Against the side of a wall in a Romanian military barracks, the dictator of Romania and his
wife were executed and slaughtered by a trigger happy firing squad.
The Romanian Revolution was a period of civil unrest which was also linked to other uprisings
that took place in countries around the world. It was also known as the Christmas Revolution
and it began in the city of Timisoara, and then the feelings spread throughout Romania
and it would then lead to the trial and execution of the Dictator of Romania and his wife. The
long in power Romanian Communist Party General Secretary Nicholae Ceausescu and his wife
Elena would be executed against the side of a wall, which brought to an end the 42 years
of communist rule in the country, and the removal of the final Marxist Leninist government
in a Warsaw pact land. It was the revolution that overthrew the government and the dictator
and his wife, and during this over 1000 people died and many more were injured. But join
us today as we look at the ruthless executions of the Ceausescus. As always to support our
channel, please make sure to subscribe.
Nicholae Ceausescu was a prominent member of the Romanian Communist youth movements,
and he would then in 1936 be imprisoned and four years later he was held again for his
actions with the communist party. But he would marry another communist Elena Petrescu in
1939, and he would lean in prison from a communist leader Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, who would later
become the communist leader of Romania in 1952. Ceausescu managed to escape from prison
in August 1944 as the Second World War was still being fought, and he then became more
politically motivated especially with regards to finding power. When the communists came
to power in 1947, Nicholae Ceausescu was involved in the Ministry of Agriculture, before he
became a deputy minister of the armed forces and served as a major general. But Ceausescu
then became the second most powerful person in the country, and following the death of
Gheoghiu-Dej, Ceasescu then became the leader of Romania’s communist party. He would become
the dictator and the head of state, and people across his lands to begin with loved him as
he would also challenge the influence of the Soviet Union over Romania. He ended the involvement
in the Warsaw Pact alliance, and also would speak out against the invasion of Czechoslovakia
and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In 1974 though he became the President of Romania,
and he would enforce his rule brutally.
His police would prevent freedom of speech, and they would not accept any dissent against
Ceausescu, and they also banned other things which caused misery to many. Many people who
dissented would be quickly sent to prison and they would be tortured, and Ceausescu’s
government found themselves also in debt to foreign governments and agencies. They tried
to break out and become a powerhouse in the world, but this failed especially when Nicholae
Ceausescu exported the agricultural and industrial production of Romania to try to clear debts.
This led to many people suffering from a shortage of fuel, resources and medical supplies and
the standard of living for the Romanian people fell heavily. But Nicholae Ceasescu then brought
many of his family members into government including his wife. Elena Ceausescu worked
as a secretary in the Ministry of foreign affairs, but she wasn’t significant until
her husband came to power. She would go with him on state visits to lands sushi as China,
but then she became the second most important person in Romania. She began to become more
involved in politics, and a cult of personality developed around the pair, and Elena was believed
to have been the mother of the nation, and she would be more ambitious and power hungry
than her husband would. She was very self conscious and would prevent her being shown
on camera in profile as she was worried about her larger nose, but in March 1980 she became
the First Deputy Prime Minister.
But in Romania in the 1980s there were a lot of tensions and protests would then emerge.
On the 16th December 1989, a group of Hungarians in Timisoara would protests the eviction of
a Hungarian Pastor named LAzslo Tokes. The government said he was dangerous and that
he was inciting hatred, and they wanted rid of him. But the crowd became very angry, and
they chanted anti government and anti communist shouts, and when the police arrived the protests
began to grow. The original cause was left behind, and some protesters then tried to
burn down buildings and the police would fire tear gas and use water cannons against the
people. They also beat brutally some of the protestors, and then rounded them up, but
the following day the protests and riots continued. Protestors broke into district committee buildings
and the threw things out of the windows, and then the army was sent in to bring things
to an end. But the protests were growing bigger, and were spreading across the land. The army
could not control order, and gunfire occurred and fights broke out. There were many people
who were injured, and cars were torched but the Ceausescu’s then ordered the army to
be sent in. Inside of Liberty Square there was a lot of shooting, and helicopters circled
overhead. It was a war zone, and Ceausescu then abandoned the army leaving them to deal
with it as he went to Iran. He also left his wife to deal with this, and whilst he was
away martial law was then declared as was a curfew. But the protestors would not abide
by this, and many people turned their attention to the government and protesting against them
directly and communism. Some men removed the communist coat of arms from the Romanian flag
and these were then shot at and some died, but Elena then ordered others to take control
of the city and the riots.
But when Nicholae Ceasescu returned back from Iran, he gave a speech to the people telling
them how angry he was at the revolution and the protestors. He then organised a gathering
where he on the 21st December spoke to 100,000 people to try to bring the uprising to an
end. Many supporters were brought in and they were given flags and pictures of Ceasescu
to drown out the protestors, but he had no idea what he was doing. The crowd heckled
him and jeered and boo’ed and then there was a huge roar for the revolution, and Nicholae
Ceasescu looked uncomfortable and he then became very desperate. But then chaos broke
out, and the sound of gunshots could be heard, and the crowd then tried to flee and there
was reports that the security services had fired upon the crowd. But the Speech was broadcast
everywhere and it was a big loss for Ceasescu, and he and his wife were bundled back into
the building. The crowd turned into an angry riot, and anti terrorist squads were gathered,
and the crowd then began to be shot at again. Some were run over, and some were stabbed
by government forces, and there were many horrific sights and the police began to brutally
slaughter anyone they came across.
But it was clear that the end of the Ceasescus was coming on the horizon. They made the decision
to wait until the morning of the 22nd December to try and flee, but before 7am Eleana heard
that more people were heading to Bucharest to join the protests. There were bans on gatherings
but hundreds of thousands were gathering in central Bucharest. At 9:30am, the minister
of defence was presumably executed under suspicious circumstances, and this may have been because
he defied Ceasescus orders to fire on the protestors. The new minister of defence Victor
Staculescu would refuse to also fire on them and he said, ‘I had the prospect of two
execution squads, Ceasescus’ and the revolutionary one.’ But then Nicholae and Elena went onto
the roof of the building they were hiding out of, and they were then to be airlifted
from safety. A group of protestors made their way through the building and overpowered bodyaguards,
and they were seconds from the Ceasescus. But the personal pilot of the Ceasescus was
ordered to evacuate Nicholae and Elena, but there was trouble ahead. The pilot later said
that, ‘Then Stelica, the co-pilot, came to me and said that there were demonstrators
coming to the terrace. Then the Ceaușescus came out, both practically carried by their
bodyguards ... They looked as if they were fainting. They were white with terror. Manea
Mănescu [one of the vice-presidents] and Emil Bobu were running behind them. Mănescu,
Bobu, Neagoe and another Securitate officer scrambled to the four seats in the back ...
As I pulled Ceaușescu in, I saw the demonstrators running across the terrace ... There wasn't
enough space, Elena Ceaușescu and I were squeezed in between the chairs and the door ...
We were only supposed to carry four passengers ... We had six."
The helicopter went to Snagova, and when they got there a unit commander said ‘There has
been a revolution, you are on your own, good luck.’ With this the Ceausescu’s had no
protector, and their security detail tried to get a car but they were picked up by a
doctor who then feigned having car issues. But The Ceasescus would then be arrested by
local police, and they were then sent to the Targoviste garrison military compound and
they were held and were then placed on trial. Many criticised the trial and said it was
a shame and just a formality for the execution of the Ceasescus. But the trial was brief
and only took an hour. The Ceasescu’s tried to defend themselves but they were said to
have been guilty of the genocide of 60,000 people. They were also accused of subversion
of the state power by organising the army to fire against the people, and also destroying
public property and damaging buildings as well as causing irreparable damage to the
national economy. Nicholae and Elena were then convicted of the crimes and were sentenced
to death.
The Ceausescu’s were to be executed for their crimes and this was a bloody end to
the Dictatorship of Romania, and the pair were then taken out to a military base outside
of Bucharest on Christmas Day 1989. There execution took place at 4pm, and the execution
was carried out by a firing squad gathered fro paratroopers, and many people volunteered
to be a part of this and they wanted to executed the dictator and his wife. Nicole Ceasescu
said before the execution that, ‘we could have been shot without having this masquerade,’
and their hands were then tired and bound, and Elena was also brought out for her execution.
Before this took place she screamed ‘You sons of dogs,’ as she would be led outside
and against the wall which would act as a firing range. The wall was against the side
of a barracks. Whilst this took place, Nicolae sung a Communist song, and then as the pair
were standing against the wall the firing squad then began to shoot. The executioners
were trigger happy and the television crew that was there to film the execution were
not ready, and they just caught the final round of gunshots. One member of the firing
squad would state that he was the only one who switched his rifle to automatic, and that
his bullets killed the Ceacescus. The execution was carried out quickly to prevent the pair
being rescued.
Following the executions the bodies of the pair were then covered in canvas, before they
were then buried inside of a cemetery’s and these were the final people to be executed
before capital punishment was abolished in Romania. But stood against the side of the
barracks the Ceausescu’s reign over the nation came to a bloody and brutal end.
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