rights', there would be a suspension of all similar lawsuits before the court until the problem had been resolved. The absence of a coherent restitution - or compensation - mechanism had been a problem for 20 years, reflecting excessive bureaucracy, confusing (probably on purpose) laws and stalled lawsuits.

Strasbourg had lost patience.

When time was up on 12 January 2011, nothing much had happened. On 25 April 2012 the Romanian government requested that the time-limit be extended once again by nine months. The request was granted and the deadline was deferred to 12 April 2013.

You can guess what happened next, I'm sure. In March of this year, one month before the deadline was due, PM Victor Ponta announced that Romania wanted yet ANOTHER delay in following up the ECHR ruling on property restitution. What was the state hoping for? That all those demanding restitution (with the exception of certain churches perhaps and a small handful of families) would die of old age before they would see a penny or a brick? Perhaps. In any case, the demand was ONCE AGAIN accepted and extention was given until 12 May 2013.

Ponta has been busy when it comes to the restitution of property to rightful owners.

"We have drafted aims to find a solution at last to the long-delayed problem of property restitution in Romania," he said. New Europe and Balkan Insight reported: "Approximately 10,000 buildings have been returned already to former owners, but it would be very costly for the current government to settle all the outstanding claims, dating back to 1940. Former owners that cannot be compensated in kind will receive points with a nominal value of 1 lei each (€1 is 4.4 lei). The points can then be used to buy property or exchanged for money. According to the Balkan insight, the total amount will be paid within seven years of 2017. The government had estimated that it will have to pay around €9 billion to cover the obligation deriving from the property restitution bill."

The law has been extremely controversial.

"The Draft Law," writes Mark A. Meyer, Chairman of The Romanian-American Chamber of Commerce for Hotnews, "proposes to take 85% of the value of all pending claims by owners of properties that were seized by Romania's Communist government between 1945 and 1989 without compensation. It is proffered in total disregard of Romania's constitutional provisions prohibiting such acts and in violation of Protocol One of the European Convention of Human Rights to which Romania is a signatory and which recognizes property rights as human rights."

In short, the government now proposes to confiscate virtually the entire value of the rights that were given to the victims of communism by law in February 2001.

Meyer's article in Hotnews continues: "Make no mistake about it - what is proposed in the Draft Law is as loathsome and shameful as the brutal takings, cruelties and exploitations of the communist era. Having provided the victims of communism with a right to full and fair compensation for the abusive acts of past governments, Romania's Constitution and its obligations under Protocol One of the European Convention on Human Rights prohibit it from expropriating such right in the manner proposed by the Draft Law."

It goes on: "The government justifies the expropriations in the Draft Law as warranted by its financial difficulties. News reports have government officials admitting that the Draft Law creates an injustice but stating that this is the only way to deal with the matter because of a purported cost in excess of Euro 16 billion. Their basis is false on three grounds - the Government's cost estimates are grounded on bogus numbers; there are several fair and legal ways to deal with actual financial issues, which we offer below; and Romania cannot legally confiscate 85% of the value of any form of property without fair compensation."

HERE is more.

To date, Romania has lost 435 property restitution cases at the ECHR for breaching Article 1 Protocol 1 of the Convention on Human Rights protecting property rights.

It is simply shameful. It is despicable. And it is just one more humiliating slur for Romania's international reputation which will impoverish the country yet further still. How in the world can a state punish those who have lived such brutality, such loss once already and for so long...?

In the meantime, on this day - the anniversary of the nationalisation of Romania's industry - let us appeal to the principles of justice and decency that Romania should seek to embrace. And let those of us who never lived such horrors count our blessings and be grateful to the ends of our days...

Nicolae Kirculescu: largely (and sadly) unknown...

Sarah in Romania — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 11:07:00 GMT

(Photo source) "Have you ever heard of Nicolae Kirculescu?" a friend asked me this weekend. "Um... no. Who is he?" Who is he indeed. Shame on me. My friend promptly sent me a youtube link for a beautiful piece unknown to me but familiar, certainly, to all Romanians for it is the theme tune for "TeleEnciclopedia", an educational TV programme that has been running every Saturday evening on TVR1 at 18h45 since 1965.

'Moment muzical' is a lovely, rich piece for piano and orchestra, part of 'Four studies for piano and orchestra' and probably Kirculescu's best-known work. It was composed in 1946, published in 1950 and 'premiered' in 1965. Nicolae Kirculescu (1903-1985) was primarily a composer of film music and his 'Moment muzical' is characteristic of the dramatically romantic Hollywood film-genre of the 1940s and '50s, similar to The Warsaw Concerto (Addinsell, 1941), The Spellbound Concerto (Rozsa, 1945), The Legend of the Glass Mountain (Rota, 1949), and Cornish Rhapsody (Bath, 1944) in terms of texture.... and yet, it has something else, too. It is an enigmatic Romanian work of art! HERE you can enjoy it played superbly by pianist Dan Grigore (a student at the time) with the Romanian Radio Orchestra conducted by Iosif Conta.

From 1990, the theme was re-orchestrated for electronic instruments, I guess to sound more scientific or modern (a pity, IMHO). And get this! Costel Ciofu, a manele singer, released his own version of the familiar fragment with lyrics this time, still under the name TeleEnciclopedia according to Wikipedia, though I'm relieved to say that I can't find a video/link to share that with you.

But back to Nicolae Kirculescu himself. I went off to google, and do you know what? In the English Wikipedia, he only has three measley lines attributed. And do you know what again? In the Romanian Wiki, he gets... TWO LINES and a sub-title or two listing his works which is by NO means complete!!!! How fair is that?

All that I can find out about his background is that he studied law and got his PhD in Paris. Where he was born, I have no idea. Where's the info?!

As well as writing music for films, the theatre and television, Kirculescu was also a song-writer and composed pieces performed by popular singers such as Margareta Pâslaru see HERE and Denise Constantinescu see HERE.

There are tons of other orchestral oeuvres available to hear and/or download online. Just enter 'Nicolae Kirculescu' on youtube as an example: see HERE, HERE and HERE... Oh, and please don't miss his Ave Maria sung HERE by Marieta Bratu.

THIS is my all-time favourite sung by Lucky Marinescu, "Asa incepe dragostea". I had no idea it was composed by Kirculescu.

Kirculescu was indeed a prolific composer (even if he was a minor one) so why doesn't he have a statue/bust somewhere in Bucharest? A nice memorial (no matter how small) in the gardens in front of TVR would be nice since they have been playing his music once a week for 47 years after all. Or how about naming a street after him? Or a square? Surely he deserves something in memorial, particularly now that there are all these soit-disant 'patriotic' calls for the repatriation of Ionescu, Eliade, Brancusi and Enescu (all at rest in Paris) as if that would make people prouder and help 'rebuild' Romania - but that's another story for another day. See this article on the subject by Nicolae Manolescu for Adevarul published last Friday.

There are others just like Kirculescu that people have never heard of but should have - other good examples: Henry Malineanu, Elly Roman... Why not honour them a little? Regarding Kirculescu, how is it possible, when his music is in sitting-rooms all over the country every single Saturday afternoon - and has been since 1965? Kirculescu merits national recognition and a place up there on the list of admirable figures one should hold dear. Okay, he may not be on a par with Vladimir Cosma (also in Paris), but he was indisputably a talented Romanian composer - and in addition, as far as I'm aware, he died in his homeland. Not that he gets much thanks for it. Where did he live? Where is he buried? There is no biography anywhere to be found (online at least) even though he weighs in at Number 7 HERE on the 'Top 10 Romanians Who Have Made Romania Famous Through Their Music' list....

Perhaps Nicolae Kirculescu may have had a more illustrious career and become a household name had he emigrated along with so many others who were able to make their mark abroad through not only talent but also with sufficient promotion. How sad it is that this tune-smith remains so under-rated and largely uncelebrated - not just in the country of his birth, but internationally, too.... We really ought to do something about it, don't you think?

Enescu's house at Mihaileni now a Historic Monument! Bravo Raluca Stirbat!

Sarah in Romania — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 12:52:00 GMT

(Photo source) How lovely it is to have some good news to report for a change.

Some months ago, I wrote a post HERE on the appalling neglect and frighteningly imminent destruction of George Enescu's mother's house in Mihaileni, Moldova where he spent time during childhood, youth and adulthood (and later owned).

Pianist and President of the International George Enescu Society in Vienna, Raluca Stirbat, made it her hell-bent raison d'être to see the house saved and registered on the list of Romania's Historic Monuments, and, after months of tireless, tenacious battling (articles, radio and TV interviews, etc), she has succeeded. Thanks to Raluca's determined international online campaign, the house today has been recognised a Historic Monument.

On FB, Raluca thanks Victor Eskenasy, Radio Europa Libera, Suplimentul de Cultura, Norman Lebrecht, Artsjournal, Andrei Badin and B1TV, Stefan Botez, Keno Verseck and Deutsche Welle, Stefan Costache and Radio Romania Muzical for their support. That's a very impressive list! Bravo everyone, and particularly, congratulations to Raluca!! Fantastic result!

"Thank you!" wrote Raluca on her wall this morning to all those who had supported the cause. "The real success will be when the house is renovated and we can have a concert there!"

Asa sa fie!

(Image source) For those of you in Bucharest, Raluca Stirbat will be performing in concert at Ateneul Roman (sala mare) with the Symphonic Orchestra and Choir 'George Enescu' (dir. Ronald Zollman) on Thursday 6th and Friday 7th June at 19h.

La multi ani, copii!

Sarah in Romania — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 14:14:00 GMT

Romania celebrates International Children's Day today - a special event to honour and protect children around the world, but particularly at home.

The International Day for the Protection of Children has been observed in many countries as Children’s Day since 1950. It was established by the Women’s International Democratic Federation during a congress in Moscow. The day also has its origins at the World Conference for the Well-being of Children in Geneva dating back to 1925. It was established universally in 1954 to protect children working long hours in dangerous circumstances/conditions and allow all children access to education. Brave Malala Yousafzai, the little girl shot in the head by the taliban on 9th October 2012 for standing up for education, freedom and self-determination comes immediately to mind...

Why June 1st, though? Well, because the Chinese Consul-General in San Francisco gathered a number of Chinese orphans to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival on this day in 1925, coinciding with the conference in Geneva.

Please see photos HERE of how countries across the world are marking the day. They are exceedingly moving.

In 2011, a report by the EU statistical office Eurostat showed the highest percentage of children in the EU at risk from poverty or social exclusion to be in Bulgaria (52%) and Romania (49%). Appalling, shameful results... The report showed the huge influence parental education levels have on risk of poverty among children. Across the EU, nearly half of the children with parents of low education were at risk from poverty, while for a medium education level, the figure fell to 22.4%. Children of highly educated parents were at the lowest risk from poverty; some 7.5% on average in the 27 EU member states.

In Romania, reported Romania-Insider in February of this year, the effect of parental education level on risk of child poverty is much more pronounced. More than 78% of children with low education level parents are deemed at risk, while the rate for those of medium education level parents is 27.3%, close to the EU average. The risk of poverty among children of highly educated parents in Romania is pretty low at 1.8%.

The events, parties, picnics and exhibitions dedicated to children today are lovely, but what about the rest of the year? What are we doing to change this dire situation? How far have we come since the appalling orphanages under the Ceausescu regime were revealed to the world? And what about the adoption laws? Where are we with those? If you don't know, please read THIS or THIS. Whatever their origin or ethnicity, children do not ask to be born, certainly cannot choose the environment into which they end up and are forced to live, and they are 100% reliant on adults to give them what every child has a right to: love, safety and education. No child asks for more - and they shouldn't even need to ask.

Here are some associations dedicated to helping children in Romania: Romanian Children at Risk, Gradinitsa (I can personally recommend this association highly, lead by the amazingly hard-working and tenacious Lydia Bloch) and Hearts Across Romania. If anyone can recommend more, please let me know and I will add them here. The association I belong to, Enfants de Roumanie, is not online due to fears of weirdos doing nasty stuff over photos of children, but you can sponsor a child in Maramures for 25 euros a month (anonymously or not) which will keep him/her either at our creche in Sighetu Marmatiei from Monday to Friday, or in a famille d'accueil because he/she is unable to live at home for probably a myriad of reasons - just contact Enfants de Roumanie, 1 rue de la Rhune, 64500 St. Jean de Luz, France (or me) if you would like to become a marraine/parrain or simply send a donation. For more on the creche see photos on the left of this text in the albums section, or visit my other blog 'Back in Paris', here, here and here.

Many people tend to assume that when a 'need' is not in the media, that 'need' no longer exists. Let's think again.

Parcul Operei - oprescu strikes again...

Sarah in Romania — Tue, 28 May 2013 21:25:00 GMT

(Photo source) Incredible... that monstrous oprescu has really gone too far. Last night, the Federatia Romana de Tenis (FRT) destroyed all the trees (1.6 hectares) in Parcul Operei. Why? For tennis courts. TENNIS COURTS!!!! Like Bucharest needs flamin' tennis courts more than it needs green spaces. How many are left now? And people wonder why the dust gets thicker, pollution more severe, the weather has changed so noticeably, there is more flooding in the city than there used to be and the cases of asthma in children continue to climb... Hellooooo?!? A city NEEDS trees. Idiots. SUCH idiots. You can see a video of the massacre HERE.

oprescu however says he only gave permission for FRT to do an inventory and clean the place up, not to cut down any trees. Yeah right. And I'm the Queen of Sheba. He added that he had spoken with Ion Tiriac and said there would be no "carnagiu cu pomi acolo". Carnage? The man doesn't know the meaning of the word 'carnage'. This is the same madman who tore through entire neighbourhoods for a road that had absolutely ZERO approval without raising an eyebrow. He can deny all his likes. If he said it was raining you'd have to go and check, for the mayor of Bucharest lies as he breathes - a trait proven time and time again, most recently in all concerning the shameful demolition of Hala Matache.

(Photo source) There are also plans to build a hotel there, because as you ALL know, Bucharesteans not only need tennis courts but they also have URGENT need for hotels since the ones they have simply are not enough for the hoards of tourists, and sports personalities flooding in to Bucharest....

There has been no public debate on the PUZ and neither has there been any approval given by the Consiliul General al Municipiului București either. Nicusor Dan called the destruction 'abhorrent', 'illegal' and 'abusive' in an interview published yesterday for Hotnews by Catiusa Ivanov.

Of course, he intends to take the case to court. Again. But it is too late for the trees. In any other European capital, there would be a massive public outcry. I can well imagine what would happen if the same thing had occurred in my local park - tsunami of furious, indignant residents right there, right now (who would stay there in relay until something was done about it and the person responsible thrown in jail for abuse of power) in demonstration against such a defiant action of arrogant illegality and abuse - and all in the name of what? Money, of course. Green spaces in Bucharest? Who the hell needs them. Those who don't like it can leave and those who stay can shut up. Right? After all, it was a tennis court once before - closed by Ceausescu in 1989.

(Photo source) But in 1989, there were FAR more green spaces in Bucharest because 1989 was pre-oprescu who is finishing off the job of destroying the city that Ceausescu began. And pretty successfully, too, I'd say.

It seems unclear as to whether the land belongs to the Municipality and was concessioned to the FRT or whether it does in fact belong to the FRT. How can that possibly be UNCLEAR? Doesn't the Municipality know? Can't the FRT remember? Jeez... Strangely enough, neither the so-called Chief Architect of Bucharest Gheorghe Pătrașcu nor the President of Federației de Sport George Cosac could be reached. I expect they were washing their hair.

On the other hand, the general Director of the FRT Adrian Rizu confirmed that they would indeed be constructing tennis courts. Between now and Autumn, they intend to establish 8-10 courts at an investment of 1,250,000 million RON and then depending on how much money is still available, they then wish to build a sports centre and a hotel.

My God - all those of you who voted oprescu, bravo. BRAVO!!! May oprescu rot for what he has done to the city of my heart. May he simply rot. Oh, and before he rots, may he also have the most agonising haemorrhoids til the end of his days. That would be the LEAST he deserves.

Fii mândru ca esti Roman!

Sarah in Romania — Tue, 28 May 2013 13:34:00 GMT

And so... Romania has a new entry in the Guinness Book of Records, this time for the largest flag measuring 349 x 227 metres. Congratulations to the Flags Factory, which created the chef d'oeuvre - an idea dreamed up by Antena 3 to celebrate the 413th anniversary since Michael the Brave united all Romanian territories into one big happy country. The whole bunfight included Angela Gheorghiu singing "Deșteaptă-te române" accompanied by the Army Orchestra and the Radio Choir. I wonder how much Gheorghiu was paid, since she is known for never doing anything for a bargain (not even in her native country which is suffering a very painful recession). And it was of course televised by the hiiiighly esteemed Antena 3... A little too much, perhaps? For more on that, see HERE. Personally, I find this flag FAR more deserving in terms of devotion to one's country...

Romania has many entries in the Guinness Book of Records, and the topics are mind-boggling. You certainly can't fault them for creativity: The largest tripe soup, the world's longest sausage (usurped by Italy in 2011 - ah, shame), the world's longest wedding train, the world's longest condom chain, the world's largest salad, the most prolific female murderer (Elisabeth Bathory in the XVIIc), the smallest paper money (a banknote from 1917) and the world's largest Hora dance (13,828 participants who danced in the town of Slatina on 24 January 2006).

To quote a friend of mine, "What about the world's best education system, the world's best health services, the world's lowest child mortality, the world's most honest politicians, the world's happiest people..." Well, exactly.

No entries so far for the most absurd act of the Eurovision Song Contest 2013, nor for the PM with the most blatantly plagiarised PhD memoire, the government with the largest number of criminals, the politician with the most sheep or the one with the biggest bra size. But there's still time - and anyway, the largest cathedral won't be long now...

"But we DO certainly have other world records," CM wrote me, "even if they're not officially acknowledged by the Guinness book! :

- the heaviest building in the whole World, the House of the People is second in size to the Pentagon, but does weight more

- the largest number of stray dogs, in Bucharest there are over four hundred thousand of them

- the most expensive highways in the world

- the slowest trains, in normal operation (May the 1st was an exception) you need some 4h to get to Constanta, and much more to Mangalia, which is slower than the steam trains before the Second World War

- the smallest number of trees and grass per capita in the city of Bucharest

- the largest number of hackers and card cloners

- the largest number of kings and emperors: Cioaba, Iulian, Adrian Minune, Salam, Vijelie ...

and many, many others!"

Ah yes... those, too. Bravo!

In the words of another friend, "I keep waiting for the moment when Romania will set the world record for quality education, quality health, quality politics... yeah, right." Indeed.

Patriotism. What does that actually mean?

Wikipedia says: 'Patriotism is a cultural attachment to one's homeland, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy. In a generalized sense applicable to all countries and peoples, patriotism is a devotion to one's country.'

Wisegeek says: 'Patriotism generally is defined as the love of and devotion to one's country and its ideals. Patriotism also refers to a sense of unity among a country's inhabitants, particularly the natives of the land, and a firm will to be and to remain a sovereign government.'

The free dictionary online says: 'Love of and devotion to one's country.'

I think we get the picture.

(Photo source) So, what went wrong? How could Romania's (majority of) population have so misunderstood the meaning of patriotism, for they do (on the whole) extraordinarily little to show devotion for their country, unless producing the largest ciorba de burta, the largest sausage or the biggest salad are to be considered. Museums and memorial houses are closing by the second, patrimony gets whacked by the dictatorial mayor of Bucharest and few turn so much as a hair, the education system has gone to the dogs, the health system is way below European standards and the justice system is a laugh-a-minute (no, no - Becali will be out before you know it, having written a load of books and got his PhD in shepherdry).

Let's take the recent Eurovision Song Contest to illustrate what I'm trying to say about patriotism gone pear-shaped. 'Vote Ouatu!' 'Proud to be Romanian!' 'Vote for your country!' yelled slogans all over FB the night of the contest. Yes, vote for Ouatu because he's Romanian not because his entry deserved a vote. Um...no. It doesn't work like that. To the uninitiated viewer, the Eurovision contest is a silly display of overblown musical rubbish that bears little relation to actual musical popularity. It's supposed to be FUN. However, after the breakup of the USSR, the contest gained status in the new nations, including Romania. Economically and politically weakened, they wanted to excel in something tangible, gain a reputation. Who can blame them for that? A natural feeling, I'd say. And so, the Eurovision took on the importance of a politicised sporting event.

Eurovision winners are determined by telephone and text-message votes from viewers and, since 2009, by the votes of national "professional juries." The post-Soviet (read 'ex-communist') nations have a collective advantage because they vote heavily for one another's entrants and even their own (which isn't allowed). National honour is at stake, after all. The Eurovision contest is just another 'bizutage' meant for testing both national mettle and the strength of international alliances. Whether the songs are any way decent is of absolutely NO importance. Vote Romania! Proud to be Romanian! We love you Ouatu!! Oh purleeeeez... Is that patriotism? No. It's cheating - and to the detriment of other contestants.

Another friend ironically wrote on FB: "The Ceauşescu doctrine of "Nationalism" rather than "Patriotism" still persists in Romania. Romania sits at the center of the universe and is unfairly trodden upon by other nations jealous of its inherent greatness. Romania has consistently been a victim of history and the citizens themselves are in no way responsible for the current state of the nation..." I couldn't agree more.

If Romania wants to be admired by the international world, how about doing something a little more deserving that actually does some good to its people? I know perfectly well that it's possible and that's what makes me so mad. Romania is stuffed to the gills with creative, talented, able people who deserve a little spotlight time, but unfortunately never get it. See HERE for an excellent example of merit.

Here is a superb interview between the late conductor Sergiu Celibidache and journalist Victor Eskenasy for Europa Radio Libera. In a nutshell, the maestro says it all.

The largest sausage, the largest ciorba de burta, the largest flag... always vying for the biggest, the greatest - are they really examples of patriotism? Of representations of national pride? Of cultural attachment? Of love and devotion? No. Not everyone is a film director, a scientist, a writer, a musician, a journalist, but everyone is perfectly capable of breaking free from the national inertia in order to stand up for the country they apparently love in some small way. Everyone has a voice to yell a resounding NO at those out to make fortunes on the backs of the general population whilst scuppering the health system, the education system and making a comedy out of any form of justice for their own ends with others of bare-faced audacity, meanwhile, destroying Romania's history through underhanded real estate shenanigans and illegal demolition. Every single member of the population has a right to be proud - but they need something decent to be proud of. Unfortunately, the great achievements of one's ancestors does not pave the way to a bright future with no personal effort required and alas, making ciorba de burta or tossing salads are perhaps the easier options when it comes to lifting a finger...

Onwards and upwards!

Sarah in Romania — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 17:31:00 GMT

(Photo source) Delighted to hear our petition for the Brukenthal and for Romanian Culture made it to the Romanian national press this morning. Please see the articles HERE and HERE both from Adevarul, and also published in Historia.ro, Wall Street.ro, Ziarelive, Yahoo News Romania, Ziare.ro, Turism Istoric and Ziare Brasov. Furthermore, if you missed the earlier article in Cotidianul by Roxana Dascalu, you can read it HERE.

Ramona Găină, Florina Pop, Florina Barbu, Simona Suciu, Bianca Sara, Dorin Ţimonea, Cristina Răduţă, Ionuţ Balaban, Cezar Pădurariu, Sînziana Ionescu

Citeste mai mult: adev.ro/mlg49aand another from last week in Cotidianul by Roxana Dascalu.

It was far less heartening to see news regarding the sorrowful state of yet more museums and memorial houses across Romania, however. The situation is, frankly, dire to say the least. Not only does THIS article mention the Brukenthal and those cited in the petition, but there are also fears for the Museum of Pharmacy in Cluj, the Memorial House of Liviu Rebreanu in Bistrita-Nasaud, a museum in Aiud, the Gheorghe M. Tattarescu Museum/Memorial House in Bucharest, the City Museum in Husi (today a ruin and closed to the public since 1993) and the seminary where Ion Creanga studied in Iasi to name but a few. Uff...

The Old Pharmacy of Cluj was nationalised and closed under the communist regime but saved by Professor Valeriu Bologa in the 50s, who turned it into a museum. Today, its unique collection is threatened because the old pharmacists' family, the Hintz, has demanded its restitution and intends to sell it. Paradoxically, the museum is better known to tourists than it is to the residents of Cluj, but blogger Andrei Aroneti has initiated a campaign in the city to increase awareness of both its existence and its plight. He is determined to save it. Please see Andrei's site HERE and PLEASE support his campaign.

Meanwhile in Bistrita-Nasaud, work began on the renovation of Liviu Rebreanu's memorial house early last year, but has been halted due to lack of funds....

(Photo source: The Gheorghe Tattarescu Museum by George Stefanescu, 1975) Gheorghe M. Tattarescu, painter and one of the founders of Bucharest's School of Fine Arts, bought his house in 1855. Here at str. Domnita Anastasia 17, the artist lived and worked for nigh on forty years (1855-1894). Today, however, it is closed to the public. Founded in 1951, this memorial house bang in the centre of Bucharest (just off calea Victoriei) cannot reopen without funding. Within the walls of this splendid house, one finds true treasures - over 1200 pieces: paintings, graphics (compositions, portraits, drawings), murals in neo-Pompeian style, decorative arts, antique furniture and some of the artist's personal belongings. This building which houses so many of the great painter's works is a listed historic monument, but nevertheless, it is closed and in dire need of financing... Apart from it being classified, it is also very much part of Bucharest's historic, cultural and architectural heritage, for the house was built in the reminiscent style of famous inns found in the old city. Sadly, from the street, one cannot see the part renovated so beautifully by the painter in neo-classic style at the back of the house 150 years ago...

(Photo source) As for the City Museum in Husi, it has simply been forgotten by the authorities. It has suffered a series of humiliations from neglect, notably weather-induced... those already familiar with the fate of such houses will picture its plight only too well. The decline began in 1990 following an earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Richter Scale, after which mould set in in the walls. In 1993, the museum was closed to the public when the building's degeneration really became noticeable. To add insult to injury, the institute was robbed in 2001 (supposedly to keep headlines out of the papers re: the suspicious death of the then director, Violeta Veturia Bazaciuc). Apparently today, the walls look like they've been in a war (and so they have, in a sense), the roof is weather-beaten and full of holes and most of the windows are broken.

Do see the Adevarul articles for more.

(Photo source) Back in 2011, I wrote a post on George Calinescu's memorial house having gone to visit it one summer's day and found it closed, despite nothing of that sort being reported on internet since I'd checked opening times beforehand - see The very suspicious tale of Casa Memoriala G. Calinescu HERE. Back then, it had been shut up for 'renovation', all contents of the house spirited away in the middle of the night (so I was told). There was confusion as to where the items/works were exactly. Personally, I have heard no more news but have remained extremely fearful for this wonderful, cosy nest of memory ever since. Does anyone know what's going on there today? Is it open to the public once again? Have all the pieces been returned? Or not? Online info says nothing at all...

Despite the messages and mails received pointing out that we are wasting our time; we should be working with NGOs rather than doing this alone (actually, we are); 'send it to me again, I haven't had time'; there are more important things in Romania to be fighting for, such as schools and hospitals (I agree completely, but everyone has their 'cause'); what's in it for you - a foreigner - and who is paying you to do this, etc etc (charming), it's of absolutely no consequence. One sees the above examples of a country's concern for its heritage and what is one supposed to do? Sit back and do nothing? Impossible. IMPOSSIBLE.

The petition addressed to 'the Minister of Culture of Romania, the Romanian government, the presidency, members of the Romanian Parliament's culture commissions', etc., is supported by Victor Rebengiuc, Maia Morgenstern, Serban Cantacuzino (President of the NGO, Pro Patrimonio), Bogdan Suceava, Ion Vianu, Raluca Stirbat, Sanda Golopentia, Patrice Eyraud (President of the NGO, OVR France) and Stefana Bianu (President of the NGO, RPER - Rencontres du Patrimoine Europe-Roumanie). It calls for a public debate on the fate of Romanian culture in the 21st century, involving the Ministry of Culture, museums, cultural institutions and NGOs to:

a) discuss the adoption and application of laws that would protect the country’s cultural heritage

b) define the course of reforms so desperately needed in this vital sector for the future of Romania.

Should you wish to add your voice to the 840 others so far registered, please click HERE. Thank you very much to all those who have already signed.

Now, onwards and upwards!

My thanks to Roxana Dascalu for... absolutely everything!!!

Năsăud

Citeste mai mult: adev.ro/mlg49a

Muzeul de Artă din Cluj

Citeste mai mult: adev.ro/mlg49a

Downsizing Romania's museums from palaces to army barracks...

Sarah in Romania — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 16:31:00 GMT

(Photo source) BREAKING NEWS: More from Romania's culture scene that has left me so outraged I am not sure to be coherent... Well, here it is:

The first Romanian contemporary art museum in the country, The Visual Art Museum in Galati, IS DEFINITIVELY CLOSING ITS DOORS. Why? Because the Archbishopric of the Lower Danube has repossessed the Bishopric Palace which housed the museum, and has had them evicted. That's why.

The museum’s heritage section exhibited Romanian art from the second half of the 19th century (Theodor Aman, Nicolae Grigorescu, Octav Bancila, Theodor Pallady, George Petrascu, Dimitrescu Stefan Nicolae Tonitza, Camil Ressu, Lucian Grigorescu...), avant-garde art from the 20th century (Brauner, MH Maxy, Mattis-Teutsch, Marcel Iancu, Irina Codreanu, Milita Petrascu...) and artists known for having abridged the two periods (Corneliu Baba, Alexandru Ciucurencu, Ion Tuculescu, Henri H. Catargi, Dumitru Ghiata, Rudolf Schweitzer-Cumpana...).

According to a reliable source who has been a museographer for the last 30 years in Galati, the museum's heritage collection of contemporary paintings and sculptures is being moved to a disused factory, while their permanent exhibition will be on the ground floor of a communist-era block of flats - all this by order of the local Galati County Council (Consiliu Judetean).

The Museum of Visual Arts comes under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture and the Galati County Council. "We are going to pay rent and operate from the ground floor of a block of flats," said the museographer.

And that's not all. Oh no. There is even BIGGER news of the day, should that not be enough for you: The former residence of the museum is now being transformed into - wait for it - a future MUSEUM OF SPIRITUALITY, CULTURE AND OF THE ORTHODOX FAITH OF THE LOWER DANUBE. I'm sorry that technology doesn't allow me to put that in flashing lights with a hurdy-gurdy in the background for full effect. How has it been funded, I expect you're wondering? With 3.5 million euros of EU bani, PLUS funds from the Ministry of Culture. Very nice, too. They also say they have approved plans for the construction of a NEW contemporary art museum - BUT there is no financing for it. What a surprise. They have a location, but NO MONEY.

Good for the Church who repossesses its building, gets funds for a museum which will blend culture and spirituality together with mainstream orthodoxy aaaaand all that with EU and government money.

According to the museographer, they are living a real nightmare in Galati... I'm not surprised.

"We were the only art museum in the country to be a mirror for the evolution of Romanian contemporary art from the inter-war period to the present day," he said.

Should you wish to visit the museum in its old location, they are still on one floor of the Bishopric Palace, says the museum's director, historian Dan Nanu Basarab. You'd better hurry, because in a month's time, they will open on the ground floor of that block of flats in a rather unsavoury area.

Their major problem is not even their new 'home'. It is that the museum's collection will be housed in air-conditioned warehouses (in the disused factory, I guess) some distance from the new 'location'. To add insult to injury, they have an approved plan for a new and modern museum, as mentioned above, which would be fairly well situated - but the plan is blocked. From an administrative point of view, the museum is under the Galati County Council, but the financial decisions are not made in Galati or Bucharest. They are made in northern Suceava!!! According to my source, the construction plans depend on the Romania-Moldova-Ukraine regional development axis, and there, financing is blocked. Aoleu. I think I need more coffee...

There's more news - none of it particularly nourishing.

(Photo source) Romania's fifth largest museum of collections, Muzeul Tarii Crisurilor in Oradea, is to move to army barracks. Yes, you read that right. According to the director, art historian Aurel Chiriac, the beautiful Baroque Palace (a landmark in Oradea) in which the museum was located has been returned to the Roman Catholic Church.

"The museums are not protected by anybody," said Mr Chiriac. "They have been abandoned by the state authorities."

The barracks are large enough for the encyclopaedic collections - more than 400,000 pieces of ethnography, archaeology, history, and Mr Chiriac considers they were lucky to find it.

More evictions: In Brasov, the director of the Museum of Ethnography, Ligia Fulga, has started a petition - they, along with the city's Art Museum, were thrown out after the building was returned to the Evangelical Church (expropriated by the communists). The future of the Art Museum in Cluj is also uncertain since the Banffy Palace that housed it has been given back to its rightful owners - the Banffy family (once again following expropriation). The museum has been allotted five years to find an alternative location, in accordance with the law. The case of the museum in Cluj has fared a great deal better than Galati. Why? Because the decision for Cluj was made in Cluj, whereas the decision for Galati must be made, as previously explained, in... Suceava. Pas de foto... The director of the Art Museum in Cluj, Călin Stegerean, says however, that there is NO MONEY for a new museum. Sound familiar?

(Photo source: Brasov's Museums of Art and Ethnography) The issue here is not about the return of church/personal property. It is that the state authorities do not protect the museums when it happens, although the collections are state heritage.

Anyone who wrote to me saying, "Oh, the Brukenthal has received its funding now - your petition is useless," (and there were several) has missed the point. THIS petition is not only for the Brukenthal which has served as an alarm bell of high-decibel proportions. It shows that if such a thing can happen there, it can happen to ANY institution and the recent news above seems to prove it. This cannot be allowed to continue. It wouldn't be tolerated anywhere else in Europe so WHY is it happening in Romania with such agonising regularity? Romania's first contemporary art museum ends up on the ground floor of a communist block and its fifth largest museum of collections is now in an army barracks??? What planet are we on, for pity's sake?

To quote from the final paragraph of the afore-mentioned petition written in Romanian, English, French and German: 'We call for a public debate on the fate of Romanian culture in the 21st century, involving the Ministry of Culture, museums, cultural institutions and NGOs to define the course of reforms so desperately needed in this vital sector for the future of Romania. We must put an end to the silence and indifference. We must show that culture matters.'

And I won't stop yelling until we have 2000 signatures and spent our energy dry.

If you wish to read and then sign the 'Petition for the Brukenthal Museum and for Romanian Culture', please click HERE. And then pass it on. Thank you!

UPDATE: 9th April: Please see THIS article by Roxana Dascalu.