{"id":1655,"date":"2019-12-19T21:00:44","date_gmt":"2019-12-19T19:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/?p=1655"},"modified":"2025-08-14T19:34:52","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T17:34:52","slug":"cum-ati-trait-revolutia-din-89","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/en\/2019\/12\/cum-ati-trait-revolutia-din-89\/","title":{"rendered":"How did you experience the Romanian Revolution in 1989?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Did you take pictures during the December ’89 Revolution?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I did not. And I’m so sorry! I never thought I could have\ngone out with the camera. The only images I have are imprinted in my mind…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was 17 in December ’89, I was in high-school. We were\nalready on vacation during those winter days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had no idea about what was going on in Timisoara. The\nfirst news of something… bizarre, came on December 21st. My mother had been\npresent at some meeting in front of the Central Headquarters of the Communist\nParty, taken there, like everyone else, from the job. And she told us there was\nunrest in the crowd and hissing and booing. That was all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My parents didn’t talk about these things in front of us.\nBut, through the door of their bedroom, we heard some parts of their dialogue,\nplus some unintelligible words from a radio show (I would later find out that\nit was Radio Free Europe).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did the Revolution begin for you?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The next day, on the 22nd<\/sup> of December, our neighbor from the below floor rang our bell. When I opened the door, he shouted euphorically: “Ceausescu fell!!!!!” <\/strong>My mother, scared, made desperate signs for him to to shut up, for fear that someone might hear him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he rushed further: “Switch on the TV!” And\nentered our house, to make sure we do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I heard on TV seemed unreal! I didn’t know what that\nfreedom was, I hadn’t imagined, until then, that Ceausescu anything but\neternal. I was feeling something that was hard to describe, it was a reality\nthat I didn’t know how to live…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The landline phone was ringing. Shock, questions, joy,\nfears. Short conversations over the phone, probably for fear that we were still\nbeing listened to…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the hottest Breaking News<\/strong> I saw on TV – basically the first of my life! – the immediate reaction was: “Let’s go downtown too!”. I was mega euphoric, but my mother briefly cut off my enthusiasm, she did not allow me to leave the house. Dad was at work. Not that he would have let me…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My middle sister left, with neighbors of her generation, and\nshe went to the Radio headquarters. What a terrible fear for the parents,\nknowing nothing anything about their children for hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Street fights \u2013 have you heard them?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

We called my older sister, who had a child who was only 6\nmonths old, worried as she was living in the Military Academy area. My mother\nstarted giving her advice on what to do and what not to do, although she\nclearly did not have a “Manual on how to behave during a\nRevolution”… The main advice – do not leave the house!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don’t remember when the shots started. We could clearly\nhear them from the Bucurestii Noi district. God knows where they came from. I\nassociated them with… the fireworks from the New Year’s Eve night, which I\nalways saw from the window, launched from Herastrau Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their rhythm was chaotic \u2013 there was intense shooting, then,\na few shots here and there, then silence and after that they would start again.\nI didn’t realize how far we were from danger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did you barricade yourself inside during the Revolution?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The advice of the time \u2013 I don’t know how it was going around – was to put blankets in the windows<\/strong>, so that the light inside the house could not be seen from outside and that the terrorists<\/strong> would not burst in! We complied. We turned off all the lights and hidden in the semi-dark, we watched what the Romanian Television showed us continuously – a novelty for us, who had lived for so many years with only 2 hours of TV program per day\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The words of the Revolution \u2013 what comes to your mind?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Beyond keeping us up to date with Ceausescu’s escape, and with\nwhat his acolytes did, as well as other things like these, the people on\ntelevision (out of which I only knew Ion Caramitru), were obsessively shouting that\nwe should come out, we should come there (there = TVR and in the hot spots in the\ncity). The Romanian Television had become the Free Romanian Television. There,\npeople unknown to me were calling us to go out, to defend, to save. I really\nwanted to go out, but I had the “guards” at home, so I could not even\nthink about this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I was glued to the TV. “Tyrant”\n“Dictator” and “Terrorists” – are words that remained alive\nin my mind, as well as all the concern with which they were spoken. Basically,\nit was the first time I heard these words. Accompanied by the words “we\nwon!”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did you go out?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I was allowed to leave the house only after Ceausescu was\narrested. I clearly remember that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We met daily with the gang from the neighborhood, and\ncommented on everything we had found out. And what we had seen. Two tanks were stationed\non the Chitila road. Like in the movies… Most of our friends, who were boys,\nwere in the army, some at home, on leave, without identity papers on them, only\nwith a written proof that they are on leave. This put them at risk during those\ndays, when you could be considered a “terrorist” if you didn’t show\nyour papers… The fact that they didn’t know how to get back to the unit\nsafely, made us all very upset!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I went out to buy bread, on a boulevard transformed into\nsome kind of a (prepared) battle field, with some people who had guns in their\nhands. God knows where from. From time to time, someone would shout for us to go\nfurther, but try to hide somehow, not to be in the open. And we complied. I\nthink this was an initiative form someone too “involved” in all this,\nbecause there was no terrorist in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the evening, they were shooting again and we were\ncovering the windows with blankets again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the first sad news about a neighbor, a soldier, a little\nolder than me, shot for no reason when he was guarding the Municipal Hospital. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today there is a street in his name… Second lieutentant\nAdrian C\u00e2rstea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did we get any gifts from Santa? I don’t remember…<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

On Christmas, peace has dawned. Not because it was\nChristmas, but because the execution of the Ceausescu couple had taken place. I\nremember that peace perfectly. And the explanation that the shooting of the two\nwas the solution for the bloody battles to end! Was it? I don’t know… What I\ndo know, though, is that, after that moment, I never heard a shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I cannot remember whether we had any Christmas presents or\nnot… However, that was the moment when Santa Claus took the place of Father\nFrost. J<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first hours of freedom \u2013 how did you live them?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Quiet, the blankets disappeared form the windows, we went\nout in the street without fear, we began to discover what it meant to speak\nfreely, without fear. It was great!!! But it was still as if we did not dare to\ndo this, we were insecure. Just like a child who discovers that he can walk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I received in the street the first newspaper of the\nRevolution \u2013 Libertatea (Freedom). I remember I thought it was a treasure!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A friend came and told us that he had been in Ceausescu’s\nhouse! It was full of people who were vandalizing it. They all took what they\nwanted from there! He told us he took … a Fa spray and, if I remember\ncorrectly, a foreign shaving foam. Now this may seem funny, considering all\nthat was stolen from that house (electronics, appliances, pictures, etc.), but at\nthe time it was wow that he had a spray and a shaving foam from abroad!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I discovered the city, with dozens of buildings with the walls\ndestroyed by bullets. By the way, do you know that such walls still exist in\nsome places in the city? In the TVR area and on Calea Victoriei, I saw them. I\nhave no idea if they have repaired the walls in the meantime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then we began to learn, step by step, what being free meant.\nI was in high school and our whole universe changed all of a sudden! From the\nsubjects, to the speech of the teachers, and from uniforms, to… our dreams!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
before the Revolution, wearing uniforms and a school registration number<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
and after the Revolution, wearing whatever we wanted from whatever we could afford… (only for the end of the 12th<\/sup> grade \u2013 for graduation, we all had similar\u00a0 T-shirts<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What was December 1989 for you?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

For me, it was a Revolution. As long as I don’t know the real\ntruth yet, let me call it a Revolution. And let’s not forget the courage of\nsome people. And the sacrifice of others or them being sacrificed… Completely\ninnocent young people…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Did you take pictures during the December ’89 Revolution? I did not. And I’m so sorry! I never thought I could have gone out with the camera. The only images I have are imprinted in my mind… I was 17 in December ’89, I was in high-school. We were already on vacation during those winter days. I had no idea about what was going on in Timisoara. The first news of something… bizarre, came on December 21st. My mother had been present at some meeting in front of the Central Headquarters of the Communist Party, taken there, like everyone else, from the job. And she told us there was unrest in the crowd and hissing and booing. That was all. My parents didn’t talk about these things in front of us. But, through the door of their bedroom, we heard some parts of their dialogue, plus some unintelligible words from a radio show (I would later find out that it was Radio Free Europe). How did the Revolution begin for you? The next day, on the 22nd of December, our neighbor from the below floor rang our bell. When I opened the door, he shouted euphorically: “Ceausescu fell!!!!!” My mother, scared, made desperate signs for him to to shut up, for fear that someone might hear him. But he rushed further: “Switch on the TV!” And entered our house, to make sure we do. What I heard on TV seemed unreal! I didn’t know what that freedom was, I hadn’t imagined, until then, that Ceausescu anything but eternal. I was feeling something that was hard to describe, it was a reality that I didn’t know how to live… The landline phone was ringing. Shock, questions, joy, fears. Short conversations over the phone, probably for fear that we were still being listened to… After the hottest Breaking News I saw on TV – basically the first of my life! – the immediate reaction was: “Let’s go downtown too!”. I was mega euphoric, but my mother briefly cut off my enthusiasm, she did not allow me to leave the house. Dad was at work. Not that he would have let me… My middle sister left, with neighbors of her generation, and she went to the Radio headquarters. What a terrible fear for the parents, knowing nothing anything about their children for hours. Street fights \u2013 have you heard them? We called my older sister, who had a child who was only 6 months old, worried as she was living in the Military Academy area. My mother started giving her advice on what to do and what not to do, although she clearly did not have a “Manual on how to behave during a Revolution”… The main advice – do not leave the house! I don’t remember when the shots started. We could clearly hear them from the Bucurestii Noi district. God knows where they came from. I associated them with… the fireworks from the New Year’s Eve night, which I always saw from the window, launched from Herastrau Park. Their rhythm was chaotic \u2013 there was intense shooting, then, a few shots here and there, then silence and after that they would start again. I didn’t realize how far we were from danger. Did you barricade yourself inside during the Revolution? The advice of the time \u2013 I don’t know how it was going around – was to put blankets in the windows, so that the light inside the house could not be seen from outside and that the terrorists would not burst in! We complied. We turned off all the lights and hidden in the semi-dark, we watched what the Romanian Television showed us continuously – a novelty for us, who had lived for so many years with only 2 hours of TV program per day\u2026 The words of the Revolution \u2013 what comes to your mind? Beyond keeping us up to date with Ceausescu’s escape, and with what his acolytes did, as well as other things like these, the people on television (out of which I only knew Ion Caramitru), were obsessively shouting that we should come out, we should come there (there = TVR and in the hot spots in the city). The Romanian Television had become the Free Romanian Television. There, people unknown to me were calling us to go out, to defend, to save. I really wanted to go out, but I had the “guards” at home, so I could not even think about this. So I was glued to the TV. “Tyrant” “Dictator” and “Terrorists” – are words that remained alive in my mind, as well as all the concern with which they were spoken. Basically, it was the first time I heard these words. Accompanied by the words “we won!”. Did you go out? I was allowed to leave the house only after Ceausescu was arrested. I clearly remember that. We met daily with the gang from the neighborhood, and commented on everything we had found out. And what we had seen. Two tanks were stationed on the Chitila road. Like in the movies… Most of our friends, who were boys, were in the army, some at home, on leave, without identity papers on them, only with a written proof that they are on leave. This put them at risk during those days, when you could be considered a “terrorist” if you didn’t show your papers… The fact that they didn’t know how to get back to the unit safely, made us all very upset! And I went out to buy bread, on a boulevard transformed into some kind of a (prepared) battle field, with some people who had guns in their hands. God knows where from. From time to time, someone would shout for us to go further, but try to hide somehow, not to be in the open. And we complied. I think this was an initiative form someone too “involved” in all this, because there was no terrorist in the area. In the evening, they were shooting again and we were covering the windows with blankets again. And the first sad news about a neighbor, a soldier, a little older than me, shot for no reason when he was guarding the Municipal Hospital. Today there is a street in his name… Second lieutentant Adrian C\u00e2rstea. Did we get any gifts from Santa? I don’t remember… On Christmas, peace has dawned. Not because it was Christmas, but because the execution of the Ceausescu couple had taken place. I remember that peace perfectly. And the explanation that the shooting of the two was the solution for the bloody battles to end! Was it? I don’t know… What I do know, though, is that, after that moment, I never heard a shot. I cannot remember whether we had any Christmas presents or not… However, that was the moment when Santa Claus took the place of Father Frost. J The first hours of freedom \u2013 how did you live them? Quiet, the blankets disappeared form the windows, we went out in the street without fear, we began to discover what it meant to speak freely, without fear. It was great!!! But it was still as if we did not dare to do this, we were insecure. Just like a child who discovers that he can walk. I received in the street the first newspaper of the Revolution \u2013 Libertatea (Freedom). I remember I thought it was a treasure! A friend came and told us that he had been in Ceausescu’s house! It was full of people who were vandalizing it. They all took what they wanted from there! He told us he took … a Fa spray and, if I remember correctly, a foreign shaving foam. Now this may seem funny, considering all that was stolen from that house (electronics, appliances, pictures, etc.), but at the time it was wow that he had a spray and a shaving foam from abroad! I discovered the city, with dozens of buildings with the walls destroyed by bullets. By the way, do you know that such walls still exist in some places in the city? In the TVR area and on Calea Victoriei, I saw them. I have no idea if they have repaired the walls in the meantime. Then we began to learn, step by step, what being free meant. I was in high school and our whole universe changed all of a sudden! From the subjects, to the speech of the teachers, and from uniforms, to… our dreams! What was December 1989 for you? For me, it was a Revolution. As long as I don’t know the real truth yet, let me call it a Revolution. And let’s not forget the courage of some people. And the sacrifice of others or them being sacrificed… Completely innocent young people…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1659,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[416,414,415,413],"class_list":["post-1655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-viata-asa-cum-e","tag-amintiri-de-la-revolutie","tag-decembrie-89","tag-revolutia-din-decembrie-89","tag-revolutie","main-post"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"2.12.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["ro","en"],"languages":{"ro":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1655"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1655"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2181,"href":"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1655\/revisions\/2181"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}