(purely personal views, based on two decades of prior research and publications)

“ORWELLIAN…POSITIVELY ORWELLIAN:”

PROSECUTOR VOINEA’S CAMPAIGN TO SANITIZE

THE ROMANIAN REVOLUTION OF DECEMBER 1989

by Richard Andrew Hall

Disclaimer:  All statements of fact, opinion, or analysis expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official positions or views of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) or any other U.S. Government agency.  Nothing in the contents should be construed as asserting or implying U.S. Government authentication of information or CIA endorsement of the author’s views.  This material has been reviewed by CIA to prevent the disclosure of classified information. [submitted July 2006; cleared by PRB without redactions September 2006]

This paper MAY be cited when accompanied by a full, proper citation.  Thank you.

https://romanianrevolutionofdecember1989.com/2010/10/05/%E2%80%9Corwellian%E2%80%A6positively-orwellian%E2%80%9D-prosecutor-voinea%E2%80%99s-campaign-to-sanitize-the-romanian-revolution-of-december-1989-part-9-orwellian-sanitywont-get-fooled-again/

https://romanianrevolutionofdecember1989.com/2013/05/21/orwellian-positively-orwellian-prosecutor-voineas-uncritical-reception-by-romanianists/

Bucharest and Tirgoviste, 21-22 December 1989

As for the events in Bucharest on 21-22 December 1989—the events about which Siani-Davies refers to the role the USLA may have played—Romulus Cristea appears to have finally clarified the source of a transcript of communications among the Securitate, Militia, and senior political figures on the afternoon and evening of 21 December 1989 and from the morning of 22 December.  According to Cristea, the intercepts and transcripts were made on the personal initiative of some of the radiotelegraph operators and others employees of the Central Control [Office] of Radio[tele]communications at Strada Oltenitei no. 103 “at great risk to themselves, as recording the frequencies of the Securitate and Militie was illegal.”[163] That explains in part the incomplete nature of the transcripts—in particular, the gap of key hours in the middle of the night when regime forces opened fire on the demonstrators in University Square and brutally carted those who weren’t killed off to jail (48 people were killed, 604 wounded, and 684 arrested).

Cristea does not note—and may not know—that the text of the transcripts appears to be the same as what was published in Libertatea between 27 January and 15 February 1990 under the heading “Dintre sute de…catarge! [From hundreds of “masts!” (the radio identification for USLA officers conducting surveillance)].”  When they appeared at the time, it was not clear from where the transcripts had come, although the absence of exchanges from the period of bloodiest repression overnight was obvious even then.  Still, the truncated transcripts nevertheless revealed clear USLA involvement in the repression in Bucharest.  According to the transcript, upon the orders of Securitate Director General Vlad, the USLA launched tear gas grenades at demonstrators.  They also show USLA “intervention units” claiming to have “restored order” and one USLA member communicating in reference to protesters, “These hooligans must be annihilated at once.  They are not determined.  They must be taken quickly.  The rest are hesitating.”

That more than a decade and a half would pass before these transcripts were reproduced is telling in itself.  For what appeared in the Romanian press in January and February 1990 concerning the USLA’s culpability was to melt away beginning with Army General Stanculescu’s exoneration of them on 26 and 28 February 1990 in an interview with the very same Libertatea.  The USLA had already been trying to “correct” the memories of citizens, prior to Stanculescu’s “clarification” of their role.  When a participant in the demonstrations at Piata Romana in central Bucharest related on 12 January 1990 in Libertatea the role of the USLA in beating demonstrators there on the 21^st and later the presence of the USLA among the gunmen who killed demonstrators in University Square in the early hours of 22 December, USLA chief Ardeleanu rushed to issue a public denial in the paper several days later.  But it was, as I have noted, Stanculescu’s official sanction of the revisionist history of the USLA’s actions that opened the floodgates.

It took almost four years—following Horia Alexandrescu’s “Heroes in Action” series and Petre Mihai Bacanu’s impassioned postscripts in his “Intercon 21/22” series protesting the USLA’s innocence—before Bacanu returned in Romania Libera and declared that, on the basis of what he claimed was “new” information from Army soldiers who had been in the square that bloody “longest night of the year,” he had changed his mind about the USLA’s role:

“Very many officers talk about these ‘civilians’ in long raincoats and sheepskin coats, who arrested demonstrators from within the crowd and then beat them brutally…No one has been interested until now in these dozens of ‘civilians’ with hats who shot through the pockets of their clothes…For a time we gave credence to the claims of the USLA troops that they were not present in University Square.  We have now entered into the possession of information which shows that 20 USLA officers, under the command of Colonel Florin Bejan, were located…among the demonstrators.”[164]

In March 2006, Cristea quoted Nicolae Victor Gheorghe, 38, as saying:

“…Around 23:30 I was arrested with a group that had fled toward the History Museum.  We were surrounded by USLA.  I was surprised to observe that among us several individuals dressed in fur-lined coats stepped forward and pointed out to the ones with the shields who to arrest….We were beaten.  I lost consciousness and when I woke up I was face-down in a van.  I was full of blood.  On top of me had been thrown a pile of other demonstrators.  We were taken directly to Jilava [jail].”[165]

Significantly, USLA Commander Gheorghe Ardeleanu admitted in passing in court testimony that USLA personnel operated in civilian clothes on this evening.[166] At the very least, it is clear that uniformed USLA personnel participated in the repression.  An official at the National Theater—located next to the Hotel Intercontinental in University Square—claims USLA troops beat demonstrators and policed the building to see if any were hiding there.[167] According to the Military Prosecutor’s 4 June 1990 charges:  “The witness [Spiru Radet] specified that one of the soldiers from the USLA troops, who had a machine gun in his hand, fired warning shots and then shot at the demonstrators.  At that point, the witness was wounded in the hand by bullets and transported to Coltea Hospital.”[168]

Certainly, USLA who were involved in the events of 21-22 December 1989 or who came in contact with the demonstrators who were involved were merciless, and behaved as if they had something to hide.  In summer 1990, Expres reported on two young men recovering in an Italian hospital from wounds inflicted during the December events.[169] They recalled how, at the Intercontinental on 21-22 December, “those in kaki [i.e. Securitate, likely USLA] shot us.  The first two rows of troops [Army] shot tracers, while those behind them opened live fire.”  The two, one injured on the 21^st, the other on the 23^rd, claimed that after they arrived in Italy, a certain 40 year old Iordan Cristian, who admitted to them he had been USLA, visited the hospital—he had been shot in the hand at an earlier time and recovered (!)—snatched any reading material showing photos of the 13-15 June rampage against the opposition in Bucharest, and kept them in a general state of fear.  In addition, he asked them to surrender their passports, something which “made even the Italians realize something was not quite right in all of this.”

Similarly, in an article that captures in a microcosm the complexity and fluidity of the first years of the post-Ceausescu era, one-time leader of the small “Liberal Democratic Party,” Elena Serban, maintains she was blackmailed in 1990 by Radu Grigore (a name that was to crop up again in some of the more underhanded political affairs of 1991-1992) who threatened her that “…if I betrayed him, he would kill me, and that I only needed to remember he had been an USLA officer…who had been in charge of the USLA machine-gun detachments on the night of 21 December in University Square.”[170]

[163] Romulus Cristea, “Huliganii astia trebuie anihilati,” Romania Libera, 28 March 2006, online edition.

[164] Petre Mihai Bacanu, “Au evacuat materiale…stropite cu sange,” Romania Libera, 28 December 1993, p.  10.  As I have noted elsewhere, the revelations were not “new” and what they describe is remarkably similar to what Army recruits had described to Armata Poporului in the 17 January 1990 issue.

[165] Quoted in Romulus Cristescu, “Astia ne impusca, ca la Timisoara,” Romania Libera, 29 March 2006, online edition.

[166] Paul Stefanescu, Istoria Serviciilor Secrete Romanesti (Bucharest:  Editura Divers Press, 1994), p. 288.

[167] Vasile Neagoe, Expres, 30 March-5 April 1990, p. 6.

[168] The Military Prosecutor’s report dated 4 June 1990 is reproduced in Mircea Bunea, Praf in Ochi:  Procesul celor 24-1-2 (Bucharest:  Editura Scripta, 1994), quote found on p. 88.

[169] Victor Radulescu, “Excursii prin Contul Libertatea,” Expres, no. 11 (August 1990), p. 5.

[170] Dan Badea, “Securitatea—un joc in numele trandafirului,” Expres, 8-14 September 1992, p. 9.

[171] In Simion Buia, jr. “Justitia ‘cocheteaza’ cu Puterea Politica?” Romania Libera, 13 June 1991, p. 2a, quoting Ioan Itu.  The aforementioned Liviu Viorel-Craciun claimed he was told by a Securitate officer who claimed to have been on the roof when the helicopter departed that “they could not do anything against Ceausescu there because on the roof were ‘lunetisti.’” (Liviu Viorel-Craciun, “Ex-ministrul de interne CRACIUN LIVIU-VIOREL isi continua destainiurile,” Expres, no. 14-15 (1990).)

http://jurnalul.ro/special-jurnalul/ucis-in-ziua-in-care-a-implinit-22-de-ani-la-sala-dalles-598302.html

Ucis în ziua în care a împlinit 22 de ani, la Sala Dalles

Autor: Luminita Ciobanu 04 Dec 2011 – 21:00

Baban Florin Corneliu s-a nascut la Galati, insa, impreuna cu sora lui, Maria, a fost crescut de bunica Melania. A invatat la Scoala generala nr. 84 din Bucuresti apoi s-a inscris la cursurile scolii profesionale de chimie. A dorit din toata inima sa urmeze liceul, asa ca, fara sa stea pe ganduri, a continuat treapta intai la Liceul “Nicolae Tonitza”, insciindu-se ulterior la cursurile serale. “Era un copil linistit, respectuos, modest si curajos. In timpul liceului a urmat scoala de ghizi montani. (…) Viata era grea, banii erau putini. Dimineata muncea la Combinatul de Cauciuc Jilava ca mecanizator, in praf si fum, iar seara mergea la scoala. In vara anului 1987, pe 13 august, hotaraste impreuna cu un prieten sa plece din tara. Este arestat si inculpat pentru tentativa de trecere frauduloasa a frontierei. Multa vreme familia nu a stiut nimic despre el. A spus atunci ca nu poate trai decat liber si va face tot ce poate pentru a reusi. Pe 21 decembrie 1989 a implinit 22 de ani. Din economii si-a cumparat o pereche de pantaloni si un material pentru palton. Avea sa le ia cu el in pamant, fiind ucis in fata Salii Dalles, de ziua lui. Cei de acasa l-au asteptat, au sperat, dar el nu s-a mai intors. L-au cautat zile in sir prin toate spitalele. Au cercetat chipurile tuturor celor omorati, asezati in sali sau in gramezi umane incremenite in camerele frigorifice. Au cautat printre legaturile cu haine pentru a-l descoperi dupa imbracamintea purtata. Au atins sangele inchegat, scurs din ranile facute de baionete sau de gloante explozive. Aproape toti erau tineri. Pe 27 decembrie l-au inmormantat in Cimitirul Eroilor tineri, zi plumburie in care noroiul pamantului l-a inghitit in mare graba”, a povestit, cu sufletul cernit de durere, mama sa, in albumul “Miracol ’89 – eroi si martiri”.

Bucuresti: noaptea 21/22 decembrie 1989

GLOANTE EXPLOZIVE (DUM-DUM)

POPTEAN Petre, născut în 27.12.1965, la Margău lângă Huedin, domiciliat în Bucureşti str. Carpaţi 54, a lucrat ca şofer la ITB. In 21 Decembrie s-a dus în oraş să-şi protejeze sora care ieşea de la serviciu. Amândoi au plecat pe Calea Victoriei şi au ajuns la Dalles, unde cu groază au asistat la strivirea Mioarei Mirea de către tancheta ce intrase în mulţime făcând să sară în sus capete, mâini şi picioare într-un vacarm asurzitor. Prin sângele ce băltea pe jos, Petre i-a strigat sorei că se duce să ridice răniţii. Pe când era aplecat, a fost lovit în abdomen şi şoldul stâng de cartuşe dum–dum care i-au provocat răni mari. Sora lui, Monica, a reuşit să oprească o salvare cu număr de Târgovişte, dar până la Spitalul 9 nu a mai rezistat. Aproape de ora 18 s-a stins Petre.

http://www.procesulcomunismului.com/marturii/fonduri/ioanitoiu/aeroi/docs/album_7.htm

Spitalul Coltea (Cristian Calugar, “Cine a tras gloante explozive?” Flacara, 13 februarie 1991, p.9)

1. Nicolae Lucian, adus pe data de 21 decembrie 1989. Diagnostic: fractura cominutiva femur sting in treimea inferioara, cu leziune de artera si vena femurala si pierdere de substanta prin plaga impuscata.

2. Necunoscut, adus pe 22 decembrie, ora 1, decedat la ora 1.30. Diagnostic: hemoragie peritoneala cataclismica cu plage de vena porta, case splinice, zdrobire de pancreas prin plaga impuscata hipocondru sting. Plaga zdrobita de colon travers.

Bucuresti: noaptea 21/22 decembrie 1989

GLOANTE VIDIA (CRESTATE; calibru 5,45-5,65)

Ultima data a fost vazuta in viata la 21 decembrie, in jurul orei 23:00, in zona Intercontinental. Tot la Inter a murit si tanarul Lucretiu Mihai Gatlan, de 19 ani, impuscat probabil de la o distanta cuprinsa intre 20 si 100 de metri. Cristian Florea a fost impuscat in cap la 21 decembrie, in jurul orei 24:00, in zona restaurantului Dunarea. A fost lovit din spate, probabil de la o distanta de 10-30 de metri, cu un glont perforant, cu varful rotunjit.

http://www.jurnalul.ro/stire-special/21-decembrie-48-de-morti-nici-un-vinovat-56485.html.

http://morar.catavencu.ro/2008/12/21/cine-a-tras-in-noi-pina-n-22/.

1. lucid Says:
   December 21st, 2008 at 10:33 pm Eu am fost martor ocular in centrul Bucurestiului de la ora 12 la ora 18. Dimineatza, la 7.30 – se luminase, era o zi calda cu soare – am vazut in piatza Unirii coloanele de manifestantzi si m-am mirat ca era cam devreme. Am ajuns la Romana si de acolo la hotel Dorobantzi de unde trebuia sa insotzesc doi colegi fizicieni de la institutul Kurchatov la aeroport. Trebuiau sa plece duminica, dar de la ambasada fusesera sfatuitzi sa plece mai devreme si eu fusesem cu ei la Aeroflot – vis-a-vis de Scala sa-si schimbe biletele. La ora 8.30 eram la ei si apoi am luat autobuzul Tarom de ora noua (pleca din fatza agentziei de pe Brezoianu, unde e azi CFR-ul). I-am dus la aeroport, i-am vazut trecand de controlul bagajelor si pe la 11.30 m-am suit in autobuz inapoi. La ora 12, la Romana, soferul ne-a spus ca traseul e deviat si ne-am dat jos. Tocmai auzisem la radioul autobuzului ca luase cuvantul o tanara utecista. La 12.05-12.10 in dreptul magazinului Eva am vazut venind grupuri compacte de mitingisti, destul de calmi. M-am mirat ca se terminase asa repede. Ajunsi in dreptul lor, am auzit: “ne-au chemat la miting ca sa traga in noi”. Hait, mi-am zis, hai repede in piatza palatului ca s-a intamplat ceva. Am ajuns pe Onesti si am vazut catziva “tovarasi” dirijand destul de calmi ambulantzele ca sa-i ridice pe cei catziva calcatzi in picioare. Surpriza cea mare a fost in piatza cand am putut merge pe trotuarul din fatza ceceului, care era de peste 10 ani interzis “publicului”. Piatza era goala, dar pe iarba din fatza balconului celebru zaceau zeci de steaguri si lozinci – unele rupte. In dreptul barului Atlantic – era cca 12.20 – un grup oarecum compact de “tovarasi” – erau, mi-am dat seama ulterior – cadrele lui Goran (secu’ municipal) si ofitzerii IGM-ului (militzia Bucuresti). L-am recunoscut pe un fost coleg de liceu, era parca lent-major la militzie, pe care l-am intrebat ce se intampla. Mi-a raspuns calm: asta e, daca nu a mai slabit putzin shurubul….De altfel, totzi din grup erau surprinzator de calmi (formasera grupul disciplinat de “uratori” din fatza balconului, care a fost filmat de TV dupa panica din piatza, ei ramanand grupatzi disciplinat ca sa strige lozincile). Un om al lui Goran a venit cu un fel de tzevi indoite – cam 20 cm una – spunand ca asa ceva se putea face si la IMGB, apoi puneai carbid si….poc. Au primit un ordin si au plecat in liniste pe Calea Victoriei spre sediul lor – cladirea de langa magazinul Victoria. Am mers si eu dupa ei si am ajuns la cca 12.30 in fatza Cercului militar. Eram mai multzi care cascam gura. Se auzeau deja lozinci scandate spre libraria Eminescu (sunt de la Timisoara, a spus cineva), cand, deodata, un microbuz s-a oprit in dreptul nostri si vreo trei malaci in combinezoane albastre cu bate gen baseball s-au repezit la noi ca si cand voiau sa ne ia la bataie. Am ridicat mainile spre unul si i-am spus: ce vrei cu noi? ne uitam. Ne-a lasat in pace dar vad si acum jocul de glezne ca al boxerilor in ring pe care-l faceau in fatza trecatorilor. Am trecut pe trotuarul unde e acum Pizza Hut. Un “tovaras” cu palton de stofa englezeasca si caciula brumarie plus burta de rigoare s-a rastit la noi – eram gura-casca – sa plecam de acolo “caci s-ar putea sa se traga”. Auzind, niste femei de la etajul I – probabil lucratoare al magazinul Compescaria de atunci, au strigat la el: vretzi sa ne omoratzi acum? “Tovarasul” s-a inrosit ca racul si a luat-o la sanatoasa spre sediul din Calea Victoriei. Am ajuns pe Academiei in dreptul Arhitecturii unde ne-a oprit un cordon de militzieni si civili. Nu pot uita cum la catziva metri, in fatza la hotelul Union, un “tovaras” tot in palton dar cu palarie tare a luat literalmente de parul lung o tanara si a bagat-o in hotel. Am trecut prin pasaj la Telefoane si, era blocat accesul acum spre piatza palatului, am coborat spre cinematograful Union. Am fost fotografiat de un “toavras” – aparusera mai multzi si deocamdata fotografiau pe toata lumea de pe strazi. Am ocolit sala palatului si am iesit in Magheru pe Onesti in fatza Bisericii Italiene. Era cam 12.45 si se formase cordonul de trupetzi cu scuturile acelea albe caraghioase. Erau speriatzi, recrutzi. In spate “tovarasii” erau agitatzi si discuatu aprins. M-au lasat sa stau cateva minute acolo – se auzeau lozinci scandate dinspre Intercomntinental. La un moment dat mi-au cerut sa plec si, ocolind pe Vasile Conta, am ajuns pe la 13.30 cred in fatza la Intercontinental. Am sta aici pana s-a intunecat, asistand la napraznica sosire a celor doua sau trei TAB-uri vopsite in albastru pe care scria MILITZIA si care efectriv erau sa striveasca catziva tineri sub rotzi. Se scandau lozinci, se discuta aprins, se huiduia, dar “fortzele de ordine” erau in expectativa in perimetrul din jurul ceceului si palatului. Pe la ora 18 am plecat acasa ca nu mai puteam de foame.
   Cine a tras in acea noapte? Simplu de aflat: intrebatzi “catargele” – securistii instalatzi pe cladirile inalte din zona ca sa observe orice miscare (asa se facea si pe traseul acasa al ceausestilor, zilnic). Nu cred ca ei au tras, dar sigur i-au vazut pe lunetistii din apartamentele conspirative din zona care au impuscat numai in cap si in gat cu gloantze vidia. Nu ca sa faca macel, ci ca sa imprastie multzimea. Au mai tras din spatele scutierilor catziva dementzi de securisti si activisti plini de ura si prostie care nu pricepeau ca partida era pierduta. Au tras cu pistoalele din buzunar la adapostul trupetzilor cu scuturi. Putzini si astia, majoritatea pricepusera ce va urma. Putzini – putzini (probabil cateva zeci), dar tot au omorat atatzia tineri. Din pacate nu se vor da in gat intre ei, asa ca doar Dumnezeu ii va pedepsi.

Marius Delaepicentru Says:
July 10th, 2008 at 9:22 am

Tm_Ionescu (#14). Am fost la Dales atunci. Armata a tras, e drept, cu muniţie de război, dar dacă ar fi tras din plin, aproape că n-ar mai fi rămas martori. Ar fi fost mai rău ca la Amritsar. După prima şarjă, cea de după intrarea camioanelor în mulţime, am văzut un singur civil răpus de glonţ. Era pe trotuar, acolo unde probabilitatea de a fi fost nimerit era ceva mai micaă. Pare să fi fost un glonţ de calibru mic. Şuvoi subţire de sînge, dar moarte instantanee, ceea ce, mai degrabă validează tehnica (anti)teroristă de la Timişoara.

Cît despre autori, cred că ei sunt printre noi, sunt vocali, sunt în sistem, iar cei mai norocoşi figurează în Top 300. Ceilalţi sunt cămătari mărunţi, recuperatori, traficanţi de chestii ilegale, patroni de “firme de pază”.

http://teodorescu.blog.cotidianul.ro/2008/07/09/cine-a-tras-tintit-la-timisoara/.

Re: Sa nu ii uitam….

Iti multumesc pentru interventia ta…e bine ca se mai gandeste cineva si la cei care au murit acum 20 de ani.Acum 20 de ani…joi noaptea…la 23:45 cand s-a spart baricada am primit si eu un glont in picior…o rana penetranta in pulpa ..pe care d’abia acasa am descoperit-o..pe la 6 dimineata….era mai superficiala si glontul nu imi atinsese artera femurala.Dar nu rana mea a contat…ci copilul de 12-13 ani pe care l-am gasit intr-o balta de sange pe str.Slanic..langa ministerul agriculturii.Avea trei gloante in piept…daca mai sufla.L-am dus la camera de garda a spitatalului Coltea…pe aceasi strada.Jigodiile nu au vrut sa il primeasca…mi-au inchis usa in nas.Am lasat copilul jos si am fugit spre piata Rosetti…incepusera sa apara scutierii…si garzile patriotice..si civili care bateau la sange tot ce prindeau.Eram plin de sangele copilului…probabil ca din cauza asta nici nu mi-am dat seama ca sunt ranit.Simteam o durere in picior..dar in momentul spargerii baricadei ne-am batut corp la corp cu scutierii masati la restaurantul Dunarea.Mi-am luat ceva bulane in cap si pe tot corpul..nici nu stiu cum am scapat.Am fost impuscat pe peluza teatrului National..cand fugeam spre str.Slanic.

Glontul a venit din dreapta…dinspre ministerul agriculturii-( asta am reconstituit mai tarziu…pe moment nu am simtit nimic..eram buimacit de bulanele primite si trasoarele trase de armata….si era de calibru mic..5,4 sau 5,6….arme purtate de trupele speciale).

M-am ingrijit singur..am cunostintele necesare fara sa fiu medic.O rana penetranta cu doua orificii..intrare -iesire..in cvadricepsul coapesi drepte..cam 1 cm in adancime..nici nu a sangerat cine stie ce.M-a luat ameteala cand mi-am cercetat hainele…in canadiana aveam pe lateral 2 gauri iar in caciula-una de ski..tuguiata.inca doua…intra creionul perfect prin ele..7.62..calibrul armatei romane.Dobitocul care a intrat primul cu tancul in baricada…dupa care a inceput sa traga in draci cu mitraliera de 12,3 in noi-( gloantele astea te rup in doua daca te ating)-dupa care a luat-o pe Republicii..a coborat din tanc si a tras in noi cu pistolul…se numeste Iliescu.Era plutonier ,conducator de tanc.Peste 3 ani devenea general si era seful SPP-ului lui Ion Iliescu.Azi e un prosper om de afaceri si..bineinteles..erou al revolutiei…si ca el sunt mii de falsi revolutionari care vin si ne rad nou in nas…mai ales cei de pe 22 incolo.Noi..cei din Timisoara…Lugos…Resita..Arad..Cluj..Bucuresti avem o satisfactie amara…stim totusi cu cine ne-am batut..stim cine a tras in noi..stim cine ne-a fost adversarul...a fost o luta inegala..dar reala.Dar din miile de eroi -dupa 22-( le-a fost usor sa iasa cand Ceausescu fugise iar armata era cu noi)-care dintre ei stie clar cu cine s-a batut?…cine si-a vazut adversarul?…pentru ce au primit titluri si medalii?…pentru ce merite?…si fata de cine?.Pana pe 22 sunt 1500 de certificate de revolutionari..din care 300 de morti si 400 de raniti.Dupa 22..restul pana la 20000..acum..ca am fost 40000 la un moment dat….s-a aplicat proverbul romanesc,,Putini am fost…multi am ramas”
M-am lasat un pic dus de val.Indiferent de situatie sunt mandru ca am fost acolo unde trebuia sa fiu cand trebuia..sunt mandru ca nu mi-a fost frica si nu am fost las…sunt mandru ca langa mine au fost aproape 2-3000 de persoane…toti luptand cu mainile goale impotriva tancurilor lui Ceausescu.Sunt mandru ca impreuna cu ceilalti din tara am reusit sa formam bulgarele care a declansat avalansa..acest merit nu ni-l poate lua nimeni..indiferent de interpretarile date evenimentelor din decembrie 1989.Indiferent de situatie..nimeni nu stia cand a iesit in strada..care ii va fii sorocul…marea majoritate s-au gandit ca e posibil sa moara.Si dupa mortii de la sala Dalles de la ora 16:30-( nu eram acolo…am ajuns in piata la 20:10)…represiunea mai rau i-a indrjit pe cei aflati acolo…nu s-au speriat..nu au fugit..asa cum in cursul noptii timp de doua ore s-a tras in draci-( canonada a inceput la ora 22-22:10 dupa aducerea masinilor in baricada)-si nimeni nu a fugit..chiar si dupa ce au dat cu grenade lacrimogene…de credeai ca iti iau foc ochii.
Un gand pios fata de cei care au demonstrat ca poporul roman are calitati si reurse nebanuite….pacat ca ne lipsesc conducatorii.Cititi ,,Scrisoarea a III-a a lui Eminescu…mai ales a doua parte…si o sa vedeti ca de fapt nimic nu s-a schimbat.Dixit.

http://www.entropiaforum.ro/viewtopic.php?f=45&p=15418

Dan Voinea, Constanin Isac, Teodor Maries, si asociatia 21 decembrie 1989

723. Achim Ştefan (Jilava-vol. 61) – decedat
Numitul Achim Ştefan, fiul lui Dumitru şi Frusina, născut la 20.06.1946 în Făurei, cu ultimul domiciliu în Bucureşti (…) a participat la manifestaţia care a avut loc în ziua de 21.12.1989 în centrul Capitalei. În noaptea de 21/22.12.1989, a fost împuşcat de forţele de ordine, fiind transportat la Spitalul Clinic de Urgenţă Bucureşti şi internat cu diagnosticul „plagă împuşcată subscapulară stânga toracico-abdominală cu leziune pulmonară, frenică şi explozia splinei, distinctie parieto-abdominală şi costală (orificiu delabrant), glonţ exploziv-toxic, şoc traumatic şi hemoragic. În pofida intervenţiei chirurgicale la care a fost supus şi a terapiei urmate, a decedat în ziua de 25.12.1989, urmare unui şoc toxico-septic ireversibil.

http://mariusmioc.wordpress.com/2013/07/03/cercetarile-parchetului-in-dosarul-revolutiei-13-bucuresti-ucisi-prin-impuscare-in-21-decembrie-si-noaptea-de-2122-decembrie-1989/

https://romanianrevolutionofdecember1989.com/2011/08/18/tvr-22-decembrie-constantin-vaeni-s-a-tras-de-catre-alti-oameni-cu-cartuse-cu-glont-o-voce-de-securitate/

(a strictly personal observation)

This seems all-too-typical to me.  For all the clips from TVR during the events of the Romanian Revolution of December 1989–in fact, for all the clips including Col. Mihai(l) Lupoi–this is the first time I have seen the following clip with Constantin Vaeni from the early afternoon of 22 December 1989.

It is significant.  Vaeni, in a confused intervention, shows a bullet which he says he was given by a soldier on a tank which he and other civilians rode out from the center…one can only imagine that since the soldier gave him the bullet as evidence that as Vaeni says “others shot,” that this was not in the Army’s arsenal (otherwise it does not make a lot of sense).  So it is important to note, the whole discussion of the bullets used by non-Army forces (Securitate and Militia) began before the “terrorists” ever opened fire and in fact was specifically in discussion to bullets with which demonstrators had been shot the night before in Piata Universitatii (University Square).

Needless to say, the producer of this film (Sange pe Catifea, Cornel Mihalache) is unaware of the significance of this brief scene and doesn’t draw attention to it.

from TVR film “Sange pe catifea” (6b) between 10:00 and 10:30

http://www.trilulilu.ro/clauteo/6c99efb920996b

https://romanianrevolutionofdecember1989.com/2009/12/21/21-22-decembrie-1989-piata-universitatii-bucuresti-ziarul-romania-libera-28-decembrie-1993/

Stau cam uimit…daca am inteles din reportajul fragmentar…se pare ca dosarul 97/P/1990…se refera in principal la 21-22 decembrie 1989  in bucuresti (deci piata universitatii), fiindca e vorba de acesti curajosi dar nenorociti 48 de morti si 150 de raniti (vedeti articolul din ziare.com reluat din Newsin 16 septembrie 2009 in legatura cu aspectul acesta)…deci se pare ca n-are nici o legatura directa cu evenimentele dupa fuga lui Ceausescu si etapa “teroristi”!

Hai sa trecem la citeva articole interesante despre aceste tragice evenimente din seara cea mai lunga 21-22 decembrie 1989:  dupa aproape patru ani in care el a negat ca unitate speciala de lupta antiterorista (securitatea) au avut vreun rol represiv in evenimentele din 21-22 decembrie 1989…Petre Mihai Bacanu a revenit pe 28 decembrie 1993 in Romania Libera …

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Procurorii mai au in lucru doar doua dosare ale Revolutiei

Miercuri, 16 Septembrie 2009, ora 22:46 Sursa: NewsIn

http://www.ziare.com/actual/eveniment/09-16-2009/procurorii-mai-au-in-lucru-doar-doua-dosare-ale-revolutiei-887694

=============================================================================================================

https://romanianrevolutionofdecember1989.com/2010/12/22/22-decembrie-flight-of-the-ceausescus/

An excerpt from

A chapter from my Ph.D. Dissertation at Indiana University: Richard Andrew Hall, Rewriting the Revolution: Authoritarian Regime-State Relations and the Triumph of Securitate Revisionism in Post-Ceausescu Romania (defended 16 December 1996). This is the original chapter as it appeared then and thus has not been revised in any form.

The Role of the USLA in the Bucharest Repression of 21/22 December

(traducere in limba romana de catre Marius Mioc http://mariusmioc.wordpress.com/2010/11/01/rich-hall-rescrierea-istoriei-revolutiei-5bis-rolul-usla/ , http://mariusmioc.wordpress.com/2009/01/24/rich-andrew-hall-rescrierea-istoriei-revolutiei-triumful-revizionismului-securist-in-romania-6-22-decembrie-1989-ce-l-a-facut-pe-ceausescu-sa-fuga/ , http://mariusmioc.wordpress.com/2009/01/31/rich-andrew-hall-rescrierea-istoriei-revolutiei-triumful-revizionismului-securist-in-romania-7-ceausestii-in-timpul-fugii/ )

Nicolae Ceausescu ended up shortening his speech and scurrying off the balcony of the CC building while regime forces attempted to clear Palace Square. Demonstrators merely took to other parts of the city center. Two major points of confrontation between demonstrators and regime forces developed along the wide Magheru boulevard: the Roman Square and the University Square (site of the hulking concrete monstrosity known as the Intercontinental Hotel). The latter would be the scene of major bloodshed on the night of 21/22 December. At least 50 demonstrators were killed, almost 500 were injured, and as many as 1,200 were jailed on this night in Bucharest alone.[82]

Petre Mihai Bacanu’s seminal month-long series (”Intercontinental 21/22″) exploring the events of University Square is as puzzling as it is enlightening. Bacanu began his series on 14 March 1990, shortly after the new Defense Minister, General Victor Stanculescu, had reversed the official version of the USLA’s actions during the December events.[83] On 15 March 1990, Bacanu began interviewing three employees of the Intercontinental Hotel. They described how, after the ill-fated rally broke up, “USLA troops dressed in civilian clothes” chased after the demonstrators, fired “petarde” at them, and beat them.[84] In the following day’s episode of the interview, the issue of the USLA was not raised except in an unusual postscript in which Bacanu added: “We must clarify that the USLA detachments did not fire a single shot, nor arrest a single person among the columns of demonstrators.”[85]

On 17 March 1990, Bacanu felt compelled to preface the third part of the interview with the following statement:

In the course of this episode, esteemed readers, there are again references to the USLA. We have incontrovertible proof that the USLA soldiers had only one mission, to defend the American embassy and the El Al Israeli airlines offices [both located next to the Intercontinental Hotel].[86]

The same three interviewees who had only two days earlier described the USLA in a repressive posture now came forth with highly incongruent descriptions of the rapport between the crowd and the USLA later on the afternoon of 21 December. According to one of the interviewees:

I saw the incident when a student climbed behind one of them [the USLA soldiers] and kissed him and then offered flowers to those from the USLA. I also witnessed the scene in which the USLA officers received the flowers and held them in their hands.[87]

By 24 March 1990, Bacanu was asking his interlocutors questions such as this: “I have heard that the USLA were served tea. It was something civilized: they were also cold. Are you convinced that they did nothing wrong against you?”[88] On 18 April 1990 a new interviewee recounted how one of the USLA men had begun crying at the sight of the aforementioned girl (who, according to the source, was from Timisoara) distributing flowers to the USLA.[89]

Such a portrayal of the USLA’s behavior and the crowd’s view of the USLA lies in stark contrast with Emilian David’s description (published on 12 January 1990) of events taking place simultaneously less than a mile away at the other end of Magheru boulevard at Roman Square:

3:45 p.m. We are attacked with brutality by the USLA troops. Women and young girls scream, men and boys try to put up whatever resistance they can. They beat us mercilessly…

5:30 p.m. We are attacked again with even greater fury by the USLA troops. The “paddywagons” are filled with people.[90]

Later, after being forced to flee from the Roman Square, David eventually made his to the other end of the boulevard at University Square. David describes the presence of a cordon of USLA troops equipped with shields and clubs at this location. When gunfire erupted towards midnight, David suggests that these USLA “beasts” were among the gunmen. “The dead and wounded littered the streets,” according to David. Paul Vinicius also recalls the arrival of these “special troops” just after midnight: “Who are these beasts who shoot? They are young, and judging by the way they talk amongst themselves, they appear drugged. They shoot in anything that moves.”[91]

The charges drawn up by the Military Prosecutor in the trial of the former CPEx members (dated 4 June 1990) reiterate such allegations. According to this document, between 9 and 10 p.m. on the evening of 21 December at University Square, “the forces of repression composed of USLA, Militia, and Securitate [i.e. uniformed] troops began to encircle the crowd of demonstrators, forcibly detaining some of them whom they beat brutally, many being killed.”[92] The same document cites a witness, Spiru Radet, according to whom, at midnight “USLA troops equipped with helmets, shields, and clubs” followed a tank through the barricade erected by the protesters.[93] The witness continues: “…one of the USLA soldiers, who had a machine gun in his hand, fired a volley of warning shots and then began to shoot into the demonstrators.”[94]

Additionally, the transcripts of communications among USLA and Militia units reveal that USLA “intervention units” were dispatched to a number of locations in the city center on this afternoon of 21 December.[95] USLA operatives refer to having “restored order” in Palace Square after the end of the rally, and to their mission to “block” access to the American Embassy and El Al Israel offices (rather than to “defend” them as Bacanu had suggested).[96] Their attitude towards the demonstrators attempting to force their way into the official meeting was hardly supportive: “These hooligans must be annihilated at once. They are not determined. They must be taken quickly. The rest are hesitating.”[97] The question is less whether the “flower” episodes happened at all, or happened as they have been described, but why it was these particular incidents, rather than the incidents revealing the USLA’s brutality actions, which garnered publicity in 1990.

Interestingly, almost four years later, in December 1993, Bacanu appeared to reconsider his earlier unquestioning claims about the role of the USLA on the basis of “new” information brought forth by Army soldiers who had been in University Square on the night of 21/22 December. According to Bacanu:

Very many officers talk about these “civilians” in long raincoats or sheepskin coats [cojoace], who arrested demonstrators from within the crowd and then beat them brutally….No one has been interested until now in these tens of “civilians” with hats who shot through the pockets of their clothes….For a time we gave credence to the claims of the USLA troops that they were not present in University Square. We have now entered into the possession of information which shows that 20 USLA officers, under the command of Colonel Florin Bejan, were located…among the demonstrators. [Emphasis added][98]

One of the Army officers told Bacanu that during the evening

…a Militia vehicle arrived from which tens of men–who appeared almost as if they were brothers, in that they were all solidly-built, dressed in leather jackets, with hats on their heads–disembarked….These individuals had “short barrel” weapons and were from the Interior Ministry….They positioned themselves behind the cordon of shieldbearers and then shot from the pockets of their clothes into the demonstrators and dragged demonstrators out of the crowd…[99]

But what Bacanu termed “new revelations” were hardly new. In mid-January 1990, several Army recruits and officers referred to the actions of these “civilians” in interviews with reporters of the Army daily.[100] According to soldier Rudolf Suster:

About fifteen to twenty (dressed in civilian clothes, but one could tell that they were well-trained) disembarked from a single truck and passed in front of the soldiers with shields and when the tanks broke through the barricade which was on fire, they fired. I saw the flashes in front of their raincoats.[101]

Soldier Tiberiu Florea described a similar scene:

I also saw them. They had long raincoats or overcoats and they had guns hidden under them and they opened fire. They were in front of us, they couldn’t hide themselves from us. They didn’t all fire at the same time…One fired, then the other would.[102]

Furthermore, at the trial of Nicolae’s brother, Nicolae Andruta Ceausescu (director of the Securitate’s Baneasa Academy) in April 1990, military witnesses testified that “after the salvo of warning shots were fired, in the uproar produced, from behind us we saw civilians who were firing–I observed the movement of their clothes–hidden weapons through the pockets of their clothes.”[103] Significantly, former USLA commander, Colonel Gheorghe Ardeleanu, confirmed in a court statement that on 21 December the USLA had “performed their duties in civilian dress.”[104]

As in Timisoara in the preceding days, it appears that the USLA were acting in Bucharest in accordance with Order 2600. In early 1990, opposition journalist Vasile Neagoe argued just this point in his discussion of the events of 21/22 December 1989. According to Neagoe, “because in the meetings convened by Ceausescu it had been established that terrorists were involved in the street [events],” the provisions regarding “anti-terrorist warfare” in Order 2600 had been put into operation.[105] Indeed, we will recall that during his televised address on the evening of 20 December, Ceausescu had specifically denounced what was going on in the country as “terrorist actions.” Order 2600–and not the whimsical decisions of various commanders, as Stoian suggests–explains the presence of the USLA at the rally on 21 December and in Roman and University Squares on the night of 21/22 December.

Endnotes

[81].. Raportul Comisiei Senatoriale, “Cine a tras in noi, in 16-22?”

[82].. There were substantial numbers of dead and wounded in many other cities between the afternoon of 21 December and the morning of 22 December: especially in Cluj, Sibiu, Tirgu-Mures, and Cugir. For example, most of the 26 people killed and 105 injured in Cluj during the events were shot during this period.

[83].. It also followed on the heels of series by the editors of Tineretul Liber (Horia Alexandrescu) and Libertatea (Octavian Andronic) which had exonerated the USLA of wrongdoing in December.

[84].. Bacanu, “Intercontinental 21/22,” 15 March 1990, 1, 3.

[85].. Idem, 16 March 1990, 3.

[86].. Idem, 17 March 1990, 1.

[87].. Ibid., 2.

[88].. Idem, 24 March 1990, 1. Bacanu’s interviewees responded by describing the “flower” episode yet again.

[89].. Idem, 24 April 1990, 1, 3. For an equally dubious revision of the USLA’s role in the December events see Horia Alexandrescu, “Adevarul despre USLA [The truth about the USLA],” Tineretul Liber, 4-15 March 1990. In episode three (7 March 1990, “Flori pentru ‘uslasi’ [Flowers for the USLA troops”) demonstrators shout at the USLA troops “and you also are dying of hunger!” and place flowers in the epaulets and helmets of the USLA troops. The USLA unit merely attempted to prevent “elements who had escaped the control of the revolutionaries” from approaching the American embassy and had allowed demonstrators to paint anti-Ceausescu slogans on nearby walls. According to Alexandrescu, the USLA had been withdrawn in their entirety from the zone at 9:30 p.m., thus before gunfire was opened.

<!–[if !supportFootnotes]–>[90].. Emilian David, “Dreptate si adevar pentru ziua intii [Justice and truth on the first day],” Libertatea, 12 January 1990, 1, 2. At least eight people were killed at Roman Square. As if to almost confirm Emilian David’s allegations, three days later, the USLA commander during the events, Colonel Gheorghe Ardeleanu, responded in Libertatea with a public denial of David’s description. See Colonel Gheorghe Ardeleanu, “Precizari,” Libertatea, 15 January 1990, 3.

[91].. Paul Vinicius, “Remember 21-23 decembrie ‘89: Revolutia minut cu minut,” Flacara, no. 51 (19 December 1990), 7.

[92].. See Bunea, Praf in Ochi, 87.

[93].. Ibid., 88.

[94].. Ibid. The witness himself was injured as a result of this gunfire and later transported to the hospital.

[95].. See “Dintre sute de catarge,” Libertatea, 27/29/30/31 January 1990.

[96].. “Dintre sute de catarge,” 31 January 1990, 2.

[97].. “Dintre sute de catarge,” 29 January 1990, 2.

[98].. Petre Mihai Bacanu, “Au evacuat ‘materialele.’ Stropite cu sange [The got rid of “the materials” Covered with blood],” Romania Libera, 28 December 1993, 10. The reference to these civilian gunmen dressed in “sheepskin coats” (cojoace) brings back into discussion one of the articles from Horia Alexandrescu’s March 1990 series (”Adevarul despre USLA” [The truth about the USLA]) in Tineretul Liber exonerating the USLA of any wrongdoing for their actions in December. The title of the 6 March 1990 article–”‘Ace’ pentru ‘cojoacele’ teroristilor,” [‘Pins’ for the ‘sheepskin coats’ of the terrorists]–appears to bear no connection whatsoever to the article, which has no mention of “sheepskin coats” and does not even refer to the role of the USLA in University Square (events discussed in a later episode). Yet this clue and a number of others–including Alexandrescu’s introduction of this article as a “calmant,” an apparent reference to the treatment given to the drugged USLA after the events–suggest that in spite of the fact that the text of the article clears the USLA, Alexandrescu is fully conscious of the USLA’s guilt.

[99].. “Seful represiunii: maiorul Amariucai” in Bacanu, “Au evacuat ‘materialele’.”

[100].. Colonel Gh. Vaduva et. al., “Nici o pata sa nu planeze pe onoarea Armatei! [Not a stain can be placed on the Army’s honor]” Armata Poporului, no. 3 (17 January 1990), 1-2.

[101].. Ibid.

[102].. Ibid.

[103].. Captain Mihai Margineanu, “Un ‘inger’ cu aripile murdare [An ‘angel’ with dirty wings],” Armata Poporului, no. 15 (11 April 1990), 5. The witness, Lieutenant Colonel Teodor Amariucai, appears to bear his own share of the guilt for the bloodshed on the night of 21/22 December.

[104].. Stefanescu, Istoria Serviciilor Secrete, 288. The former Securitate once again appear to transfer their actions onto others in their discussion of the events in University Square. According to “a group of former Securitate officers,” the “tourists” took advantage “of the sound of shots fired in the air and resorted as in Timisoara to shooting the demonstrators in the back to produce victims to ‘mobilize’ Bucharest’s citizens.” See A Group of Former Securitate Officers, “Asa va place revolutia!”

[105].. Vasile Neagoe, “Noaptea cea mai lunga [The longest night],” Expres, no. 14-15 (May 1990), 15.