I have collected items that I obtained from my travel there in 1990, 1994 and from eBay pertaining to the 1980s life in Communist Romania. This is the decade of worsening deprivation and oppression that peaked in 1989; the year of the execution of dictator Ceausescu and his wife Elena on Christmas Day.
This month (December 2019) marks the thirtieth anniversary of the violent revolution and overthrow of Romania’s dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu on December 22nd.
I travelled to Romania in early March of 1990 when I was 21 and living in Philadelphia USA. I have never forgotten the joyous celebrations and incredible stories I saw and heard there. I wanted a way to memorialize what I experienced and what the Romanian people went through during the worst of Ceausescu’s reign; the 1980s.
I will post photos of these items, videos and stories from my collection. It will include the good and bad aspects of Romanian life through 1990.
There are several blogs in the Romanian language and museums in Romania dedicated to this period. My hope is to allow English speakers to experience an era that should not be forgotten and to see how freedoms in a country can be taken away gradually or even suddenly.
Life in 1980s Romania 