The condemnation of the crimes of communism, in the absence of a trial similar to the Nuremberg trials, is only a metaphorical action and a checkmark in a work agenda, doctor of historical sciences Flori Bălănescu stated in IPN’s public debate “History, an international antidote to political repression”. According to the researcher of the National Institute for the Study of Totalitarianism of the Romanian Academy in Bucharest, although Romania condemned the crimes of the communist regime back in 2006, the torturers of the communist period remained unpunished.
A Presidential Commission for the Analysis of the Communist Dictatorship was created in Romania in April 2006. Its task was to study and write a report on the crimes of the communist regime in Romania (1948-1989). Based on the report, Romanian President Traian Basescu condemned the communist regime as illegitimate and criminal during a sitting of the Romanian Parliament in December 2006.
“If we don’t talk about torturers, we cannot realize the extent of the repression. We cannot talk only about victims. They didn’t become victims themselves. They were subject to abuses, violence, terror. Some of them were summarily executed without a trial, others were executed after show trials. There is great discontent in Romania because, despite President Traian Basescu’s official condemnation of communism in 2006, which was based on a report compiled by a presidential commission headed by political scientist Vladimir Tismăneanu, the official condemnation is merely metaphorical. In the absence of a Nuremberg-type trial, we cannot speak about the condemnation of communism. Condemning communism only on paper means only words and checking off of a work agenda,” stated Flori Bălănescu.
According to the Romanian historian, the great torturers of the communist period weren’t punished. Only two communist torturers were convicted in Romania: Ion Ficior and Alexandru Vişinescu.
“Nothing happened. All the great torturers who were still alive after December 1989, subsequently died of old age in their beds, as did all the great propagandists and theorists of communism. One of the most feared men of the security and the party, Alexandru Nicolschi, died of natural causes without being disturbed by anyone. This condemnation of communism came too late in 2006 and had no consequences. Except for two trials, against two former prison directors, Ficior and Vişinescu. But those trials also had no consequences, except for the fact that the Romanians saw on TV that there were some torturers,” stated Flori Balanescu, a scientific researcher at the National Institute for the Study of Totalitarianism of the Romanian Academy.
The doctor of history noted it is important that the new generation should study the horrors of the communist regime. In Romania, starting with 2025, the history of communism has been a compulsory subject for high school students.
“Unfortunately, money is needed in everything we do in research. And humanities research also needs money, not just research that improves missiles or nuclear weapons. Editorial materials appear in small circulations, but anyway it is important that they appear and reach libraries, reach higher education and from there pre-university education. The results of our research on communism must reach schools. We will be glad if at least from 2025, we will have a textbook on the history of communism for high schools in Romania and I hope this will happen in the Republic of Moldova as well,” said Flori Bălănescu.
The public debate entitled “History, an international antidote to political repression” was the 30th installment of IPN’s project “Impact of the Past on Confidence and Peace Building Processes” which is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation of Germany.
