COBORÂRE (Descent)

Winter 1989

1989 is largely remembered as the year in which the Berlin Wall fell. But, beneath the rubble of the Berlin Wall lies the Romanian Revolution. In December of 1989, the fight against the mutilated form of Marxism practiced by Nicolae Ceaușescu came to a head when civilian protestors were fired upon by Ceaușescu's military police in Timisoara, killing an estimated 76 people. To ease tension, Ceaușescu delivered a speech to the industrial workers of Bucharest. However, it was not long before the crowd began to jeer in response to Ceaușescu's pontifications. Ceaușescu was arrested by their response, for right before his eyes he witnessed the end of his tyrannical rule and the beginning of the revolution. Ceaușescu was captured on December 23, and on December 25, a military tribunal was formed, where Ceaușescu and his wife were convicted of genocide by starvation. They were then executed by a firing squad.