6. Guided Tour

We walked down the street. In the center, a striking, brand-new Chevrolet was patrolling, as if driven straight out of an American TV series. “A gift from the American government to our police. They received two of these cars. Hopefully, America will be willing to give more assistance. We need it.”

Petru seemed well-informed about everything. He wanted to show me his city and now appeared much happier. Upon leaving a metro exit near the university, he pointed out bullet holes. The walls of the entrance along the stairs had been used as barricades during the December days of ’89. Swinging an imaginary machine gun wildly, my guide walked ahead of me, occasionally ducking and emphasising his role in the revolution with rapid gestures. No misunderstandings: he had fought on the side of the people.

The fallen who had perished here were still being honoured over a year later with small bouquets of flowers and slender burning candles. While an elderly woman on one side of the university building attempted to paste up a fresh wall newspaper, around the corner and out of her view, a man casually relieved himself against the dark wall. Petru didn’t notice. He had continued walking, scoffing at the dilapidated buses and broken phone booths. “Here, look, my friend. This is today’s Romania,” he said, shaking his head.

On University Square, I paused in thought at Ceaușescu’s balcony scene on that memorable December 21, 1989. A few days prior, in Timișoara, the resistance had erupted when the Securitate tried to arrest the critical preacher László Tőkés. The resistance turned into battles with the army and the state security service over the next few days, with tanks being deployed against the population and live ammunition being used. However, the uprising became so massive that on December 20, the army had to withdraw from Timișoara.

Reports of what happened in Timișoara slowly made their way to the capital that week. On December 21, from the balcony of the Central Committee building, the Beloved Great Leader attempted to convey that he was still in charge. But instead of the usual obligatory applause and orchestrated cheers, this time there was jeering that more and more people joined in on. The Ceaușescus and their apparatchiks looked on from the balcony, filled with disbelief and horror.

A day later, thousands of protesters stormed the same Central Committee headquarters. The army remained neutral. And another day later, the Ceaușescus attempted to flee by helicopter, only to be captured.

On December 25, 1989, Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu were sentenced to death and executed by a firing squad on the same day.