The Revolution...20 years later

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Romanian Sentiment

Pro-Revolution

"It was the collapse of the system. [I gained power] with my moral authority, which I had acquired in 18 years as Ceausescu's opponent." – Former President Iliescu

'' 'Those who argue political, moral or juridical arguments don't know what is a revolution,'' Mr. Brucan said later. ''It's like in war: If you don't shoot, he'll shoot you…. [The bullet-ridden bodies] were the proof of the pudding.'' – Brucan

Pro-Conspiracy Theory

"Mr Iliescu knows, in my opinion, everything that happened in December 1989 and participated in mind-boggling decisions for a normal person to comprehend. [Some] 900 people were killed after he had taken power and [he] tried to build his own plinth as a revolutionary on 900 bodies," –Teodo Maries, Surviving Revolutionary

"I was the executioner, and the trial was a farce. But the verdict had been pronounced, and it had to be carried out. I was one who carried it out." – Dorin Carlin, Firing Squad Executioner

"Tensions were stirred up at the time to create reason to kill Ceausescu. [To find the truth] you'd have to ask Iliescu." – Former General Stanculescu

Western Sentiment

Pro-Revolution

“Like most ex-Communists, Romanians love a good conspiracy theory and this is the best one: the 1989 revolution was organised by shadowy local leaders hand in hand with international intelligence agencies. This explanation also enables Romanians to blame others (the plotters, the Russians) for their current ills, a bit like the Scots blame the English for all their troubles.” -Rupert Wolfe-Murray

“As they mark their anniversary, Romanians should take pride in their revolution. They exhibited enormous courage, defying the dictator's tanks and guns with their bare hands to win freedom and the chance of a brighter future. But for many, the promise… has yet to be fully redeemed.” –Alan Eisner, Huffington Post Journalist

Pro-Conspiracy Theory

 ''The idea that the wicked witch and her husband the bad tyrant were taken down simply by the people rising up is a fairy tale….” - Mark P. Almond, Oxford Professor

In all the interviews we’ve done, the myth of the revolution still exists but only in order to be negated. The notion of a betrayed revolution prevails, of a revolution that was claimed by the background players of the old system.” –Milo Rau, Author of Dramatized Play Concerning Trial/Revolution

Romanian Weddings

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After prayers are offered on their behalf, the groom and bride are crowned by the priest. The crowns have two meanings. First, they reveal that the man and woman, in their union with Christ, participate in His Kingship. Second, as in the ancient Church, crowns are a symbol of martyrdom. The word "martyr" means witness. The common life of the bride and groom is to bear witness to the Presence of Christ in their lives and in the world. Martyrdom is usually associated with death. So the reality of God's Kingdom in the life of the husband and wife will necessarily take the form of dying to one's self, to one's will, and the giving of one's life totally to the other, and through the other, to Christ.

Religion under Ceausescu

The Romanian Orthodox Church was more or less tolerated by the Marxist–Leninist atheist regime, though controlled through "special delegates" and excluded from the public space; the regime generally focused on individuals. Its members' actions, both laity and clergy, range broadly from opposition to the regime and martyrdom, to survival, silent consent or collaboration. Not only the limited access to the Securitate and Party archives or the events' recentness, but the particularities of each individual and situation, the understanding each had about how their own relation with the regime could influence others and how it actually did, make such a task cumbersome.

The Romanian Communist Party, which gained power at the end of 1947, initiated mass purges that decimated the Orthodox hierarchy. Three archbishops died suddenly after expressing opposition to government policies, and thirteen more "uncooperative" bishops and archbishops were arrested. A May 1947 decree imposed a mandatory retirement age for clergy, allowing authorities to pension off old-guard holdouts. The 4 August 1948 Law on Cults institutionalized state control of episcopal elections and packed the Holy Synod with Communist supporters. In exchange for subservience and enthusiastic support for state policies, as well as 2,500 church buildings and other assets from the now-outlawed Romanian Greek-Catholic Church, the government provided salaries for bishops and priests, and financial subsidies for the publication of church books, calendars and theological journals. By January 1953 some 300-500 Orthodox priests were being held in concentration camps, and after Patriarch Nicodim's death in May 1948, the party succeeded in having the ostensibly docile Justinian Marina elected to succeed him.

The church's situation began to improve in 1962, when relations with the state suddenly thawed, an event that coincided with Romania's pursuit of an independent foreign policy course that saw the élite use nationalism to secure its position against Soviet pressure. The Romanian Orthodox Church, as an intensely national body which had made significant contributions to Romanian culture from the 14th century, was a natural partner. As a result of this second co-optation, now as an ally, the church was able to recover dramatically. Its diocesan clergy numbered about 12,000 in 1975, and by then it was already publishing eight high-quality theological reviews, including Ortodoxia and Studii Teologice. Orthodox clergymen consistently supported the Ceauşescu régime's foreign policy, refrained from criticism of domestic policy, and upheld the Romanian line against the Soviets (over Bessarabia) and the Hungarians (over Transylvania). As of 1989, two metropolitan bishops even sat in the Great National Assembly. The church maintained its silence when some two dozen historic Bucharest churches were demolished in the 1980s, and when plans for systematization (including the destruction of village churches) were announced. A notable dissenter was Gheorghe Calciu-Dumitreasa, imprisoned for a number of years and expelled from Romania in June 1985 after signing an open letter criticizing and demanding an end to the regime's violations of human rights.

In order to fit its new circumstances, the Orthodox Church constructed a new ecclesiology to justify its subservience to the state in supposed theological terms. The "Social Apostolate" doctrine, developed by Patriarch Justinian, declared that the church owed its allegiance to the secular government and should be of service to that government. The Social Apostolate called on clerics to become active in the People's Republic, laying the foundation for the church's submission to and collaboration with the state. With recalcitrants removed from office, remaining bishops adopted a servile attitude, endorsing Ceauşescu's concept of nation, supporting his policies, and applauding his ideas about peace.

After the 1989 Romanian Revolution, the Church never admitted of willingly collaborating with the régime, but several Romanian Orthodox priests have admitted publicly after 1989 that they have collaborated with and/or were informers for the Securitate, the Romanian Communist secret police. A prime example was Bishop Nicolae Corneanu, the Metropolitan of Banat, who admitted his efforts on the behalf of the Communist Party, and denounced clergy activity with the Communists, including his own, as "the Church's prostitution with the Communist régime".

Distinctives in Romanian Culture

The following customs are a part of Romanian heritage, and like many cultural traditions and customs, have been somewhat phased out. However, they are a part of Romanian history and their influence can still be felt today. I have included them here because I feel that these specific cultural tendencies and their residual influence are reflected in Mad Forest.

In Romanian village life a heavy emphasis is given to the names of places. Hills have names associated with the families that own them and fields are associated with the families that own them and the wares cultivated there. “In this manner, fields and hills acquire socially constituted identities; space is culturally personalized” (Kligman 29). This strong association of family and place translates into family life. “The basic social unit… consists of the domestic group – generally parents, children and grandparents – as well as the courtyard and garden: in short the people and property needed to make a relatively self-sufficient unit.” (30)

Sense of status – “Family prestige tends to prevail over actual wealth, although the latter can enhance the position of someone from a ‘weaker’ lineage. Generally, marriage choices are influenced by status distinctions: marriage is most often contracted between families of the same rank; marrying up or down occurs, but it is not the norm” (33-34).

Patrilineal tendencies – Romanian culture has a strong emphasis on the father’s role as the head of a household. “Girls and women are recognized as persons only in relation to men. Until a girl marries, she is known as ‘daughter of…’ … When she marries, she changes her name and her social identity, taking on the name of her husband and his family” (40). “Marriage alienates the bride from her natal family and incorporates her into the family of her husband” (41).