A Week on the Road, Part Two

For the sake of easier reading, I'm going to break up the second half of the trip into 3 separate posts, one for each subsequent day. So, here we go again...

Wednesday, February 7th

I woke up around 9am. Julie fixed oatmeal and coffee for breakfast. Again, what hospitality the weary traveler receives! After breakfast, Dani came by and we all walked through town on our way to the Sighet Memorial. I was struck by Sighet's religious diversity given its relatively small size (about 45,000). The town has many churches of different denominations: Romanian Orthodox, Ukrainian Orthodox, Jewish, Roman Catholic (Hungarian), Greek Catholic (Uniate), etc. The old center of town contains a lot of Austro-Hungarian architecture, interspersed with a few communist relics.

The Sighet Memorial is a museum located inside of a former prison and turned out to be more impressive than I had imagined or expected it to be. Surprisingly (after all, it was once an actual prison), it is located right in the center of town. Officially, it is a memorial to the victims of communism not just in Romania, but throughout Central and Eastern Europe as a whole. The exhibits reside in what were once prison cells. You must walk in and out of the cells as you make your way through the museum, an effective technique in creating a solemn atmosphere. You can't help but be constantly reminded that you're in a former prison. Sighet was an especially notorious prison that housed "High Value" inmates such as pre-WWII politicians, intellectuals and other individuals of influence that were opposed to the communist regime. Two of Romania's most important pre-war leaders died in their cells at Sighet, Iuliu Maniu and Gheorghe Bratianu.

Back in '05, a student at Hogas told me about the Memorial and since then I had always wanted to visit it. I've read extensively about Romania's communist past and the visit was a rewarding experience for me, especially because I was able to share it with Dani. He's 28 and although he was a boy at the time, he remembers the final years of communism quite clearly, especially the events of December '89. His father was, and still professes to be, a communist. As we walked through the museum it was interesting to hear his opinions and perspectives and to observe him, as a Romanian, digesting the exhibits. One thing that struck me was how many times he said, as we walked through, "I didn't know this" or "Nobody ever taught us about this". Such ignorance is pervasive in Romanian society and exists deliberately, due to shame, guilt, self-preservation, etc.

This is why the Sighet Memorial is a special and important place, an honest window into the past, backed by documentation and the will to preserve history, no matter how horrible it was. The biggest mistake the communists made was to document everything. They incriminated themselves. Thus, the existence of the Sighet Memorial justifies the actions of those who dissented against the regime and undeniably exposes the criminal actions of the period 1948-1989. I imagine that walking through the Memorial is quite cathartic to many generations of Romanians, those who are willing to confront the past, come to terms with it, and accept the truth. I'll surely visit again someday.

Upon returning, Julie fixed a nice lunch and we three spent the rest of the afternoon talking and watching a movie. Later on that evening we went to Casa Iurca, arguably the nicest restaurant and pensiune in town. It has a traditional, rustic decor and the woodwork, distinct to the Maramures region, is impressive. I had a ciorba (Romanian-style sour soup) with sausages and cabbage, a style distinct to the Maramures region. It was the first time I had had this kind of ciorba and I really enjoyed it. After the ciorba we came home, played cards and enjoyed a bottle of "Lacrima lui Ovidiu", or "Ovid's tear", a sweet wine aged in oak barrels for five years. We called it an evening around midnight.

Photo Highlights:

Welcome to Sighet, where signs like this come in handy.
Especially when you're...

...near the train station.
Yes indeed, that's the train station back there.

No, this is not the locomotive I came in on. Although that would've been pretty cool. Maybe I could have shoveled some coal into the engine burner?

The entrance to the Sighet Memorial. They've done an excellent job of modernizing the building, while still retaining the original architectural elements. That's the front door as it was when the place was an actual prison.

Great logo.
A combination of the E.U. stars and a circle of barbed wire.

Again, another view of the front of the building as seen from across the street.

The victims of communist terror.

Inside looking out towards the street from the ground floor. That window can be seen from the outside in the photo before the previous one.

Iuliu Maniu's cell.

A 1947 cover of Scanteia, the Romanian Workers' Party (PMR) newspaper and central political organ of the communists. Check out those three dudes at the table. Criminals.

The interrogation room. A box within a cell.
"Confessions" were solicited here.

An exhibit room dedicated to the victims of agricultural collectivization. It is estimated that over 80,000 Romanians were imprisoned for opposing this policy, many of whom died while incarcerated. Others were summarily deported, sent to labor camps, or murdered.

A propaganda poster of the PMR. Translation - Top: "Long live the 1st of May, international day of solidarity for those that work." Bottom: "Long live the Romanian Workers' Party, avant-garde of the working class, the leading force of Democracy in Romania!" Right. Notice the dude on the right-hand side of the poster.
It's a Stalin look-alike dressed in a Romanian peasant outfit.

A view from the top floor.

Ahh yes, here he is in all his glory, flanked at the top by the Roman Emperor Trajan on the left and the Dacian King Decebal on the right. Of course, he's benevolent, loves children and is always surrounded by doves of peace. What would Romania have done without the one and only Nicolae Ceausescu?

Nicu and Elena. Profess your undying gratitude and love to them.
Do it now!

A shot from one of his megalomaniacal cult of personality rallies, a souvenir from his early 70's trip to North Korea. I've talked to people who had to participate in such charades as children.

I love this shot. 1956. Budapest during the Hungarian Anti-Communist Revolution.
Stalin being used as a pisser (W.C.). Awesome.

Me in the back courtyard of the prison. Behind me is the barb-wired wall and a guard tower. To my left (your right) is a wall with victims' names engraved in it.

A view of the wall and prison from the inner courtyard.

A sculpture dedicated to the victims.

Dani and Julie enjoying lunch.

Ciorba de varza acra cu carnati de casa (Romanian sour soup with cabbage and homemade sausages). Tasty.