Miners are considered to be tough people, with a job with many unknowns that can be lethal. The hard, exhausting labor can be dehumanizing, driving them to drinking and violence, which are a constant presence among these people with little in the way of education. Miners are also very special people, and solidarity is essential for them, and many miners think of their peers as real heroes.
Gheorghe Ivascan was a master miner, and worked in almost every type of mine. He started as a gold miner in Rosia Montana, before WWII. He was interviewed in 2002 by the Oral History Center of the Romanian Broadcasting Corporation, and recalls what life was like back then. In spite of the hardships, it was colored by youth:
“For the holidays, people, young people, would organize dances. There were beautiful dance parties. Very elegant, like you saw important people holding them in Bucharest, those were the parties we imitated. Girls would dress in those long dresses, made of gauzy fabrics with slips underneath. The men had bowties, the boys ties, with rings, with coats with expensive buttons, elegant stuff. The older men were the soul of the parties. Back then you’d get in deep trouble if you insulted an older man, if you didn’t greet him respectfully, you’d be shunned. And girls would shun you too. We went to the ball, we danced with the girls properly. We would invite them to dance, then escort them back to their tables and thank their parents. And, if the parents allowed it, you could invite her to your table, and she would just lift the glass and wet her lips, then she’d be back at her parents’ table’.
In 1948, the communist government started nationalizing mines. In the 1950s, the communist economy used as a symbol a Soviet miner, Alexei Stahanov, supposed to have excelled in every aspect of his work, and who was the basis of the myth of Stahanovism. During the Ceausescu regime, Ceausescu himself took on the title of ‘First Miner in the Country’ after he repressed the miners’ rebellion in the Jiu Valley. The installation of communism meant introducing a new ideology among miners, an ideology that tried to destroy their good traditions. Gheorghe Ivascan recalled how he tried to help his comrades in those trying times:
“I told people: ‘Back in the day of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, not a single man would go down the mine shaft without praying and saying Our Father! I did not urge them to do that when someone else was around, crossing oneself was banned, but I told them to cross themselves every chance they got, and say ‘God help!’. I told them that if anyone was around, they should just think it to themselves, say ‘God help’ in their heads, and that it would help them a lot. And I explained this to the people. I didn't have any accident or anything. On the other hand, I must admit that I had people under control and I did my job. No doubt about that! There are different signs one can see in a mine. Bangs are heard, a rock may disintegrate somewhere, or simply a weird noise is heard. Miners should not wonder what that is, they should just say ''God help!'' This is the only thing that keeps one safe from any evil.''
Transferred to Hunedoara, to a deep coal mine, Ivascan recalls the pervasive poverty:
''After 1948, people worked for 8 hours and they had to work every minute of it. There was a roll call during their free time, as well as before and after the work shift. At the beginning the assigned task was not big, it was us who made it big. We did this by working a lot, because we wanted to make more money. For example, when we went to Teliuc, the plan was half a ton, we called it a cube. After about 4 years, the plan went up to 4 tons. We had to earn money both for our expenses there and to bring home to our families. The locals seemed to hate us, because we went there and had their work plan increased. They had been used to carrying bags with cheese, fresh cream and bacon, while we brought jam. There was nothing to buy there! It was extreme poverty, we had the money, but nothing to buy. My poor mother would get her pension at home - a small amount of wheat, that is worth about 3 or 4 bread loaves today. This was her monthly pension. What could she have bought? What could she have lived on? So I would get her flour, corn, sugar and I brought her money too, so she could buy food for those at home.''
The miners' fame as determinate people backfired in 1990, when the famous miners' raids terrorized Bucharest and ruined their image. With non-friendly economic reforms, Romanian mining today seems to lack future. But this may equally be just a small setback in the course of this craft's history in Romania.
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2010-09-06
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