Secvențe și biografii din comunismul românesc
Editori: Lucian Vasile, Florin S. Soare, Constantin Vasilescu
Cuvânt înainte (Lucian Vasile) (pp. 11-15)
PARTEA I
Valentin Gheonea, O reevaluare a relațiilor româno‑chineze în timpul Războiului Rece (pp. 19-36)
The study attempts a reassessment of Romanian‑Chinese relations during the communist period, from the perspective of a new operating paradigm. We consider that Romanian‑Chinese relations were placed on unequal and clientelistic coordinates, Romania being, from the Chinese perspective, part of the category of client states, together with Albania, North Korea, Pakistan and several others. According to this explanatory model, since the 1970s, Romania has provided unconditional international support to China in exchange for preferential credit and economic aid.
The evolution of Romanian‑Chinese relations throughout the communist regimes in Eastern Europe can be divided into three distinct eras. In the first period, which began in 1949 and ended approximately in 1962, relations between the two countries were conducted along the same lines as those existing between all the countries of the socialist bloc, characterized by formal and protocolary ties between two countries that shared common ideological values. Since the Conference of Comecon, held in Moscow, in June 1962, where Romania opposed the economic integration of socialist countries because of the subordinate role it was expec-ted to play, Romanian‑Chinese relations entered a new stage. The rejection of the leading role of the Soviet Union in the security strategy, as well as the concept of economic develop-ment through its own forces, brought Romania closer to China. However, due to Romania’s involvement as a mediator in the Sino‑Soviet ideological conflict, China continued to view Bucharest’s position of autonomy with distrust, suspecting Soviet coordination.
A third stage in the development of Sino‑Romanian relations followed the events of August 1968, when Romania’s stance convinced China that Bucharest has broken with the USSR for good. This period corresponds to Romania’s position as a client state in its relations with China.
Keywords: international relations, Communism, USSR‑China‑Romania relations
Alexandru Stănescu, Ultimul portret oficial al lui Nicolae Ceaușescu și propaganda vizuală în anii ’80 (pp. 37-71)
In the post‑communist period, the official portrait of Nicolae Ceaușescu was treated by researchers as a relic from a recent and unfortunate past, a self‑explanatory object, devoid of meaning, unworthy of being recovered, or put under a magnifying glass. After the year 2000, certain visual artists brought it back to life, through works that enhance its iconic dimension. This study brings the portrait back to the center stage, 40 years since its officialization in the public space, tracing its history. Nicolae Ceausescu’s last official portrait entered the urban folklore, under the name „Ceausescu with blacheuri (i.e. shoe patches)” or „with both ears”.
The Romanian leader cult reached unprecedented heights in the 80s, a decade of sacrifices imposed by the political and economic decisions of Nicolae Ceausescu’s dictatorial rule. The press, literature, and official art tended to exhibit the face of the leader, with several mythical facets (coined by Adrian Cioroianu) revolving around it. As Alice Mocănescu observes, the multiplication of the official portrait, during the popular demonstrations, in the press and in most of the prints, generated a mirror effect, which strengthened both the image of the leader and his confidence in his own charisma.
This history of the official portrait corroborates testimonies of the few survivors of the propaganda apparatus with research carried out in the National Historical Archives, the Agerpres Archive, and through the 80s press. Instances of the portrait in the public space, on the walls of the party and state institutions, in public demonstrations, in textbooks, the daily papers, almanacs, and in certain works of art will be analyzed, revealing the powerful role of thevisual arts and communist propaganda in the inculcation of images still very present in the collective memory of Romanians.
Keywords: Romanian communism, Nicolae Ceaușescu, official portrait, the 80s, propaganda
Roland Olah, Prețul libertății. Frontieriștii condamnați pentru trecere sau tentativă de trecere ilegală a graniței de vest în anii ’80 (pp. 73-104)
The topic of illegal crossing of borders in Romanian historiography is a marginal one, being addressed especially by journalists. Historians have not systematically investiga-ted the causes, the evolution of the phenomenon and its consequences. At the end of the 80s, a real wave of emigration developed, marked by the economic and the social crisis in which Romania found itself and bound by the restrictive legislation on the mobility of the population, in which Romanians left their country illegally. The economic crisis, amplified by political decisions, causing a social crisis, was the main factor determined by the wave of emigration in the period reviewed here. Based on the analysis of the data collected, the main destination country seems to have been Hungary. The Hungarian authorities often stated that they do not support the development of the phenomenon, but for humanitarian reasons, they will provide support to all those who have arrived in Hungary. The wave of emigration will increase following the decision of the Hungarian authorities to support Romanian citizens, regardless of nationality, who wish to settle on the territory of the neighboring country, issuing residence permits, documents for obtaining a job, but also various financial aid for subsistence. It is necessary to mention that there are numerous reports about the brutal attitude of the Romanian border guards towards Romanian citizens detained or handed over by the authorities of the neighboring countries. From the reports, it seems that the brutal attitude of the authorities was maintained even during the investigations and in police detention. According to the communist penal legislation in force during the period considered, all the people detained were considered criminals and were to be sentenced to imprisonment.
Keywords: the 1980s, illegal border crossing, Hungary, Romania, criminal sentence, condemnation
PARTEA A II-A
Cristian Vasile, Mihail Ralea şi câteva repere ale parcursului său biografic sub regimul comunist (pp. 107-136)
In the present article we will analyze the biographical path of Mihail Ralea (1896–1964) – sociologist, psychologist, director of Viaţa romînească magazine, former national‑peasant ideologue and Minister of Labor under King Carol II (1938‑1940) – in relation both to the communist rise after 1944 and the selection of new cadres for the postwar political, diplomatic and cultural elite. We will try to present the post‑war destiny of the former dignitary during the royal dictatorship in the context of the communist takeover in Romania while expressing some points of view regarding his survival in political, diplomatic, and cultural dignities (Minister of Arts, pro‑communist Ambassador in USA, president of the Romanian Institute for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries) and in positions within the cultural nomenclature under Gheorghiu‑Dej regime (coordinator of the Philosophy Section at the Institute of History and Philosophy; member of the Academy of the Romanian People’s Republic; director of the Institute of Psychology of the Academy; chairman of the Romanian National Commission for UNESCO, etc.). Finally, we were interested both in Ralea’s positi-ons on the cultural‑political transformations after 1948, leaving in the background his acti-ons as head of communist cultural diplomacy and as director of the Institute of Psychology, as well as the issue of the existence of an inflexion point in his biography.
Keywords: Mihail Ralea, biography, Ministry of Arts, communist diplomacy, Gheorghe Gheorghiu‑Dej
Lucian Vasile, Un străin printre străini. Nefericita viață a spionului Nechita Obreja (pp. 137-168)
Viewed many times, erroneously, as some kind of a monolith, the post‑war Romanian exile actually includes countless human typologies, delicate situations and controversial options. And, above all, unknown dramas. One of the destinies that captures precisely this complexity of what the Romanian exile meant is that of Nechita Obreja. A committed member of the Legionary Movement, but from which he later distanced himself as a result of conflicts with Horia Sima’s group, a spy sent to the country with an informative mission, a guide for other exiles and a fervent anti‑communist, Obreja ends up asking for repatriation to commu-nist Romania. His decision – incomprehensible at first glance – has its motivation in the collective drama endured by the Romanians who ended up in exile, after the establishment of the communist regime. Or, as Obreja himself described, of the ones who had become „strangers among strangers”. And more than that, his life story captures the unhappy reali-ties of life in exile, marked by disappointments regarding the international political situation, the realities of everyday living and, especially, the constant longing for the homeland.
Keywords: Romanian exile, espionnage, Cold War, repatriation
Cosmin Budeancă, „Partidul nu te va ierta niciodată.” Biografia lui Iacob F. Alexandru (Jakab Sándor) (1913‑1997) (pp. 169-229)
Iacob Alexandru (Jakab Sándor) was born in 1913 in a family of Hungarian Jews from Transylvania. He joined the Communist Party in 1930 and in the following years held various positions in Transylvania, Banat and Bucharest. After August 23, 1944, he was the de facto leader of the Communist Party in Cluj Region. In 1947, he lost his position but, having economic studies, went to Bucharest, where, with the support of Vasile Luca, he held other positions, the most important being deputy minister at the Ministry of Finance.
In 1952, during internal power struggles in the Romanian Workers’ Party, Gheorghiu‑Dej eliminated three of his rivals: Ana Pauker, Vasile Luca and Teohari Georgescu. As a close collaborator of Luca, Iacob was removed from his position, arrested and sentenced to 20 years of hard labor for „undermining the national economy”. He was in prisons of Râmnicu Sărat, Văcărești, Jilava, Aiud. He was released in 1964, but remained under the surveillance of the Security. In 1968 the 1954 sentence was overturned and he was rehabilitated. His seniority in the Party since 1930 was recognized. Then held well‑paid positions at the RSR Chamber of Commerce and then at the Council of Ministers, from where he retired in 1982. He remarried towards the end of the 60s, and in the 80s he went with his wife to Sweden. He died in 1997 in Stockholm.
His transformation from a „comrade” to an „enemy of the people” also affected his family: his wife, also arrested, after a year and a half of detention was left with serious medical problems and left Romania. Their children chose to continue their lives abroad, in France, respectively in Israel/Australia.
The article reconstructs Iacob’s biography based on archival documents, interviews with he or with illegal communists, memorial works, books and articles of a general and special nature.
Keywords: communist’s biographies, communist repression
Andrei Florin Sora, „Un om întreg”: Victor Rădulescu‑Pogoneanu (1910‑1962) (pp. 231-270)
Victor Rădulescu‑Pogoneanu (1910‑1962) is known today mainly for his involve-ment in the coup of August 23, 1944, as well as for his torture and death in communist prisons. His martyrdom was amplified by his intransigence towards the investigators, despite his infirmity, and by the image transmitted to us by some of those who knew him. Even if the primary biographical data of Victor Rădulescu‑Pogoneanu are accessible, his actual role within the anti‑communist movement and especially his diplomatic activity are little known. We propose a biographical study through which we can understand the intellectual profile and motivations of the elections of Victor Rădulescu‑Pogoneanu after 1943, his fight against the establishment of a pro‑Soviet regime in Romania and his stubbornness during the Maniu trial and during his time spent in the communist prisons.
This study pursues two major research directions. First, an analysis, even if brief, of Victor Rădulescu‑Pogoneanu’s intellectual path is indispensable: the environment in which he grew up, his studies, the time spent at the Ministry of Education, his entry into diplomacy, his work at the monographic school in Bucharest. The second research direction concerns his activity in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, especially after 23 August 1944, and his peregrinations through communist prisons. Did he believe that Romania could become democratic and that establishing of a totalitarian regime could be prevented? Victor Rădulescu‑Pogoneanu was one of those Romanian intellectuals trained in the interwar period (with center‑right, cen-ter‑left political options or politically uninvolved), who refused and fought against any form of extremism and totalitarianism.
Keywords: Victor Rădulescu‑Pogoneanu, 23 August 1944, diplomacy, Bucharest, monografic school, Maniu trial, totalitarian regimes
Nicoleta Șerban, Destine individuale de o parte și de alta a Cortinei de Fier: Doina Cornea și fiica sa, Ariadna Combes (1987‑1989) (pp. 271-294)
Doina Cornea (1929‑2018) was a professor of French literature from Cluj, who had the audacity to send a series of letters to the Free Europe radio station, at a time when fear and duplicity dominated most of her compatriots. In her letters, she criticized the commu-nist regime, which drew her a series of reprisals. Her daughter, Ariadna Combes, who left the country with a scholarship since 1976, and lived in Paris, will be her main support in exile. She managed to alarm influential politicians and attract the attention of the French public opinion, making her mother a case of notoriety. Her fame in the Free World really meant saving her from the cruel vengeance of the Securitate.
Keywords: dissident, Communism, letters, exile, Free Europe
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