For decades, between 1945 and 1989, the life of
\nRomania’s communist elites was a mystery for the common people. Their
\ninterests, their concerns, their discussions and decisions were kept secret,
\nand the news that would reach the people every now and then was rumours, rather
\nthan information that somebody could actually check.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
After the fall of the communist regime in 1989,
\npeople were able to make an opinion on Ceausescu, the man, outside of the
\ntelevision broadcasts, public appearances and party assemblies. Leaving aside
\nthe exaggeration and gossip surrounding the life of any leader, particularly
\none that had always prevented his people from knowing him, we find an ambitious, poorly educated man,
\nbut one able to understand situations and make decisions. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Engineer Stefan Barlea was Ceausescu’s personal
\nsecretary in the 1980s, and he has a lot of memories about socialist Romania’s
\nstrongman. In 2002, he told the Oral History Centre of the Public Radio
\nBroadcasting Corporation about his first meeting with Ceausescu, at a 1965
\nmeeting of communist party activists in the academia. At that time, Ceausescu
\nwas the secretary general of the party’s Central Committee. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Stefan Barlea: We
\ngo into this nice, long hall, decorated in a style that Ceausescu liked, the
\nsame style he later used for his offices in the Central Committee building. And
\nas we are waiting, a short, nervous looking guy comes in and asks, ‘Are all the
\ncomrades here yet?’ And in comes Ceausescu, followed by two other activists. He
\nshakes hands with everyone, and says, ‘Comrades! I’ve called this consultation
\nmeeting at the request of the party leaders, because we believe work in the
\nhigher education institutions must be improved in certain respects. We are
\naware that you are working hard and doing a good job, but it doesn’t keep up
\nwith party requirements!’ He looks at us and goes on, ‘We’re thinking about
\nsetting up a union of student associations, and I’ve invited you here to ask
\nfor your opinion. And obviously, if you agree with the plan, it will be you who
\nwill set up this structure, it can’t be the party doing it!’ Then he briefly
\nexplained what the document said, and he added, ‘I got ta level with you!’ I
\nimmediately noticed his poor use of the Romanian language. ‘Comrades, we can’t
\nbuild socialism and a developed country without a strong intellectual class
\nembracing the values of the working class’.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Young Ceausescu made a very good impression on
\nBarlea, so the latter did not hesitate to become a collaborator of the supreme
\nleader. Stefan Barlea: <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
VM TRACK: He made a very good impression on
\nme. He was young, he spoke openly, in a friendly manner and when he shook hands
\nwith me he gave me a friendly look, just like he did with the others. Upon
\nleaving, he made that very familiar gesture of waving his arms at us. I liked
\nhim the first time I saw him. He impressed me deeply and everybody felt the
\nsame. Later I had the impression that the real goal was to bring intellectuals
\ncloser to the party, which was exactly what happened.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Ceausescu very much relied on his memory, but he was
\nalso known to carry a notebook that helped him remember what was important.
\nStefan Barlea also talked about the role that particular notebook played in
\nCeausescu’s interactions with other people.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Stefan Barlea: The black notebook did not
\nnecessarily have to be black. It could also be blue or red. It was a simple
\npocket notebook, with very thin pages. Ceausescu had a new notebook every year,
\nin which he would write down things, including information on Romania as well
\nas some international data. They were mostly statistical data, about Romania
\nand about other countries and also some empty pages for personal notes. There
\nwere no drawings or anything else. Sometimes he used to make a little drawing
\nwhile he was listening to somebody, but always on a separate sheet of paper,
\nnever in his notebook. The notebook was exclusively used for names and
\ninformation such as the place and time of a certain event where he’d met
\nsomeone. If he noticed someone, he would write their name down in the notebook
\nso that he could later get in touch with them and promote them. He used to hold
\nthe notebook in his coat’s pocket. And since he sometimes left his coat at he
\noffice we would make sure he did not forget it. There was a guy, Nastase, who
\nchecked his fountain pens and who also checked to see if Ceausescu had the
\nnotebook with him. Ceausescu did not take the notebook with him abroad, but in
\nthe country he had to have it on him at all time. And anyway, he had an
\nextraordinary memory, he would never forget a person.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Ceausescu’s personality was dominated by negative
\ntraits, and his style was brutal and aggressive, which eventually led to him
\nbeing violently ousted from power in December 1989. Nevertheless, Ceausescu
\nmust be analysed against the background of the entire communist regime imposed
\non Central and Eastern Europe between 1945 and 1989. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For decades, the life of Romania’s communist elites was a mystery for the common people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129890,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41141],"tags":[42705],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-129889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-history-show","tag-dictator-nicolae-ceausescu"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n