Hungarian Heritage Review, 1990 (19. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1990-02-01 / 2. szám
27 members of his family in high-ranking government positions, thus establishing a personal dynasty. He pirated technology from the West and sold the blueprints to the Soviets for huge profit. At the same time he eliminated Romania’s national debt by slashing food supply and utilities, reducing his countrymen to a hungry, shivering mass. Ironically, the government which succeeds him has a clean slate to work with in obtaining Western credits. CEAUSESCU AND KOJAK With the passing of years Ceausescu became increasingly eccentric. His favorite leisure activity consisted of watching “Kojak” reruns in his private movie theatre inside the Presidential Palace. Head of state normally designate “dirty work” espionage to underlings, but Ceausescu took a morbid personal interest in such operations. All telephones in Romania were tapped; all typewriters were registered, and handwriting samples were taken from the entire population. His wife and second-in-command, Elena, was designated head of the Securitate and took an interest particularly in sex scandals. As a scientist, Elena saw to it that she was awarded numerous honorary degrees. Their son and heir apparent, Micu, was immune from rape charges on the merit of family connections. He drank only the best American scotch, occasionally smashing bottles against the wall in violent frenzies. THE TRANSYLVANIAN EXPERIMENT It seems fitting that the downfall of Ceausescu should be signalled by multiethnic Transylvania. This area was targeted for a particularly bizarre social experiment. Since peasants were reluctant to move to urban areas, Ceausescu decided to move the city to the countryside. Traditional peasant villages were bulldozed to make way for modern “agri-communities.” Romanian villages were just as threatened by this experiment as were their Hungarian and German counterparts. But the blow was felt particularly hard by Transylvania’s Hungarian population, now earmarked for cultural extinction. Accompanying these economic changes was a measure of police repression directed against the Hungarians which was unparalleled in Transylvania’s long history. This included beatings and murder. THE VICTORY OF UNITY Hungarian and Romanian nationalists, accustomed to arguing over who misgoverned Transylvania worse, often times fail to realize that people can remain good neighbors irrespective of the ambitions of politicians. When the Securitate in Timosoara attempted to arrest Hungarian human rights activist, Rev. László Tokes, in December 1989, local Hungarians fought to save their pastor. They were quickly joined by their Romanian fellow citizens. Demonstrations spread throughout the entire country, so that Hungarians and Romanians fought shoulder to shoulder against the Securitate. The army turned its guns on the hated secret police. Until the very end Ceausescu deluded himself into believing that the Romanian people loved him. Reality rudely intruded upon him on December 22, as he was booed before fleeing with his wife to the helicopter on the roof of the Presidential Palace. But the Ceausescus were unable to escape the wrath of a nation where justice tends to be rather abrupt. Their demise marked not only the fall of the last bastion of Stalinism; it marked an occasion in which the Romanian and Hungarian peoples clasped hands in brotherhood. Hopefully this phenomenon may serve as a legacy for a democratic Romania. FEBRUARY 1990 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW 25
