ceausescu last speech transcriptUncategorized

How can one say something like this? I ask the court, as the plaintiff, to take note that proof has been furnished for all these points, that the two have committed the offenses mentioned. Share . Fuelled by the events taking place in Berlin (the wall had come down just a few weeks before) and the ripple impact of the weakening Iron Curtain, Romanians had taken to the streets in . This gang will be destroyed. PROSECUTOR: Yes, but you are paying the mercenaries. The workers were augmented by bystanders who were rounded up on Calea Victoriei. Fanatics, whom you are paying. Thousands of workers were bused into the square under threat of being fired. This page was last modified on 10 April 2016, at 21:40. PROSECUTOR: By now, there have been 34 casualties. Ceauescu's final speech is a speech delivered by Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauescu on 21 December 1989. I told you right at the beginning that I will not answer a single question. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: No one recognizes that. The prosecutor agrees, but stresses that they lived in them while the people suffered. PROSECUTOR: Who gave the order to shoot in Bucharest, for instance? I ask the court, as the plaintiff, to take note that proof has been furnished for all these points, that the two have committed the offenses mentioned. He refused to undergo a psychiatric examination. We have sufficient data on this period. After an outage of transmission of Romanian television, the speaker announces the verdict in the trial of Elena and Nicolae Ceausescu is death sentence. Two: Armed attack on the people and the state power, in accordance with Article 163 of the penal code. PROSECUTOR: This is how you worked with the people and exercised your functions! NICOLAE CEAUESCU: I do not recognize this court. Sections in italic type are from the austrian television comentary: NICOLAE CEAUSESCU: I only recognize the Grand National Assembly. Ceausescu refused to answer. PROSECUTOR: Please, make a note: Ceausescu does not recognize the new legal structures of power of the country. I only recognize the working class and the Grand National Assembly -- no one else. However, there is a difference between real sickness that must be treated and mental insanity which leads to corresponding actions, but which is denied by the person in question. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: I do not answer, I will only answer questions before the Grand National Assembly. In the second stage their edicts become unenforceable from sheer impracticability. Nobody has opened an account. Why did you make the peasants starve? Why did you ruin the country so much: Why did you export everything? Ceauescu appeared on the balcony of the Central Committee building and began as he had in years past, with a speech laden with the usual Marxist-Leninist wooden language. However, he had badly misread the crowds mood. The new committee declared its immediate aim was an end to the cult of personality which had developed around the Ceauescu family. We live in a normal apartment, just like every other citizen. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: I will answer any question, but only at the Grand National Assembly, before the representatives of the working class. PROSECUTOR: Let us now talk about the accounts in Switzerland, Mr. Ceauescu. 600K views 3 years ago Nicolae Ceauescu (Romanian pronunciation: [nikola.e ta.uesku]; 26 January 1918 25 December 1989) was a Romanian politician who was the Secretary General of the Romanian. They were even worse than the king, the former king of Romania. We have ensured an apartment for every citizen through corresponding laws. But those who shot at the young people were the security men, the terrorists. Fanatics, whom you are paying. The video- shown live on Romanian television-- shows his confusion and consternation and the barely audible comments. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: Is it possible that we are facing such charges? Now the counsel for the defense, who was appointed by the court, asks whether Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu know the aforementioned facts -- that he is no longer president, that she has lost all official functions. What defamation, what provocations! Ceauescu answers: As I said before, the people are fighting for their freedom and against this putsch, against this usurpation. Ceauescu's speech of 21 August 1968 [English Subtitles] Transcrierea discursului lui Ceauescu: 01:08 Nicolae Ceauescu: Dragi tovari. That is why the people are fighting all over the country. He was Secre. I hope that you do not also work for the foreigners and for the destruction of Romania. This is a vulgar provocation. The recent Bergdahl prisoner swap in which five hardened Taliban terrorists were released from prison is rubbing a lot of the military veterans attending D-Day events the wrong way. He answers: I am the president of Romania, and I am the commander in chief of the Romanian army. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: I do not recognize this new forum. What do you think? I am a member and the chairwoman of the Academy of Sciences. PROSECUTOR: Did you know about the genocide or did you, as a chemist, only deal with polymers? I have observed that she is not even able to read correctly, but she calls herself an university graduate. Who are these fanatics? The Three Conjectures at Amazon Kindle for $1.99, reflections on terrorism and the nuclear age PROSECUTOR: The terrorists are from Securitate? You are faced with charges that you held really sumptuous celebrations on all holidays at your house. The English translation is by the U.S. government's Foreign Broadcast Information Service. VIENNA, Austria (AP) _ For the first time that anybody could remember, Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu was interrupted at a public speech by boos and jeers that began a huge demonstration against him in Bucharest Thursday. The defendant has not recognized us. Ceausescu claims that the putsch was organized from abroad. Please make a note that here it has been stated that all legal regulations have been observed, that this is a legal trial. Elena and Nicolae reject this. Free shipping for many products! One of the first acts of the new leadership was to place the security forces, the dreaded Securitate, under control of the army. His security guard appears, disappears and, finally, hustles Ceausescu off the balcony. He would be executed a few days later. When the crisis comes the Leader Maximus discovers to his absolute surprise that all support has vanished. The National Salvation Front is now our supreme body. PROSECUTOR: Let us now talk about the accounts in Switzerland, Mr. Ceausescu. One of the most decisive moments in the Romanian Revolution of 1989 was Ceausescus December 21st speech (or lack thereof). They carried out acts that are incompatible with human dignity and social thinking; they acted in a despotic and criminal way; they destroyed the people whose leaders they claimed to be. You held monologues and the people had to applaud, like in the rituals of tribal people. PROSECUTOR: Will you sign the statement now or not? I will not answer anymore. The prosecutor wants to find out on which basis the trial can be continued. The Securitate had hidden food reserves on which Bucharest could have survived for months, the whole of Bucharest. The prosecutor cites all academic titles she had always claimed to have. ELENA CEAUESCU: The intelligentsia of the country will hear what you are accusing us of. The front rows of the assembly were made up of low-level Communist Party officials and members who acted as cheer-leaders. You see, there is no use in talking to these people. Why did you starve the people? What should he ask us? NICOLAE CEAUESCU: No, we had no palaces. Romania's dictator Nicolae Ceausescu's final speech (executed 12/25) More Notable Events on December 21: 1997 Detroit Lions Barry Sanders is 3rd to run for 2,000 yards in a season 1991 U.S. actress Jane Fonda marries CNN-director Ted Turner 1989 Dan Quayle sends out 30,000 Xmas cards with word beacon spelled beakon Who pays them? Witnesses saw scores of people shot down in the centre of Bucharest in the evening and around the burning royal palace where the Ceauescu family had made their home. The destruction of buildings and state institutions, undermining of the national economy, in accordance with Articles 165 and 145 of the penal code. KGB technicians and agents made one of the most brilliant moves and played a recording of whistles and protests through installed speakers in the square. What may happen of course, is that like a frog slowly being boiled in a pot, the process happens so slowly that people arent aware of it themselves. And you might perhaps have achieved the understanding of the Romanian people if you had now admitted your guilt. CEAUSESCU: No, the people are fighting for freedom and against the new forum. PROSECUTOR: Please, ask Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu whether they have ever had a mental illness. Nobody has the right to abolish the Grand National Assembly. This occurs when the official line becomes so ridiculous that ordinary people dont even realize they are falling out of step with the Party Line. Its just that he makes it so hard to do so.. I will only speak in front of it. "This is the final battle," he said. We want a legal trial. I do not recognize the court. Because of the crimes they committed against the people, I plead, on behalf of the victims of these two tyrants, for the death sentence for the two defendants. He was a cosignatory of an open letter harshly critical of the Ceauescu region which appeared last march. The catastrophic situation of the country is known all over the world. I have done everything to create a decent and rich life for the people in the country, like in no other country in the world. You were not used to talking to the people. No one wanted to do anything for you anymore. CEAUSESCU: I will answer any question, but only at the Grand National Assembly, before the representatives of the working class. His country passed from traditional monarchy to troubled democracy to royal dictatorship to military control to occupied territory. In response, the two laugh, and she says: We do not stay abroad. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work of the United States federal government (see 17U.S.C. Quantum: Einstein, Bohr and the Great Debate About the Nature of Reality Elena and Nicolae Ceauescu should be punished in a really legal trial. Its not that we dont want to respect the commander-in-chief, one told me sadly. First their narratives become so infested with lies they go out of sync with their own administrators on the ground. By the morning of 22 December, the rebellion had already spread to all major cities across the country. Tip Jar or Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the Belmont Club, George Ciampa, an 89-year old D-Day veteran, Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway, Faithless Execution: Building the Political Case for Obamas Impeachment, Captive: My Time as a Prisoner of the Taliban, Quantum: Einstein, Bohr and the Great Debate About the Nature of Reality, The Idiot Vote: The Democrats Core Constituency, Rebranding Christianity (The World of Information), The Lion and the Unicorn: Gladstone vs. Disraeli, How to Debate Leftists and Destroy Them: 11 Rules for Winning the Argument, The FBI Targeted Patriotic Conservatives Exercising Their First Amendment Rights: Theyre All Bleeping Terrorists, Watch: Russell Brand OBLITERATES MSNBC in Hack's Face on 'Real Time With Bill Maher', New York Times Discovers a New Source of Racism, and This One Could Be the Most Ridiculous Yet, Young Man Does His Own Taxes for First Time, Rage and Mirth Ensue, California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information. I will not say anything here. Those moments of Ceausescus weakness and the power of popular pressure explain why, a mere 48 hours later, Ceausescu was attempting to flee Romania, all power lost. Stanley double-crossed Richard at the crucial moment. He, Elena and four others managed to get to the roof and escaped by helicopter, only seconds ahead of a group of demonstrators who had followed them there.. They organized the putsch. PROSECUTOR: You have never been able to hold a dialogue with the people. And we will not betray our people here. The entire intelligentsia of the country ran away. [2], Ceauescu appeared on the balcony of the Central Committee building and began as he had in years past, with a speech laden with the usual "wooden language." Defendant, if you had no accounts in Switzerland, will you sign a statement confirming that the money that may be in Switzerland should be transferred to the Romanian state, the State Bank. He answers: I am the president of Romania, and I am the commander in chief of the Romanian army. CEAUSESCU: No, we will not sign. The details are known. "Video of Ceausescus Last Speech, December 1989," Making the History of 1989, Item #696, https://chnm.gmu.edu/1989/items/show/696 (accessed May 28 2021, 3:24 pm). He refused to undergo a psychiatric examination. The National Salvation Front is now our supreme body. I would not call for the death sentence, but it would be incomprehensible for the Romanian people to have to go on suffering this great misery and not to have it ended by sentencing the two Ceauescus to death. The collapse of the narrative doesnt happen in a single big step, but through an accumulation of small, personal, often innocuous refusals. From the archive, 23 December 1989: Celebration as a nation emerges from the dark, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Elena says: Look, and that they are calling genocide. It should be stated once and for all that this military court is absolutely legal and that the former positions of the two Ceausescus are no longer valid. Workers from a Bucharest power plant started chanting "Ti-mi-oa-ra! It was one of the most pivotal moments in the Romanian Revolution of 1989. Ceauescu refused to answer. As a result, the prosecutor says: Elena has always been talkative, but otherwise she does not know much. Powered by Omeka, Roy Rosenzweig Center for History & New Media. This is a vulgar provocation. Its provisional leader is the 73-year-old former Foreign Minister, Mr Corneliu Mnescu. In the wake of growing tension over an uprising in Timioara in which thousands were reportedly killed, Ceauescu decided to give a nationally televised speech before a crowd in Palace Square (now known as Revolution Square) in Bucharest. "Stenographic transcript of meeting of the Executive Committee of the Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party," August 17, 1968, History . A lie, a lie in my face. Ceausescu's last speech was interrupted but not by the shouts of the masses. Every honest citizen who worked hard here until 22 December knows that we do not have medicines, that you two have killed children and other people in this way, that there is nothing to eat, no heating, no electricity. These two defendants procured the most luxurious foodstuffs and clothes from abroad. The catastrophic situation of the country is known all over the world. ELENA CEAUSESCU: How can one tell us something like this? What prevents him from doing so? The prosecutor agrees, but stresses that they lived in them while the people suffered. It is as if, in that moment, everyday Romanian's saw the possibility, saw the reality of the weakness of Ceausescus regime. You held monologues and the people had to applaud, like in the rituals of tribal people. Elena answers: The intellectuals of this country should hear you, you and your colleagues. They cultivated the soil in line with your orders and had nothing to eat. Tell the people that I will answer all their questions. These two defendants have robbed the people, and not even today do they want to talk. You were so impertinent as to cut off oxygen lines in hospitals and to shoot people in their hospital beds. The Lion and the Unicorn: Gladstone vs. Disraeli In one speech, a Romanian politician likened Ceausescu to Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Peter the Great, Abraham Lincoln and other major historical figures. Because of the crimes they committed against the people, I plead, on behalf of the victims of these two tyrants, for the death sentence for the two defendants. All the world should know what is going on here. "Video of Ceausescus Last Speech, December 1989," in World History Commons, https://worldhistorycommons.org/video-ceausescus-last-speech-december-1989 [accessed March 4, 2023], Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media. Military base Tirgoviste - December 25th 1989. This was a coup d'etat. Ceauescu was finally cornered in a small town, where he and his wife were subjected to a summary trial, taken out to the courtyard and shot. The front rows of the assembly were made up of low-level Communist Party officials and members who acted as cheer-leaders. Machine guns splattered against a background of church bells ringing in triumph. He also refuses to recognize the new forum. It must be cleared up whether Ceausescu wants to, should, must or can answer at all. This is our home. CHIEF PROSECUTOR: Esteemed chairman of the court, today we have to pass a verdict on the defendants Nicolae Ceauescu and Elena Ceauescu who have committed the following offenses: crimes against the people. Tens of thousands of people gathered in the early hours in front of the Intercontinental Hotel in Bucharest, undeterred by armoured vehicles. I have no statement to make, and I will not sign one. It is as if, in that moment, everyday Romanian's saw the possibility, saw the reality of the weakness of Ceausescus regime. TheWashington Timesreports that a top intelligence official is accusing the Obama admininistration of funding a terror network for the next ten years, alleging the administration paid a cash ransom to redeem Bowe Bergdahl. PROSECUTOR: Well, Mr. This speech was an annual event and carefully scripted by the regime to insure both success and the appearance of popular support. This speech was an annual event and carefully scripted by the regime to ensure both success and the appearance of popular support. Frederich Hayek identified the primary reason why tyrants fall: they rely on the poisoned cup of centralized knowledge. PROSECUTOR: By now, there have been 34 casualties. Robert Ford, the former US ambassador to Syria, has effectively accused the Obama administration of abandoning genuinely pro-American rebels in Syria thereby allowing the ascendance of al-Qaeda. They were not really interested in the people. The truth shall set you free, even if it makes you miserable. Here Nicolae Ceausescu steps in and defends her. You cannot talk to me in such a way! We will speak only at the National Assembly, because we have worked hard for the people all our lives. If he no longer has a certain function, he cannot demand anything at all. Tyrannies are buried by the shovel of self-deception. ALISON SMALE December 21, 1989. Here Nicolae Ceauescu steps in and defends her. Tell us! Do you want to sign this statement? All the world should know what is going on here. And so should such reports chill one to the bone. I will not answer you putschists, Ceauescu says. Rebranding Christianity for $3.99, or why the truth shall make you free The crowd, now totaling up to 80,000, were given orders on where to stand, when to applaud and what to sing. CEAUSESCU: As a citizen, as a simple citizen, I tell you the following: At no point was there such an upswing, so much construction, so much consolidation in the Romanian provinces. Some people will continue to believe the narrative, but even among the acolytes, the fatal smoke of doubt has entered the temple. The final speech of the prosecutor follows: PROSECUTOR: It is very difficult for us to act, to pass a verdict on people who even now do not want to admit to the criminal offenses that they have committed during 25 years and admit to the genocide, not only in Timisoara and Bucharest, but primarily also to the criminal offenses committed during the past 25 years. Johnny Bench Wife Photos, Signs A Virgo Man Still Loves You, Custom Engraved Valve Covers, Sacramento Kings Salary Cap, Articles C

Welcome to . This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!