Romanian high schools pupils need to taught about horrors of communism learn of “the terror of those who paid with their lives,” Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said on Monday.
Communism
” Today’s generation and future generations must know what almost half a century of communism meant in Romania,“ he said. Currently, the history of the 1945-1989 communist period is an optional subject.
Hundreds of thousands died or suffered abuse during communist rule which ended in 1989 in the bloody anti-communist revolution where at least 1,100 died.
The prime minister sent a message to mark the opening of a university summer school at the notorious ‘Prison of Silence’ in Râmnicu Sărat eastern Romania where prisoners were brutalized and kept in solitary confinement.
The prime minister said high-school students should be obligated to learn about “the terror of those who paid with their lives and spent hard years in prison simply for choosing to remain dignified in an inhumane regime.”
Victims
Victims paid “a huge sacrifice paid to keep hope alive in a free and democratic society,” he said.
Students also should also learn about the crimes committed during the 1989 uprising, which have still not been properly investigated.
Romania is currently building three museums for the hundreds of thousands who died or suffered abuse during communist rule. Mr Ciuca says the EU-funded projects are a priority.
Soviets
Romanian intellectuals and other elite were incarcerated in Ramnicu Sarat after the Soviets imposed communism in Romania. Many died of hunger, cold, beatings and untreated illnesses.
Political prisoners such as Ion Mihalache, Corneliu Coposu, Ion Diaconescu of the National Peasant Party and diplomat Victor Pogoneanu and other prominent members of parties banned by the communists were locked up here in the 1950s and early 1960s.
‘Prison of Silence’
It was called the „Prison of Silence” as prisoners were kept in isolation and forbidden from communicating with each other.
Excerpts from the prime minister’s speech.
For almost five decades, communism forever changed the destiny of this country. It decimated the elites, destroyed innocent lives, created a repressive apparatus aimed at stopping any attempt at opposition and resistance It promoted impostors, lies and propaganda and destroyed the rule of law and democratic foundations. It violated individual rights and freedoms.
Illegitimate
The communist regime was illegitimate and criminal, and its is our permanent duty to know the facts and honor all those who had the courage to defend freedom and democracy.”
“Romania is today, Romania a European state firmly attached to democratic values and principles, that offers its citizens stability and security. But we must never forget the price paid for this reality… Without the determination and courage of the Romanians who lived during the communist regime, without the sacrifice of the revolution, Romania would not have become what it is today, a place where the rule of law, democracy, human dignity, citizens’ rights and freedoms, justice and political pluralism are supreme values.”
