At the
\nend of WWII, the Romanians in Austria formed the National Romanian Committee to
\nlobby the Allies for mutual help. The Romanian refugees were interned in the
\nLinz camp by the American military government as former enemies. On Radio Linz,
\nthe Romanians even had a programme to communicate better with each other and
\nkeep hope alive for a better post-war situation for Romania. The community of
\nRomanians in Austria was diverse, including people who had been taken prisoners
\nby the German army, students, industrial workers, and former members of the
\nIron Guard who had left Romania in 1941. The Orthodox priest Richard Grabovschi
\nwas an officer during the war and was one of the founders of the National
\nRomanian Committee. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In an interview given to Radio Romania’s Oral History
\nCentre in 1998, he remembers how it all began:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
There were 350 to 370 of us in the camp, which was in some former barracks of
\nthe Romanian army. We created this committee and called it the National
\nRomanian Committee and went to see the American authorities. The problem was
\nthat none of us could speak English. We arrived at the military command centre
\nfor Upper Austria, and while speaking amongst ourselves on the corridor, we
\nwere approached by someone dressed in American uniform but wearing no rank
\ninsignia or badges and who spoke to us in Romanian. He asked us why we’d come
\nand we told him all about it. He told us his name was Gheorghe Leuca, that he had
\na PhD in Germanic studies and that he was working as a German language
\ninterpreter for the American military command. He offered to come with us to
\nsee the American commander. We stated our case before the American, he listened
\nto us and told us he would review our situation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
After
\nthis interview, conditions improved for the Romanians in the camp. The members
\nof the Committee wrote a letter to the American authorities urging them not to
\nsee the Romanians as former enemies and take into account the fact that the
\nRomanian army had fought alongside the Allied forces after August 23rd
\n1944. Following the Committee’s request, the Romanians in the Linz camp were
\ncounted up and they agreed to contribute to efforts to clear up bomb sites, the
\nreconstruction of the means of communication, and work in agriculture and in
\nthe factories that were still running. The American military authorities even
\nallowed the Romanians to have a programme on the local radio station, every
\nThursday from 10.30 am to 1 pm. Richard Grabovschi was a presenter in that
\nprogramme:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The radio station in Linz was a normal Austrian radio station, which the
\nAmerican military government considered the best means of communication among
\nnational committees and the people of different nationalities who were living
\nin the region, so that these people should be informed by means of a radio
\nbroadcast. At first, we were allotted a-quarter-of-an-hour slot, which was
\nlater extended to a half hour, and it was up to us to decide who would speak at
\nthe microphone. I was young and they decided to choose me. The broadcast
\nincluded pieces of Romanian music such as ‘Long live the King’!, ‘On our flag’
\nand ‘Three colors’ as well as more lively songs by Maria Tanase, Ioana Radu and
\nMia Braia and also communiqu\u00e9s or announcements. Our announcements sounded like
\nthis: ‘Ion Popescu from x region is looking for his cousin or sister who is
\nallegedly a refugee in a certain region of Austria or in Germany. Those who
\nknow about her are kindly asked to share this information with him or with the
\npeople at the Romanian National Committee.’ Also on the radio we announced when
\nwe were going to make field recordings. But to prevent unpleasant things from
\nhappening, we had to write our announcements in advance for them to be checked
\nbefore going on air. The announcement was: ‘Dear listeners, this is Upper
\nAustria radio station in Linz, I’m sub-lieutenant Richard Grabovschi, the
\nrepresentative of the Romanian National Committee on the microphone.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In
\ntime, Grabovschi decided to go to the US where a National Committee was still
\nactive:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
I got the visa in the autumn of 1951 and I went to the US in 1952. I landed in
\nNew York in early June. This committee I am talking about had been functioning
\nfor some time. For about 2 years I had read journals published in the US such
\nas ‘Solia’, the bishopric’s publication, or ‘America’, the official paper of
\nthe Union of Brotherly Societies. There was also a magazine called ‘The
\nPeople’s Paper’ issued by Gheorghe Stanculescu and from time to time we also
\nreceived a magazine issued by the Greek Catholic church in America.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Most
\nof the members of the Romanian National Committee in Austria chose to leave,
\nafter things had become clear as to the future turn of events. And Radio Linz
\nwas a means by which they could find themselves and their freedom.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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