The Archive of the Romanian Revolution of December 1989

[as always, purely personal views based on purely personal research and publications over the past two decades]

Thanks to Miodrag Milin (and ASOCIAŢIA MEMORIALUL REVOLUŢIEI 16-22 DECEMBRIE 1989, TIMIŞOARA), the tapes of the Timisoara trials of 1990-1991 have been transcribed and made available to the public.  These transcripts are highly valuable for the researcher of the December 1989 Romanian Revolution.  To my knowledge, much of this information has never made it into the public domain, and much of the most important information has definitely not.

When reading the courtroom testimony below, keep in mind here the unambiguous rejection by military prosecutor Dan Voinea of the use of dum-dum bullets in December 1989:

Dan Voinea:  There were no victims (people who were shot) from either vidia bullets or dum-dum bullets.  During the entire period of the events war munitions were used, normal munitions that were found at the time in the arsenal of the Interior Ministry and the Defense Ministry.  The confusion and false information were the product of the fact that different caliber weapons were used, and therefore, the resulting sound was perceived differently. (General Dan Voinea, interview by Romulus Cristea, “Toti alergau dupa un inamic invizibil,” Romania Libera, 22 December 2005, online edition.)

[Are these court documents available at the website of the IICCMER?  Or the website of Asociatia 21 decembrie 1989?  No!  Thankfully, however, they are available on this site http://www.banaterra.eu/romana/procesul-de-la-timisoara-1990-1991-vol-v ].  The following is from Volume V.]

Doctors also reported on the wounds caused by explosive bullets (i.e. dum-dum bullets):  In this dispatch from Agence France Presse, relayed by Radio Free Europe on 25 December 1989, Dr. Aurel Mogosanu, a medic in the intensive care unit of a Timisoara hospital, says based on his thirty years of experience, some of the wounds could only have been CAUSED by EXPLOSIVE BULLETS SHOT AT THE PROTESTERS”

sursa (documentele Europa Libera disponsibile la):  http://media.hotnews.ro/media_server1/generic_file-2009-12-22-6754154-0-radio-bucuresti-25-dec-pdf.pdf (p. 49 of 82)

mai mult despre Dr. Aurel Mogosanu in decembrie 1989:  http://www.sorinbogdan.ro/2009/12/timisoara-18-decembrie-1989/.

doctorului aurel mogosanu, seful sectiei anestezie-terapie intensiva (ati), care il simpatiza. si-au luat halatele, iar zoran mi-a dat si mie unul, de la el.

spitalul judetean era inconjurat de soldati, iar la intrare era un civil inalt si solid, in aceeasi scurta de piele gri, cu un automat cu pat rabatabil la gat. ne-a privit cu o figura de gheata si n-a zis nimic vazandu-ne cu halatele albe sub brat. “studenti,” a explicat cristi si ne-a lasat sa trecem. in inconstienta noastra, nu ne-a fost teama nici o clipa ca ar fi putut sa ne legitimeze si, cum eu nu aveam carnet de student, am fi dat de dracu’. in holul spitalului, ne-am imbracat din mers cu halatele, moment in care am izbucnit toti trei intr-un ras isteric: halatul meu nu avea o maneca ! eram nebuni de legat ! zoran a gasit intr-o clipa solutia: mi-a smuls si cealalta maneca. nici azi, dupa 20 de ani, nu inteleg cum de nu s-a prins nimeni de impostura.

doctorul mogosanu a inteles dintr-o privire de ce am venit. si-a pastrat calmul si ne-a trimis pe sectie. saloanele erau pline de oameni raniti in noaptea care trecuse. am citit cu ochii nostri fisele de observatie, care aveau sa dispara pentru totdeauna in zilele urmatoare. diagnosticele erau aproape identice: “plaga impuscata” sau “plaga impuscata transfixianta“. unii erau in stare grava, altii aveau rani mai usoare. ne priveau cu suspiciune si doar cativa au indraznit sa vorbeasca cu noi. erau speriati si ne intrebau daca lumea a mai iesit in strada.

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Two of the testimonies from the Timisoara trials concern the killing/wounding of people with dum-dum bullets after the flight of Nicolae Ceausescu and Elena Ceausescu at 12:08 pm on 22 December 1989 (in other words, the so-called “terrorist phase” of the Romanian Revolution)–the cases of Iosif Cacoceanu and Alexandru Koos (see below).

“Margareta Cacoceanu (59 de ani) a relatat ca sotul ei a fost impuscat, cu gloante dum-dum, dintr-o “Dacie” rosie fara numar de inmatriculare.”

The testimony of Margaret Cacoceanu on 25 September 1990.  The late Timisoara investigative journalist Iosif Costinas, who was one of the few to cover the trials as they were going on, wrote of Margaret Cacoceanu’s testimony in passing in the October 1990 Orizont article above.  She discusses how her daughter related from the county hospital that her husband had been operated on after having been shot by the destructive dum-dum explosive bullets, but nevertheless perished.

Alexandru Koos, wounded by a dum-dum bullet on the night of 22-23 december 1989 in Timisoara