Bucharest, 21/12/89 Summer 89 was a long, hot one, and its been an impossibly warm autumn and early winter. Speaking from experience, the cherry trees as far north as Newcastle were already in blossom, anticipating spring, on 6th December 89. Typically, in Bucharest, by this time of year, the city would be under a blanket of snow, with the savage crivaţ wind blowing in from Russia and keeping everyone in doors except in emergencies. Not this year. Its practically t-shirt weather. According to many observers, what follows was made only possible by that. Ceauşescu has decided to make a grand speech from CC - Casa Centrala, the multi-ministry building that sits on the square where so much of Romanian history has played out over the last 75 years. Foreign invasions, abdications, usurpations, category 7 earthquakes, coups, attempted revolutions, attempted counter-revolutions, pogroms, this one square has seen plenty. Theres no cherry blossom around, but in certain districts poplar trees have been hung with pears, a wonderful student prank in response to Ceauşescus earlier declaration that Romania will only be diverted from its journey towards socialist paradise când plopu face pere, when the poplars bear pears - Romanias equivalent of on the twelfth of never. Workers from throughout Bucharest have been bussed into town, under orders to attend and spontaneously display their love of Nicolae Ceauşescu, as so many times before. Once upon a time they would have done so, willingly. Back in the 60s, when the shops were full and his predecessor’s Stalinism had been relaxed. Back before Ceauşescu visited North Korea, got a taste of what a messianic personality cult felt like, and hurled his marbles as far away as he possibly could. The square is *packed*. Trouble is, it’s packed with people who don’t just hate Ceauşescu, but who who are starting not to be afraid of him any more. People provided with grand banners, placards and portraits, celebrating the couple who had guided Romania through “Epocul de aur”, its “golden epoch” of hunger, fear, paranoia, censorship, power cuts, mass evictions, demolitions, compulsory registration of all typewriters, forced gynaecological examinations, darkness, cold and misery. Around three-quarters of the entire population is watching on TV. I can only assume the rest have either no television or no electricity. So Ceauşescu starts speaking. https://youtube/watch?v=wWIbCtz_Xwk
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 10:37:42 +0000
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