Word: ceausescu
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...When Ceausescu left for Iran on Dec. 18, he believed that Securitate had the uprising in Timisoara in hand. "They tortured everyone, young and old, to frighten the city," a young army officer recounted last week. But Timisoara's young refused to be cowed. "It was a revolt by the kids, a young revolution," said Gabriela Vlad, 24, a doctor in the Timisoara hospital. One of her patients, a 13-year-old girl named Suzana who was shot during a demonstration, explained, "We marched because we had nothing to lose here. We are tired of hearing...
Returning from Tehran, Ceausescu found that demonstrations had flared throughout the country and into Bucharest, where he came face to face with rebellion in Palace Square, outside his office. At a rally called to prove his popularity, he was silenced by students shouting "Ceausescu, assassin!" Visibly shocked, he froze, and television transmission was cut off for three minutes. He ordered the Securitate to shoot, but at that point the army switched allegiance -- and that was the beginning of the end for Ceausescu, who fled with his wife. TV newsreaders in Bucharest claimed last week that 80,000 people or more...
...nepotism of the house of Ceausescu had put more than 30 of the dictator's family into high offices. By the time he was executed, many of them, including his two sons, his daughter, his sister and two of his brothers, had been arrested and would probably be put on trial. Ceausescu's son Nicu, who directed security troops in a bloody battle in the city of Sibiu, was expected to be executed. A brother, Marin Ceausescu, 74, was found hanged in the Rumanian embassy in Vienna, where he had headed the trade delegation and was widely believed to have...
Governments East and West cheered the overthrow of Ceausescu, but there were murmurs of distaste at the secret trial and execution of the 71-year-old dictator and his wife. "We would have preferred it if there had been a public trial," said White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater. Nevertheless, like other Western countries, the U.S. speedily recognized "the new legitimate government" and offered its support. Said the British Foreign Office: "Although one may regret a secret trial, at the time it was not really surprising." Gorbachev congratulated Iliescu on taking charge "at a difficult moment when Rumanian patriots resolutely came...
Prime Minister Roman defended the swift execution, claiming that Ceausescu loyalists were about to attack the military base where the dictator was being held in an attempt to free him. "We were in a situation that did not allow us to wait," Roman said. "Perhaps it was a mistake. But it is too early to judge." At least as real as an impending rescue attempt was the Salvation Front's fear that Ceausescu as a prisoner would give the Securitate a reason for fighting on. Some members of the Front may have thought it a good idea to offer...