Radio România Internațional

Tag: WWII

  • October 25, 2024

    October 25, 2024

    DAY The Romanian Army Day is being celebrated today through a series of religious services and military ceremonies at the main army barracks across the country and in the operation theatres where the Romanian servicemen have been deployed. The series of ceremonies kicked off at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Carol Park in Bucharest in the presence of the Romanian president Klaus Iohannis, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu and the Senate President Nicolae Ciuca. The Romanian army is the main pillar of the national defence system, president Iohannis said highlighting that it must continue to benefit ‘a solid financial ground’ significantly over 2% of the GDP. The Day of 25 October has been celebrated since 1959. We recall that on 25 October 1944 the Romanian Army liberated the north-western part of the country occupied by Hungary upon the Vienna Dictate in August 1940. In WWII, Romania’s war effort consisted of the deployment of 540 thousand troops, out of which 90 thousand lost their lives, roughly 60 thousand were reported MIA and over 330 thousand got wounded. After liberating the national territory, the Romanian army continued to fight on the territories of Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Austria alongside the Allies contributing to the Great Victory on 9 May, which marked the end of WWII in Europe.

     

    ELECTIONS The campaign for the first round of the presidential election in Romania has kicked off and is due to end on November 23. The presidential elections are scheduled this year on November 24 (the first round) and on December 8 (the second round). In between, on December 1, the parliamentary election will be held. Competing in the presidential race are 14 candidates, 10 of them backed by political parties and 4 running independently. Local and EU parliamentary elections were also held in Romania this year, on June 9.

     

    CONGRESS Speaking at the European Farmers Congress underway in Bucharest, Romania’s Agriculture Minister, Florin Barbu, has called for a referendum on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) at European level. The Minister wants the farmers to decide in the aforementioned referendum that the CAP remain structured on two major pillars being separated from other European funds after 2027. Barbu says that the European Commission wants to integrate the CAP into the total funds allotted to every member state. Over 500 farmers from Europe are participating in the European Farmers Congress due in Bucharest over October 23-25.

     

    FOOTBALL Romania’s football champions, FCSB, came a cropper in Glasgow on Thursday, four-nil to local side, Rangers. The Romanians managed to win the games against Latvian side RFS and the Greek champions PAOK Thessaloniki, a side coached by the Romanian Razvan Lucescu. Rangers, whose lineup includes the Romanian Ianis Hagi, is presently ranking 11th, while FCSB, with six points out of three matches, ranks 13th.

    (bill)

  • Romania and the Republic of Moldova celebrated Europe Day

    Romania and the Republic of Moldova celebrated Europe Day

    On May 9, Romania celebrated, along with the other European states, Europe Day, dedicated to peace and unity on the continent. This date also has a special historical significance for Romanians, as it marks State Independence Day. In the message conveyed on Europe Day, President Klaus Iohannis said that Europeans want to live in free societies, with a functional rule of law, where rights and freedoms are respected. According to him, “the current challenges show us all the more clearly that we have a responsibility towards people to maintain peace on the continent, and the surest solution is to strengthen the European construction and strengthen the unity between our nations”. In turn, the Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu recalled that, after joining the EU, Romania benefited from over 64 billion Euros from European funds, money it received in addition to the total amount it contributed to the EU budget. In an intervention on Radio Romania, Iulia Matei, ambassador and permanent representative of Romania to the EU, pointed out that unity is the key to a strong Europe.

     

    Iulia Matei: “If we look back a little, and especially in recent years, we can see that together we have achieved a series of results that we probably would have considered much more difficult to achieve, but also impossible. And here I am primarily thinking of the fact that the EU has become a stronger geopolitical actor. We proved that we are a reliable partner for Ukraine, in the context of the current Russian aggression, and we also made these essential historical decisions related to the opening of accession negotiations with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova.”

     

    The Arch of Triumph in Bucharest was illuminated in blue on the evening of May 9, to mark Europe Day, and the EU Flag was projected on the facade of the Palace of Parliament. In the big cities, Europe Day was celebrated with military parades and artistic events. Both Europe Day and Victory Day were celebrated in Chişinău as well. President Maia Sandu, members of the government and Parliament laid flowers at the Eternitate Memorial, to commemorate those who fell in the Second World War. A special ceremony was also held in the square in the center of Chişinău, in the presence of the president and the European commissioner for budget and administration, Johannes Hahn, who is visiting the Republic of Moldova. May 9, 1945 was the first day of peace in Europe after the Second World War, about which no one can speak triumphantly, especially since we are witnessing a new war in Europe, said Maia Sandu in her speech from the Great National Assembly Square. She emphasized the benefits that integration into the EU will bring, one of the biggest guarantees being peace and national security.

     

    Maia Sandu: “We don’t want to go somewhere, we want to stay at home and let the European Union be at home. Happy anniversary, European Union! Happy anniversary, European Moldova!”

     

    Europe Day is the day when we honor all those who value and defend the European Union, peace, stability and prosperity on our continent, including the citizens of the Republic of Moldova”, said, in turn, the European Commissioner Johannes Hahn. (LS)

  • דיפלומט רומני מבקר בקיבוץ הזורע

    דיפלומט רומני מבקר בקיבוץ הזורע

    סגנית ראש הנציגות הדיפלומטית הרומנית בישראל, Corina Badea, ביקרה בקיבוץ הזורע בהזמנתן של שירה וחגית אורי, אחיינית ובתה של Suricai Braverman, הצנחנית האגדית ילידת בוטושאני (צפון רומניה) שהשתתפה ב- מבצע מיוחד שאורגן על ידי המודיעין הבריטי במלחמת העולם השנייה.



    בשנת 1944 נשלחה קבוצה של מתנדבים ציונים אמיצים מפלסטינה ארץ ישראל, על ידי MI9 למדינות הכבושות של מרכז ומזרח אירופה כדי לסייע באיתור שבויי מלחמה בריטים והצלת יהודי אירופה, משימה שהוטלה על הסוכנות היהודית.



    הסיפור האמיתי והמדהים הזה של אומץ, הקרבה והתנגדות יהודית מתואר בסרט “מרגלים מזדמנים” של הבמאית הרומנית אואנה גורגיו, שעשתה עבודה יוצאת דופן בתיעוד הפרק ההיסטורי המורכב הזה, המתואר להפליא עם תמונות מדהימות. הסרט התיעודי יוצג בסינמטק תל אביב באוקטובר ואנו ממליצים בחום לראות אותו, כך מסרה שגרירות רומניה בישראל.



    שירה וחגית גדלו בקיבוץ שמיר שהוקם בשנת 1944 בעיקר על ידי קבוצה קטנה של עולי רומניה, חברי תנועת הנוער הציונית השומר הצעיר. כיום הן מתגוררות בקיבוץ הזורע, שהוקם ב-1936 על ידי יהודי גרמניה ובו נמצא מוזיאון האמנות וילפריד, אוסף אמנות מזרח אסיה ש וילפריד ישראל הוריש לקיבוץ הזורע.



    היה מאוד מעניין לשמוע על ההיסטוריה ואורח החיים בקיבוץ ולראות את היכולת המופלאה לצמוח ולהסתגל, אמרה קורינה בדאה.

  • “Occasional Spies,” a new documentary by Oana Bujgoi Giurgiu

    “Occasional Spies,” a new documentary by Oana Bujgoi Giurgiu

    The director, film producer and executive director of the Transylvania International Film Festival (TIFF) Oana Giurgiu returns with a new documentary, after her 2015 Aliyah DaDa. Occasional spies is based on true facts and testimonies, and recreates the story of unusual espionage acts that had a decisive influence on how WWII unfolded: the story of ordinary people recruited from among young Zionists in Palestine, sent back to their home countries in Eastern Europe, including Romania, to get information on the Germans.



    The documentary premiered in 2021 and won an honorary jury mention in the Romanian section of the 2021 Astra Film Festival in Sibiu. A guest of RRI, Oana Bujgoi Giurgiu said she had spent a lot of time researching, and that the story had a starting point in a scene from her first movie, Aliyah DaDa.



    Oana Bujgoi Giurgiu: This is a story from WWII, more precisely the year 1944, a year with a lot of turmoil and unexpected changes, a year when the war seemed to be drawing to a close and solutions were being searched to find out the fate of the Allied prisoners of war in Eastern Europe. And at that point somebody in a secret service had this really bold and unusual idea, to recruit ordinary people and send them to Eastern Europe, because this mission could not have been accomplished by British or American spies, they would have been caught immediately. So this idea came up, to recruit spies from among the people who had managed to immigrate to Palestine before the war. In short, the plot of Occasional Spies is similar to a real-life version of Inglorious Basterds and I have to admit that Quentin Tarantino’s film was an inspiration for me. The story is fairly unknown in Romania and equally little known in the other countries where the events took place. Unfortunately, we are used to learning in schools about our local and national history, placed in a broader international context, but we are never told how certain political or military decisions affect the countries around us, our immediate neighbours.



    In orderto retrace the story of the occasional spies, the director Oana Bujgoi Giurgiu resorted to a series of photos made by Alex Gâlmeanu. Letiţia Ștefănescu was in charge of editing, the sound design was entrusted to Sebastian Zsemlye, and the original score was written by Matei Stratan. The film was shot in Romania, Israel and Slovakia.



    Oana Bujgoi Giurgiu: I am an occasional film director. It was the same with my first film, because I set out to tell many impressive, rich stories, which I felt deserved to be known. In this particular case, of documentaries concerning stories from the past, the problem is that the images provided by film archives, the only ones you have access to from the respective period, are rather scarce. Moreover, a war was going on, which means that the images one can use in a film of this kind are more often than not frontline footage and diaries kept by those involved. I was trying to illustrate the personal backgrounds of my characters, so I had to come up with a solution to bring these images to life, so I chose these series of photographs. It was a tremendous amount of work, which I would never do again. I have been working with the editor Letiția Ștefănescu for a long time now, and we usually share a lot of the work in a film, I cannot claim sole authorship. But with this film, I must mention all those who took part in making it. Alex Gâlmeanu, the author of the photographs, is an amazing artist, the original score was written by Matei Stratan and actually the entire soundtrack is a work of art in itself. Sebastian Zsemlye was in charge of the sound design. And I truly believe that Occasional Spies is a demonstration of what team work should be.



    The cast of the film includes the actors Paul Ipate, Daniel Achim, Ioan Paraschiv, Mihai Niță, George Bîrsan, alongside many amateur actors. Istvan Teglas, Ionuț Grama and Radu Bânzaru also contributed voiceover for the characters. (AMP)

  • May 8, 2022

    May 8, 2022


    Visit. Romania is home for hundreds of thousands of children, women and elderly people fleeing war and the effort made by the Romanian people will be remembered as a symbol of solidarity and wisdom as the nation opened its doors to peace and freedom to its peers. This was a statement sent by the government on Saturday on the occasion of a meeting between Mădălina Turza, state advisor and strategic coordinator of the humanitarian assistance for refugees, and the United States First Lady Jill Biden. The latter expressed her full support for the support and solidarity of the states at the forefront of the management of the Ukrainian crisis. She visited a school hosting women and children refugees from Ukraine and met Romanias First Lady Carmen Iohannis. On Friday, on arriving in Romania, dr. Biden visited the Mihail Kogalniceanu airbase in south-eastern Romania where she met US military. Her visit to Romania comes less than two months after that of vice president Kamala Harris. After Romania, she travelled to Slovakia to showcase the support of the US administration for the Ukrainian refugees.



    Refugees. More than 9,000 Ukrainian citizens crossed the border into Romania on Saturday, up more than 12% compared with the previous day. 5,000 entered via the Ukrainian border and the rest via the Moldovan-Romanian border. From the beginning of the Russian invasion on 24th February until 7th May, more than 884,000 Ukrainian citizens crossed the border into neighbouring Romania. The Romanian border police said they supplemented the number of staff and border checks are carried out efficiently.



    Ukraine. Britain said it would provide further military support for Ukraine worth 1.3 billion pounds. The announcement was made ahead of a meeting by video link of the G7 leaders with Ukrainian president Volodymy Zelensky. This is the most Britain has spent in a conflict since Iraq and Afghanistan. NATO believes Russias war against Ukraine will not end soon, but that the latter will prevail and NATO will provide assistance, said the alliances secretary general Jens Stoltenberg. NATOs main mission is to prevent the war from spilling out outside Ukraine and to minimise risks through collective defence and deterrence and consolidating its positions on the eastern flank. Stoltenberg said Germany is playing the main role in this mission. On the ground, Ukraine bombed Russian positions on Snake Island, which is located some 45 km from Romania. It also continues diplomatic efforts to rescue its fighters trapped in the Azovstal steelworks, the last stronghold of the Ukrainian forces in the port city of Mariupol, after the last civilians were evacuated on Saturday.



    Celebration. Western Europe today celebrates the 77th anniversary of the end of WWII. In France, where this is a national holiday, ceremonies are held at military cemeteries and at war memorials and president Emmanuel Macron is laying flowers at the statue of general Charles de Gaulle and the tomb of the unknown soldier under the Arch of Triumph. 8th May celebrations are held this year in a tense international context because of the war in Ukraine, with the allies from 77 years ago now occupying different positions. On Saturday as he was sworn in for his second term, president Macron emphasised the need for European unity to face the challenges of this century.



    Travel. Bucharest is one of the cheapest cities to visit in Europe, according to Time Out magazine. The ranking takes into account the city vibe, the tourist attractions, the price of accommodation and the price of a pint of beer. The Polish city Cracow is the cheapest, followed by Riga in Latvia and Český Krumlov in the Czech Republic. Bucharest is fourth in the ranking, which contains 11 cities.



    Handball. The Romanian womens handball champions CSM Bucharest are today facing the Danish side Esbjerg away in the second leg of a Champions League quarterfinal match. In the first leg, Esbjerg pulled off a narrow 26-25 win, having been ahead throughout the match. The winner will play the Leagues Final Four. Established in 2007, CSM won the Champions League title in their first appearance at this competition, in 2016, and finished in third place in the next two years. Declared best handball player in the world four times, in 2010, 2015, 2016 and 2018, CSMs left back Cristina Neagu is also the top scorer of this edition of the Champions League, with 103 goals. (CM)


  • The passage of the Soviet Army through Romania

    The passage of the Soviet Army through Romania


    Romania first
    entered WWII in June 1941 alongside Nazi Germany, hoping to recover
    territories it had lost to the USSR a year earlier. Three years
    later, however, on 23rd August 1944, Romania broke off its
    alliance with Germany and joined the coalition of the United Nations.
    The immediate contact with the Soviet army was, however, brutal and
    engendered a lot of negative sentiment in Romanian society for
    generations to come. Radio Romania’s Oral History Centre contains
    many testimonies about the abuse and violence committed by the
    occupying Soviet army at the time. Writer Dan Lucinescu, for example,
    was a young army officer. In 2000, he recounted how he was humiliated
    by a Soviet non-commissioned officer in the centre of Bucharest:

    I was walking
    down the street when I ran into a Russian who put a gun to my chest.
    Trying to explain that I didn’t understand what he wanted from me,
    I somehow realised from his gesticulation that he was angry I hadn’t
    saluted him. I told him I was training to be an officer, while he was
    a non-commissioned officer, so it should be him saluting me. At gun
    point, he ordered me to do a marching walk and to salute him. I
    didn’t want a confrontation with him, so I saluted him. He could
    have easily shot me.


    Dan
    Lucinescu’s
    unpleasant experience was nothing, however, compared
    to what he saw happen a few days later, in broad daylight and in the
    middle of Bucharest:



    I
    saw a teenage girl, probably a high school pupil, walking by. There
    were trucks full of Russian soldiers. One of the soldiers suddenly
    pulled her, while she started screaming. They took her with them, and
    of course no one intervened. They were armed to their teeth.







    Colonel
    Gheorghe Lăcătușu fought
    in the Romanian army alongside the Soviets against the Germans. In
    2002, he told Radio Romania’s Oral History Centre how the Soviets
    treated everything they laid their hands on:







    The
    Soviets were seizing everything, trains, vehicles confiscated from
    the population, from the German army, from us, the Romanian army. You
    had to have a
    special dispensation, otherwise
    they’d even they your horses if they didn’t have a serial number
    somewhere.
    They told us they were from the Germans. It was prize of war and we
    weren’t entitled to it.



    Gendarmerie
    colonel Ion Banu recounted in 1995 how a Soviet soldier took his
    watch on a street not far from where Radio Romania today has its
    headquarters. Close by, he could see the corpse of a Romanian soldier
    executed by the Soviets:

    When
    they returned
    from Germany they looked so ridiculous. Each had two or three watches
    on their wrists. I even saw a Russian with a watch hanging around his
    neck. Once
    I
    was buying an envelope to write to my parents and
    I was wearing a very beautiful watch which I had received as a gift.
    A Cossack unit was just passing by, with their big and heavy horses,
    and one of them saw my watch and came up to me. He said ‘davai,
    davai’, meaning to give him my watch. I was carrying a gun so I
    said: ‘It’s mine!’ But he just snatched the watch from me. He
    was carrying a machine gun. They wouldn’t hesitate to shoot you. I
    saw so many terrible things. On Cobălcescu street, for example, it
    still pains me to remember, I saw a Romanian colonel shot dead, his
    wife near him. He was lying in
    the street, shot by the Russians. They’d do that kind of thing:
    they would take a man’s wife, rape her and shoot the husband.


    A
    teacher fromȘieuț,
    in
    Bistrița-Năsăud,
    Vasile Gotea also
    served as an officer in the Romanian army. In 2000, he recounted how
    he came close to being shot by the Soviets three times:



    I
    was almost shot three times. All kinds of disorganised troops that
    had passed through the front line were roaming about, through the
    villages. Not far from my house, they found what they thought was
    wine, but was in fact a recipient with a lid full of grapes to be
    kept for winter. They asked me for wine, but there was no wine. I
    told them I didn’t have any and they wanted to shoot me. Another
    time they took me
    behind
    the school, put a gun to my chest, asked me to raise my hands and
    then
    went
    through my pockets, taking everything they found and my watch. And
    another time, a man was passing by in a cart pulled by an ox and
    about 16 Russian women got on the cart, demanding he took them where
    they wanted to go. I must have said something and they immediately
    pointed their guns at me, ready to shoot. One wrong move and I’d
    have been shot. So I didn’t say anything anymore and the cart drove
    by.

    The
    Soviets’ encounter with Romania was violent and left painful
    memories and resentment which
    won’t be erased from history books
    any
    time soon.

  • 75 years since the signing of the Paris Peace Treaties

    75 years since the signing of the Paris Peace Treaties

    After a couple of months, on
    February 10th 1947, to be precise, a series of peace treaties with
    the former allies of the Nazi Germany like Romania, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria
    and Finland was signed. Each of these defeated countries tried to improve their
    difficult situation as they possibly could at that time. However, all of them,
    apart from Bulgaria, have lost territories and had to make compensation
    payments after the war.




    At the peace
    conference, Romania was represented by a government controlled by the communist
    party imposed by the Soviet occupation. The Romanian lobbyists and the team who
    worked on the official stand tried to bring strong arguments in support of
    Romania’s case. Gheorghe Apostol had a leading position in the Romanian
    Communist Party and in a 1995 interview to Radio Romania said that the biggest
    fight to represent Romania’s interests at that time wasn’t put up by the
    communists in the government.




    Gheorghe Apostol: Romania’s delegation also included Pătrăşcanu,
    not only because he was a justice minister at that time but also because he was
    a well-known political leader. There were several rounds of talks but Romania’s
    main speaker wasn’t Pătrăşcanu. The man who talked directly with the Western
    powers during the peace talks was Tătărăscu, Foreign Minister at that time and
    a political leader well-known in Romania and abroad. After the talks on the
    Paris Peace Treaty in 1947, the delegation came back and was given a hero’s
    welcome, although the main gain was only the issue of Transylvania. However,
    Romania’s right over Transylvania was obtained with great difficulty.




    Gheorghe
    Barbul used to be the chief of Marshal Antonescu’s cabinet, and the country’s
    Prime Minister between 1940 and 1944. He was assigned the task of drawing up
    two files, one on Romania-Hungary differences and another on the situation of
    the Jewish minority in Romania.




    Gheorghe
    Barbul: I was asked to draw up those two reports by the commission, which
    was supposed to present them during the peace talks. The commission was chaired
    by Ana Pauker. Of course it was very difficult for me to write these two reports.
    The report about Hungary wasn’t an issue, I wrote it as I thought and nobody
    contradicted me. But with the Jewish minority the situation was different
    because as a collaborator to Ion Antonescu and Mihai Antonescu I found it
    difficult to write as I should back then. Because if I had written it as they
    wished, I would have had no character but had I written it as I wanted I could
    have found myself in a delicate situation. And suddenly I got lucky after I had
    received some documents from the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, an
    international Jewish organization, which had some references about Romania. So
    I was able to learn that the number of Jews who remained in Romania after the
    ceding of Bessarabia, North Transylvania and Southern Dobrudja, was close to
    400 thousand. So in my report the situation of the Jews, unlike in the other
    countries under German occupation, was one of the best. The report was
    submitted to Ana Pauker, who, to my surprise, approved it.




    Paul
    Niculescu-Mizil a former leading figure of the communist party confessed that Romania
    not being granted the title of co-belligerent country at the peace treaty talks
    was unfair.


    Paul Niculescu-Mizil:
    The biggest issue they tackled was the issue of co-belligerence. We sustained
    that idea but they even changed the real date when we started fighting the
    Germans. The peace treaty doesn’t mention the date of August 23rd
    when we actually started waging war against Germany but September 12th.
    So, they changed the actual facts and that benefitted the Russians and the
    Americans alike. Why did it benefit the Russians? Because they wanted to appear
    as liberators of Bucharest, of Romania. In one of my articles I told the story
    of Russian general Konev who came to hand us the battle flag of a Russian tank
    regiment, which had allegedly liberated Bucharest. However, I gave Defence
    Minister Bodnaras a collection of documents, including the newspapers issued in
    the days of August 29th, 30th and 31st 1944,
    showing Soviet troops receiving a hero’s welcome in Bucharest with flowers and
    all. What better proof than that? The Russians’ entry in Bucharest was hailed
    by the communists whereas the Social-Democrats welcomed the Romanian army. So,
    the Russian troops entered Romania to parade not to fight.






    75 years ago, the peace treaties
    in Paris sealed the end of WWII. The countries defeated had different destinies
    though. For Italy and Finland, the future looked prosperous and democratic whereas
    Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria were in for the tyranny and poverty brought along
    by the communist regimes instated in those countries.




    (bill)

  • Romanian fighter pilot Gheorghe Mociorniță

    Romanian fighter pilot Gheorghe Mociorniță

    When it comes to building and testing various flying machines, Romania
    boasts a tradition of more than 100 years. In early 20th century,
    some Romanians showed a keen interest in aviation and got involved in this emerging
    domain purely out of passion. States also got increasingly involved with the
    new domain, which became of economic, military and strategic importance. Some
    of the pioneering aviators became leading figures in this new life domain while
    others became part of the community of enthusiasts, who pushed this new domain into
    gaining momentum.






    However, inventors were not the only ones to have made a name for
    themselves in aviation. They shot to fame thanks to the performances they achieved,
    the time in history when their talents and inspiration manifested themselves and
    even to destiny. A major name of the Romanian military aviation was WWII hero,
    lieutenant Gheorghe Mociornita who had been killed in action at the age of only
    26 in the Czech Republic, on April 21st 1945, nine days before the
    war was over.




    Gheorghe Mociorniță came
    from a famous family in inter-war Romania. His father was a petroleum
    technician while his uncle was the well-known industrialist Dumitru Mociornita,
    a major entrepreneur in the country’s then leather and footwear industry.
    Strangely enough for a future fighter pilot, Mociornita had graduated from the
    Faculty of Letters and Philosophy with the Bucharest University. He got his
    flight permit and in 1943, when war was raging in Europe, after graduating from
    the military academy he became a fighter pilot.






    The Mociornita family was dealt a heavy blow back in 1941 when his elder
    brother was killed in the fights of Sevastopol in Crimea. In 1993, pilot Tudor
    Greceanu, a colleague of Mociornita’s, recollected the time he was flying the
    Messerschmitt fighters back in 1941 when the Romanian army conquered
    Odessa.




    Tudor
    Greceanu: A fighter squadron usually consisted of 15 planes at that time. Not
    all of them were operational but we counted on at least 12 flightworthy planes
    almost on a daily basis. The rest were undergoing various maintenance works or
    repairs. However, at a certain time after the fall of Odessa, out of all the 45
    planes of our three squadrons, we ended up only with 3. Because they were
    unable to replace them in due time back then. The Romanian state had initially
    purchased from Germany 3 squadrons of Messerschmitt fighters bf 109. We received
    the planes, got them ready and went straight to war. What was hit, damaged or
    in need of repair of course became unavailable.




    After getting his pilot license, Mociornita joined the 1st
    Fighting Squadron to do his training. In the spring of 1944 after the first
    allied bombs had fallen in the oil area of the Prahova Valley, Mociornita’s squadron
    was sent to intercept the US bombers. In the month of May, he scored his first
    victory against the enemy when he brought down two US bombers, which took off
    from the air base in Foggia, Italy. Until August the 23rd 1944, when
    Romania left the Axis, second lieutenant Mociornita had taken part in all the
    missions carried by his group.




    After August 23rd
    1944, Mociornita became lieutenant and was awarded the Romanian Crown medal for
    valor in the fight against the enemy and for the support given to the ground
    troops.




    The frontline moved to the West now and the young fighter pilot joined
    the efforts to liberate northern Transylvania from under Hungarian occupation
    and also in the liberation of Czechoslovakia. He was assigned various missions ranging
    from reconnaissance to air support for the ground troops. Taking off from air
    bases in Hungary, the 2nd Fighting Group, Mociornita was part of, provided
    air support to the advancing 27th Soviet army. In his last mission,
    the 29th, Mociornita was patrolling an area used by the retreating
    German troops. He was flying a Romanian-made fighter plane IAR 80 and with his
    wing-man started strafing the German columns. Because he had to fly at a lower
    altitude he was shot down by the anti-aircraft guns. His body was buried in the
    cemetery of Romanian heroes in Zvolen, Slovakia.






    During his 29 missions, the Romanian pilot Gheorghe Mociornita managed
    to shoot down three planes and is considered an ace. He was posthumously
    awarded the Romanian Star, the Romanian Crown and the Air Force Virtue while
    parts of his fighter plane were placed on display at the National Military
    Museum in Bucharest. A statue was erected to his memory in his native town in
    2015 and Romania’s 86 Fighting Group is bearing his name.




    (bill)

  • Romanian POWs who died in detention in the USSR

    Romanian POWs who died in detention in the USSR


    For the countries in the eastern half of Europe, Romania included, the end of WWII brought with it Soviet occupation. Hundreds of thousands of Romanian soldiers died during the war in the Soviet Union, while tens of thousands of prisoners died in camps or are unaccounted for. To remember the Romanians who died in WWII on the eastern front, Romanias embassy in the Russian Federation published a list of Romanian army prisoners who died in detention in the USSR. The list also includes civilians identified in the Russian archives.



    Vasile Soare, Romanias ambassador to Moscow, led efforts to discover the names of the dead:



    “Just before Easter, we at the Romanian embassy in Moscow achieved something that is a first in Romanian historiography, namely the publication of a complete list, containing all the information on the subject available in the Russian archives, of the Romanian prisoners of war and civilian prisoners who died in prisoner camps on the territory of present-day Russian Federation. They were buried in the vicinity of these camps between 1941 and 1956. The list contains the names of 20,718 Romanians, most of whom were prisoners of war and therefore soldiers.”



    The effort to track down all these names was intense and lasted more than a decade. Vasile Soare explains to Radio Romanias Moscow correspondent Alexandr Beleavski how the number and status of the prisoners on the list was established:



    “Wed been working to finalise the list for ten years. Last year we published half of the list, containing over 10,000 names, and now we managed to finalise the list by adding another 11,000 names to it. Were speaking exclusively about prisoners, and not people who died in battle in Stalingrad or at the bend in the river Don, were speaking about survivors of the great battles who were captured and became prisoners of war. The list also includes civilians, more precisely ethnic Germans who were deported in January and February 1945. They were displaced from Romania shortly before the end of WWII, when a considerable number of ethnic Germans were forcefully displaced from Central and Eastern Europe. The largest number came from Romania, around 70,000 people, some 8,000 of whom died in Soviet labour battalions and camps.”



    In the fog of war there were many unknowns and it was for the following generations to clarify them as much as possible. Vasile Soare tells us the story of the Romanian prisoners of war in the USSR in the 1940s:



    “The first began to arrive in the Soviet camps in 1941. The majority arrived in 1942, more than 100,000 people, a very large number, and even after 23rd August 1944 and later, after October 1944. It is difficult to establish an exact number but from what we found in the archives were estimating 236,000 Romanian prisoners. It appears that about 65,000 died in the camps. We only know exactly what happened to the almost 21,000 names we found in the archives and published. After the battles of Stalingrad in the Don river bend that took place from November 1942 until towards March-April 1943, no records were kept of the foreign prisoners of war who entered the Soviet camps. So there are tens of thousands of people who were never officially recorded, which accounts for this difference in numbers. Compared with the Russian official statistics, which indicate 15,435 deaths among Romanian prisoners of war, when we studied the archives we found the number to be higher. On closer inspection, we realised the additional numbers were different people, so we added them to the list and arrived at 20,718.”



    The names of 40,000 Romanian prisoners of war are yet unknown. Vasile Soare describes the most difficult things about working with old archives:



    “The most difficult part was understanding the handwriting. Every entry was written by hand by the Soviet soldiers working in the camps who often spelled the names of the foreign prisoners as they heard them. There were many mistakes and it was hard to establish the actual names of the prisoners. We wanted to publish the list around Christmas 2019, but it wasnt possible; we were, however, able to get it published in time for the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII.”



    The list contains the soldiers names and surnames, the names of their fathers, their dates of birth, the camp where they were interned and the dates of their death It also contains an appendix listing all camps, special NKVD hospitals and labour battalions where the civilians who were deported were interned. Since publication, many Romanians have identified the names of their relatives, grandfathers and great-grandfathers, in what has been a very emotional experience. Apart from the study of archives and field research into the names of the Romanians who died in Russia, the Romanian embassy is also leading a campaign to memorialise the places where they died almost 80 years ago. So far, 34 memorials have been built on the territory of present-day Russian Federation to commemorate the Romanians who died. Some of these memorials are accessible to visitors. Many of the places where Romanians died have been forgotten in time, but others have been remembered again and are about to be memorialised.




  • November 26, 2018 UPDATE

    November 26, 2018 UPDATE

    VISIT — Romanian President Klaus Iohannis travelled to Paris on Monday for a two-day official visit to inaugurate the Romania – France Cultural Season. On Tuesday, at the Georges Pompidou Center, he is joining French President Emmanuel Macron at the launch of the event. The two heads of state will visit Brancusis atelier, the exhibition dedicated to Romanian peasant garb as seen in the work of French painter Henri Matisse and Romanian painter Theodor Pallady, as well as contemporary exhibitions. Iohannis and Macron will hold official talks, confirming the special bilateral relations enjoyed by the two countries, as well as talks aimed at strengthening the strategic partnership, consolidating economic cooperation and the role of the Romanian community in France. Klaus Iohannis met on Monday with representatives of the Romanian community in France.




    CONFLICT — The Romanian Foreign Ministry voiced deep concern at the recent naval conflict in the Black Sea between Russia and Ukraine. The reaction comes after Russian intelligence confirmed that their coast guard had captured three Ukrainian ships in the Black Sea. According to the ministry, aggression and violations of international law undermine the security of the entire region. Representatives of the ministry said that Romhania fully supports Ukraines territorial integrity and sovereignty, and its right to use its territorial waters. The UN Security Council will convene in emergency session to debate the incident in the Black Sea. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a decree on Monday to introduce martial law for 60 days, a statement on his website said, though it needs parliamentary approval to come into force.




    CEMETERY – The second cemetery for Romanian soldiers fallen on the Eastern Front in WWII was inaugurated in Russia, in the Krasnodar region, on Monday. The remains of 88 soldiers and officers who lost their lives on the frontlines in the Kuban region, who had been initially interred in 8 local villages, were reburied there. The Romanian cemetery will be part of a memorial complex alongside resting places of German, Slovakian, and Hungarian soldiers. The first Romanian cemetery for servicemen fallen in WWII in Russia was inaugurated in 2015 close to Volvograd, formerly Stalingrad, holding the remains of 1,644 soldiers.




    EUROBAROMETER – Romanians are among the most concerned Europeans regarding the transparency of elections. They would also like to be more informed about the elections and that more youngsters should run in the elections in order to be motivated to come to the polls, reveals the latest Eurobarometer released on Monday. The Romanians’ highest concern as to the elections is about people voting in spite of not being entitled to. At the same time, Romanians fear multiple voting, the manipulation of elections and the buying of votes. The majority of the EU respondents were concerned about a range of potential electoral interferences. More than six in ten (61%) were concerned about elections being manipulated through cyber attacks, with 24% saying they were ‘very concerned’ about this.




    RESIGNATION — Deputy PM and Minister for Development, Paul Stanescu, resigned on Monday all positions he held in the Government. Previously, PM Viorica Dancila had said she had asked for Stanescu’s resignation but that the latter had refused. Social Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea said on Monday that a decision as regards the steps to be taken if the head of state further refuses to fulfill his atributions regarding the appointment of new ministers. would be taken within the coalition next week.




    FESTIVAL– Sunday night, the Irish Radio and Television Orchestra brought to a close the 4th edition of the RadiRo International Radio Orchestra Festival. For a week, the festival featured prestigious symphony orchestras from all over Europe. For the first time this year, the festival featured jazz recitals. RadiRo is the only event devoted to European and world radio orchestras. All concerts were broadcast live by Radio Romania’s channels, recorded and subsequently rebroadcast by the public television. The concerts were also rebroadcast by the radiobroadcasters that are members of the European Broadcasting Union.


    (Translated by Elena Enache)


  • Radio Romania 90

    Radio Romania 90

    Initiated by amateurs and supported by the state, Romanian radiophony was in perfect tune with the times, being a witness of the countrys major historical moments in the inter-war period and trying to respond to its listeners exigencies.



    The first director of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation between 1935 and 1944 was Vasile Ionescu. He witnessed one of the most important political moments in Romanias history, to which the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation had a direct contribution, the act of August 23, 1944 which changed Romanias foreign policy orientation. Romania relinquished the alliance with the Axis led by Germany and joined the United Nations coalition.



    Here is an excerpt from the transcript of an interview with Vasile Ionescu from the archive of the Oral History Centre of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, recorded back in 1974: “The Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation which has permanently served the country, since the very beginning, both in times of political and social peace and in times of turmoil for the nation, it has played a decisive role in keeping the public opinion informed, both in Romania and abroad. The Radio was close to the Romanians when His Majesty King Michael, supported by the real representatives of the national will, the generals commanding the big units and the patriots gathered around him in the Palace on Victory Road, led the coup of August 23, 1944. The Radio Broadcasting Corporation contributed to preparing and achieving that historical act.



    On June 6, 1944, Vasile Ionescu was called to Pelisor Castle in Sinaia, to have an audience with King Mihai I. There, he was asked about the coverage area of the national radio stations transmitters and was kindly asked that the broadcast transmitted by Bucharest be received in Cairo, where secret negotiations were carried out to take Romania out of the alliance with Germany. The Antonescu government was negotiating with the Soviets, whereas the Democratic opposition was negotiating with the English and the Americans and therefore the delegates needed information from Romania. Transceivers were installed to secure a line of communication.



    Vasile Ionescu: “We decided to set up a transmitter-reception station in Bucharest, at the Royal Palace on Victory Road, which we called ‘Carpati (‘Carpathians in Romanian) and another one in Sinaia, in the villa belonging to army general Gheorghe Racoviceanu, the kings godfather, and that station was called ‘Bucegi. A third one, called ‘Piatra (‘Stone in Romanian) was to be installed in Predeal, behind Marshall Antonescus villa. We chose that locations believing they were the only places that the Germans didnt dare raid or search, although the short-waves could not be detected by a goniometer due to their special propagation way. In a time frame of only 3 days, these shortwave-transceivers were installed and made available to the users. The ‘Carpaţi station in the Royal Palace in Bucharest was operated by probationary engineer C. Bonifaciu, the ‘Bucegistation based in Sinaia by engineer Gheorghiu Vladimir, and the Piatra station in Predeal, by technician Niculae Davidescu.



    Vasile Ionescus life was intense soon after August 23, 1944, when Romania shifted sides and joined the Allies: “On Wednesday, August 23, 1944, at 17.00 hours I received a phone call from the Military Command of the Capital City, and I received the order to wear a military uniform. I reached the office of the capitals commanding general around 17.30 and very much to my surprise I met there the army corps general Iosif Teodorescu and his chief of staff, adjutant colonel Demeter Dămăceanu wearing civil clothes, although they were professional military. The army corps general Iosif Teodorescu spoke to me and said ‘Director general, from now on, you will only take orders from His Majesty King Mihai and adjutant general Constantin Sănătescu, the prime minister. And you will go to the Palace following the shortest route. Soon afterwards, adjutant colonel Demeter Dămăceanu phoned the Royal Palace on Victory Road and talked to divisional general Aurel Aldea, the then interior minister of the government led by adjutant general Constantin Sănătescu and told him about my coming there.



    Attending the council convened by the sovereign in the evening of August 23, 1944 was also Vasile Ionescu, the director of the Radio Broadcasting station. The invitation extended to him actually shows that Radio was of strategic importance in the structure of the Romanian state.



    Vasile Ionescu: In the sovereigns office, as from 18:00 hours, on August 23, 1944, for four hours, until 22:05, I witnessed all preparations and formalities consolidating the coup detat given by that time, starting with the arrest of Marshall Antonescu and of his most prominent collaborators, namely professor Mihai Antonescu, Vice-President of the Council of Ministers, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Propaganda; the army corps general Piki Vasiliu, state secretary with the Interior Ministry and general inspector of the gendarmerie; professor George Leseanu, former governor of Transdniester. Radu Lecca, former commissioner of the government with the Central Jewish Office had already been arrested between 15:30-16:00 hours, until the signing of the decree on amnesty, pardoning and dismantling concentration camps, documents presented by Lucreţiu Pătrăşcanu.



    Radio Romania has always responded when it was called upon to serve its duty. 90 years on, the public radio service boasts a rich history, which is still in the making.

  • Radio Romania 90

    Radio Romania 90

    Initiated by amateurs and supported by the state, Romanian radiophony was in perfect tune with the times, being a witness of the countrys major historical moments in the inter-war period and trying to respond to its listeners exigencies.



    The first director of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation between 1935 and 1944 was Vasile Ionescu. He witnessed one of the most important political moments in Romanias history, to which the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation had a direct contribution, the act of August 23, 1944 which changed Romanias foreign policy orientation. Romania relinquished the alliance with the Axis led by Germany and joined the United Nations coalition.



    Here is an excerpt from the transcript of an interview with Vasile Ionescu from the archive of the Oral History Centre of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, recorded back in 1974: “The Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation which has permanently served the country, since the very beginning, both in times of political and social peace and in times of turmoil for the nation, it has played a decisive role in keeping the public opinion informed, both in Romania and abroad. The Radio was close to the Romanians when His Majesty King Michael, supported by the real representatives of the national will, the generals commanding the big units and the patriots gathered around him in the Palace on Victory Road, led the coup of August 23, 1944. The Radio Broadcasting Corporation contributed to preparing and achieving that historical act.



    On June 6, 1944, Vasile Ionescu was called to Pelisor Castle in Sinaia, to have an audience with King Mihai I. There, he was asked about the coverage area of the national radio stations transmitters and was kindly asked that the broadcast transmitted by Bucharest be received in Cairo, where secret negotiations were carried out to take Romania out of the alliance with Germany. The Antonescu government was negotiating with the Soviets, whereas the Democratic opposition was negotiating with the English and the Americans and therefore the delegates needed information from Romania. Transceivers were installed to secure a line of communication.



    Vasile Ionescu: “We decided to set up a transmitter-reception station in Bucharest, at the Royal Palace on Victory Road, which we called ‘Carpati (‘Carpathians in Romanian) and another one in Sinaia, in the villa belonging to army general Gheorghe Racoviceanu, the kings godfather, and that station was called ‘Bucegi. A third one, called ‘Piatra (‘Stone in Romanian) was to be installed in Predeal, behind Marshall Antonescus villa. We chose that locations believing they were the only places that the Germans didnt dare raid or search, although the short-waves could not be detected by a goniometer due to their special propagation way. In a time frame of only 3 days, these shortwave-transceivers were installed and made available to the users. The ‘Carpaţi station in the Royal Palace in Bucharest was operated by probationary engineer C. Bonifaciu, the ‘Bucegistation based in Sinaia by engineer Gheorghiu Vladimir, and the Piatra station in Predeal, by technician Niculae Davidescu.



    Vasile Ionescus life was intense soon after August 23, 1944, when Romania shifted sides and joined the Allies: “On Wednesday, August 23, 1944, at 17.00 hours I received a phone call from the Military Command of the Capital City, and I received the order to wear a military uniform. I reached the office of the capitals commanding general around 17.30 and very much to my surprise I met there the army corps general Iosif Teodorescu and his chief of staff, adjutant colonel Demeter Dămăceanu wearing civil clothes, although they were professional military. The army corps general Iosif Teodorescu spoke to me and said ‘Director general, from now on, you will only take orders from His Majesty King Mihai and adjutant general Constantin Sănătescu, the prime minister. And you will go to the Palace following the shortest route. Soon afterwards, adjutant colonel Demeter Dămăceanu phoned the Royal Palace on Victory Road and talked to divisional general Aurel Aldea, the then interior minister of the government led by adjutant general Constantin Sănătescu and told him about my coming there.



    Attending the council convened by the sovereign in the evening of August 23, 1944 was also Vasile Ionescu, the director of the Radio Broadcasting station. The invitation extended to him actually shows that Radio was of strategic importance in the structure of the Romanian state.



    Vasile Ionescu: In the sovereigns office, as from 18:00 hours, on August 23, 1944, for four hours, until 22:05, I witnessed all preparations and formalities consolidating the coup detat given by that time, starting with the arrest of Marshall Antonescu and of his most prominent collaborators, namely professor Mihai Antonescu, Vice-President of the Council of Ministers, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Propaganda; the army corps general Piki Vasiliu, state secretary with the Interior Ministry and general inspector of the gendarmerie; professor George Leseanu, former governor of Transdniester. Radu Lecca, former commissioner of the government with the Central Jewish Office had already been arrested between 15:30-16:00 hours, until the signing of the decree on amnesty, pardoning and dismantling concentration camps, documents presented by Lucreţiu Pătrăşcanu.



    Radio Romania has always responded when it was called upon to serve its duty. 90 years on, the public radio service boasts a rich history, which is still in the making.

  • The Odessa Massacre

    The Odessa Massacre

    The events that took place over October 22nd and 25th 1941, when the Romanian army rounded up and executed the Jewish population in Odessa are known as the Odessa Massacre. The operation was carried out in retaliation for a bomb attack on the Romanian Command headquarters allegedly masterminded by the Jews on October 22nd. The attack killed 16 Romanian officers, including the city’s military commander, general Ion Glogojanu. 46 troops and NCOs, several civilians and 4 German navy officers also died in the attack.



    Because the perpetrators had not been captured, the Romanian troops launched an operation against the Jewish civilians in the city, which were perceived at that time as supporters of the Soviets and the partisans. General Iosif Iacobici, who was in charge of the retaliatory measures, reported that many Jews had been hanged on lamp posts in the city squares, some had been shot dead on the spot while others rounded up outside the city for execution. The number of victims ranges between 22,000 and 40,000.



    Archivist Florin Stan from the Diplomatic Archives of the Romanian Foreign Ministry has written a volume of WWll Jewish History in which he explains that the Massacre in Odessa must be understood in the greater context of the war’s early days.



    Florin Stan: “In order to better understand what happened in that October 1941, we must go a little back in time and have a look at some events that had taken place on the frontline after the liberation of Bessarabia and North Bukovina in late June 1941. On August 6th 1941, in Berdicev, a town located in present-day Ukraine, the head of the Romanian state, gen. Ion Antonescu had met Hitler to confirm the intentions of the Romanian government to carry on military operations in the East alongside the Wehrmacht forces. A historian specialized in WWll history explains that out of all Germany’s allies only two could be considered effective participants in the anti-Soviet campaign, namely Romania and Finland, which operated at the extremities of the Eastern front at the same time enjoying substantial autonomy from Germany. Antonescu’s ambition to prove the potential of Romanian troops in the battles of liberating and conquering Odessa – a major strategic point on the Eastern front – was well known.”



    Anti-Semitism had reached its peak in the early 1940s. An ideology of hatred, intolerance and racism, fascism pervaded not only the politics, a certain regime or state, but also people’s daily life. So clichés used by the propaganda machine were seen as undeniable truth. Florin Stan believes that anti-Semitism was an attitude that preceded the massacre in Odessa, a logical effect of the entire climate of hatred instated in Europe, particularly in order to justify failures of one sort or another.



    Florin Stan: “The protracted campaign to seize Odessa forced the Romanian government of the time to come up with explanations. One such stupid explanation was provided by gen. Ion Antonescu himself, who described the Jews as the devil incarnate. Another slogan circulated back then was that ‘without Jewish commissioners we would have long been in Odessa’ and a counter-intelligence bulletin released in September concluded that all Jews were actually waging war against the Romanian troops. That kind of propaganda led to oversimplification, blaming civilians as well as the servicemen who were fighting on the eastern front. Romanian troops entered Odessa on October 16th, after the city had been abandoned by the Soviets. Shortly after the invasion, patrols started to mark the Jewish houses and a ghetto was set up on the premises of the local prison on October 18th. All the Jews who had been rounded up in this ghetto were awaiting deportation and the seizure of all their belongings shortly before the bomb attack on the Romanian Command headquarters was seen as a carefully planned move.”



    However there were people who took a stand against these atrocities, and even the authorities reached the conclusion that the Jews were used as scapegoats.



    Florin Stan: “An example is the attitude of Odessa’s mayor Gherman Pantea, who in the morning of October 23rd was horrified by what he saw at the crossroads. An angry city mayor had told the Romanian officers that the atrocities committed in the city are a blood stain on the Romanian military uniform, which nobody could ever wash away, as those executed had not been proved guilty of any crime. An inquiry into the massacre was launched shortly and in November that year, gendarme general Constantin Vasiliu briefed Ion Antonescu on its conclusions; it was clear that the victims of the massacre had not been among the masterminds of the attack on the Romanian Command headquarters.”



    The Odessa Massacre was one of the counts gen. Antonescu and three of his collaborators were charged on. The four were executed in June 1946 and the Court of Appeal in Bucharest in 2016 reconfirmed the death sentence in response to an appeal made by the son of one of those executed.


    (translated by: Daniel Bilt)

  • Romania’s post-war recovery

    Romania’s post-war recovery

    This is definitely a painstaking and lengthy process. Fortunately, people brace up to avert the fateful consequences of the war; besides, any obstacle would finally be overcome, thanks to the effort made by the succeeding generations.



    Notwithstanding, war-generated traumas are a lot more difficult to heal when the foundation is not properly laid. The communist regime instated by the Red Army in all Central and East European countries tried to rebuild the societies it violently occupied by repressing those who had a different opinion. It is exactly what happened in Romania, whose recovery after the war was more difficult than that of any other country that had not been occupied by the Soviets, although the reported volume of damage was lower than in other countries.



    In the mid-1940s, when everything went well and people tried to reclaim their lives, the newly-instated communist government found it really hard to deal with the difficulties posed by the countrys post-war recovery. The government made the already big problems even more difficult to solve, because incapable people, lacking any political and administrative experience had been appointed to prominent positions only for being obedient.



    Indigence had mainly to do with food supplies, heating possibilities for the population at large and urban mobility. Stefan Barlea was an ordinary young man. He was a high-school student in the 1940s. Later he would climb up the ladder of the communist partys high-level hierarchy. In 2002, Stefan Barlea was interviewed by Radio Romanias Oral History Centre and he recalled the day-to-day hardships Bucharesters had to cope with, as well as the difficulties all those living in Romanias major cities had to face.



    Stefan Barlea: In 1946, we had very serious supply problems, actually that occurred as early as 1945. Transportation was an awful mess, and so were the supply means, the day-to-day life, there was a shortage of fuel. In 1946 economy was picking up as well, be it capitalist, cooperative, private, Im not speaking about the state economy…It was already being given an impetus with all possible means, jobs began to be taken, all people who had fled during the war had returned to their place of origin, schools were functioning, while the most difficult thing had to do with the transport means. It was unimaginable, words fail me at that, but whoever lived those times had a complete grasp of what the fated aftermath of the war meant.



    Public Transportation in Bucharest was quite a desolating picture. Travel conditions were hard to imagine and accidents often happened.



    Stefan Barlea: “Trams were most of the time overcrowded and used to travel with people clinging to them. In 1945, many of Bucharests inhabitants who had fled the city, were returning home. Until people found their place in society and activity returned to normal, winter had already set in. In 1945, one would wait even half an hour for a tram to come as there were but a few of them. We lived in the remote Ghencea district and needed to go a long way to our school, Lazar, in downtown Bucharest. I needed to wake up an hour or two earlier to be sure I could get on a tram. As the tram railways were just in front of our home, I often used to take the tram in the opposite direction and got off one or two stops away. There, I got on a tram running towards the city centre, in order to be able to find a vacant seat. People would travel on the trams buffers and deadly accidents were commonplace. Transport was a big issue when the school year started. In summer we would walk to school and back home almost on a regular basis.



    Food supply and distribution was also a difficult issue and the authorities resorted to ration schemes to cope with the shortage of foodstuffs. It was an emergency, completely unsatisfying solution.



    Stefan Barlea: “The situation was difficult when it came to bread and meat supplies. They were rationed and sometimes the meat rations werent available. Bread came in bigger supplies but they werent enough either. So huge lines would form most of the time. People would wake up at two or three in the night to buy a piece of meat. So it was very painful when dictator Ceausescu had again to introduce the rationing system something that our country didnt actually need at the time. It was something that threw Romania back in time and I had to experience again at maturity the things I saw as a child. Ceausescu did that and it was a stupid mistake; he argued that we had to pay back a big foreign debt, which actually stood at 12-13 billion dollars, that is considerably lower than that of Hungary or Poland, for instance.



    Romanias material recovery after WWII was a huge effort on the part of the whole society and the pressure exerted by the aberrant communist ideology made it even harder.