Young Romanians who enthusiastically chanted the name of communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu at a beach festival at a popular hip hop influencer in a scene reminiscent of the communist era have been rapped for trivializing communism.
The incident at the ‘Beach, Please’ popular music festival was slammed on Saturday by a government institute tasked with educating Romanians about the horrors of the communist regime which said “it reflects how much the cult of( late dictator) Ceausescu has spread in society, even in an apparently innocent form.”
The reaction came after dozens of youngsters were filmed shouting “Ceausescu, Ceausescu!”in an echo of rallies that the late communist leader regularly held to keep his personality cult alive. He and his wife Elena were executed in the 1989 revolution for “crimes against the Romanian people’.
In a video that went viral, festival goers can be seen chanting “Ceausescu, Ceausescu!’ at Romanian influencer Selly who walking toward the stage at the time. Selly’s followers often call him ‘the dictator’ or “Ceausescu’ on social media. He hasn’t responded to the incident.
But the Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes called it “a deeply worrying gesture…and an expression of the trivialization of evil,” it added.
“This behavior clearly shows how much a false memory has been spread and perpetuated, and the responsibility for this situation lies with those who have chosen to hide or deny the historical truth,” the institute said.
It appealed to young people: “You are not responsible for this situation. The responsibility lies with those who deliberately failed to.. transmit the truth about the horrors of communism,” urging young people to learn about Romania’s history.
The 24-year-old Andrei ‘Selly’ Selaru is one of the founders of the hip hop festival, billed as the biggest of its kind in Europe.
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