Romania: The revolution remembered

December the 20th 1989 and a huge cry of freedom rises up from the immense crowd gathered in Opera Square in the Romanian city of Timisoara.

From then on the Communist regime of Nicolae Ceausescu was living on borrowed time.

Today, 20-years on, the memory of that historic time is preserved in the Museum of the Revolution.

Its president is Traian Orban:

“It was extraordinary for us that we could stand side by side and scream ‘freedom’. Together we felt safe and we encouraged each other, but there was also the military.”

Orban carries a painful reminder of the violence of the times. He suffered a gunshot wound to his leg after the securitate opened fire on the crowd.

It was the end of the line for Caeusescu the man who along with his wife Elena ruled Romania for nearly 25 years.

In Timisoara a monument pays homage to those that lost their lives on December the 17th, Maria Andrei was shot dead on Decebal Bridge her body was then cremated to make identification impossible.

Her sister is Camelia Andrei:

“On January the fifth, my parents who lived outside the city, came into town as they were told to collect my sisters death certificate. They went to get it while I gave birth to a child, it was an irony of sorts.”

Geanina Juganuru was 10 when the lifeless body of her father was brought home. An former army general was accused of his death, but acquitted. He is now a university professor.

“There was chance that he could become one of my professors, that he would teach classes I attended. This came as shock to me. I refused to have him as my teacher and my fellow students stood with me and refused to have him in class.”

Twenty years after the event those bereaved are still seeking justice.

Source:euronews.net/