Before the Narratives of December 1989 Consolidated: Looking through the First 200 Issues of the PNTCD’s “Dreptatea” Newspaper
Posted by romanianrevolutionofdecember1989 on June 14, 2014
(purely personal views as always, based on two decades of prior research and publications)
Thanks to the Fundatia Corneliu Coposu site at http://www.corneliu-coposu.ro/sectiune/index.php/239-ziarul-dreptatea/ copies of the PNTCD’s daily Dreptatea from the early 1990s are available to the public. I have looked through the first 200 editions, from early February 1990 to early October 1990. Many fascinating aspects of Romanian politics and life jump out at the reader. For our purposes here, the most interesting aspect is the details that make their way into articles about December 1989. This was at a time when, although beginning to consolidate, narratives of December 1989 remained somewhat fluid, focusing on what happened and less on how it did or did not fit into competing narratives. It would not be long before these competing narratives would become not just descriptions of what had happened but increasingly political and ideological lenses to view and interpret what had happened–thus leading to the exclusion, knowingly or unknowingly, of details that contradicted or did not “fit” the narrative in question. New theories and even new memories or perhaps better put, lapses in memory or amnesia, would displace earlier memories and details.
It is therefore almost surreal to read the details of December 1989 in the pages of the National Christian-Democratic Peasant Party’s daily Dreptatea, a party and a paper whose opposition to the National Salvation Front and the former communist nomenklatura, was unquestionable at the time and comes through clearly in the pages of this publication–including when it was not published for several days in June 1990 because miners at the behest of the Front’s leaders devastated the offices of the party and the daily….And yet, in articles about December 1989, journalists relayed details which today their political and ideological heirs consistently deny or seek to explain away or wouldn’t be caught dead including in any article about December 1989. Most importantly, that the terrorists of December 1989 existed, that their core was provided by the Securitate and included Arabs from countries friendly to the dictatorial communist regime of Nicolae Ceausescu, and that the terrorists possessed and used atypical and highly destructive munitions that no other forces in Romania possessed: in particular, exploding DUM-DUM bullets that are outlawed by an international convention of which Romania was a signatory.
Niculae Lucian, 30 ani, 21 decembrie 1989, Intercontinental (Bucuresti), piciorul distrus de gloantele dum-dum (also mentioned in https://romanianrevolutionofdecember1989.com/2014/05/18/surgeons-from-bucharests-main-hospitals-discuss-their-experiences-in-december-1989-lt-gnl-traian-oancea-dr-nicolae-nae-constantinescu-dr-dan-gavriliu-dr-nicolae-angelescu/)
G.L. [Gilda Lazar], “Pentru un erou al Revolutiei,” Dreptatea, nr. 52 (6 aprilie 1990), p. 2.
Click to access dreptatea-nr52-1990-0406.pdf
Aurelian Lazu, “REMEMBER,” Dreptatea, nr. 96 (1 iunie 1990), p. 2.
Click to access dreptatea-nr96-1990-0601.pdf
soldat Eugen Mardare, glont dum-dum s-a explodat in abdomen
Raluca Gabriel Mocanu, “Eroii Tragici,” Dreptatea, nr. 100 (6 iunie 1990), p. 4.
Click to access dreptatea-nr100-1990-0606.pdf
Ovidiu Craciun, doua dum-dum-uri
Traian Calin Uba, “Noi amintiri in alb,” Dreptatea, nr. 138 (24 iulie 1990), p. 3.
Click to access dreptatea-nr138-1990-0724.pdf
Ilie Costache, “Accident? [despre cazul avionului TAROM AN-24 prabusit pe 28 decembrie 1989], Dreptatea, nr. 36 (17 martie 1990), p. 3.
Click to access dreptatea-nr138-1990-0724.pdf
gloantele cu virful taiat
Odette Hanganu si Remus Agatinei, “Si Braila e oras martir. Cind se va afla adevarul?,” Dreptatea, nr. 69 (28 aprilie 1990), p. 4.
Click to access dreptatea-nr69-1990-0428.pdf
gloante cu cap vidia
Tudor Barbu, “Trei momente din decembrie si semnele lor de intrebare,” Dreptatea, nr. 36 (17 martie 1990), p. 3.
Click to access dreptatea-nr36-1990-0317.pdf
Sibiu, ROMBAC, 80 de specialisti din capitala
Cristina Mladin, “Inexactitati,” Dreptatea, nr. 101 (7 iunie 1990), p. 3.
Click to access dreptatea-nr101-1990-0607.pdf
The Archive of the Romanian Revolution of December 1989 
Before the Narratives of December 1989 Consolidated (Slight Return): Looking through the 272 Issues of the PNTCD’s “Dreptatea” Newspaper from 1990 « The Romanian Revolution of December 1989 said
[…] https://romanianrevolutionofdecember1989.com/2014/06/14/before-the-narratives-of-december-1989-consol… […]