I remember watching the news one evening in 1989 and being told that the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena had been executed by firing squad. Not a very cheery Christmas for them after decades in power, and it was my first realisation of the deep political divide between Communist countries and self-professed liberal democracies (or 'us and them' in young adolescent speak).
The Berlin Wall coming down may have been a pivotal moment marking the end of the Cold War, but it was images of this cold-blooded execution that really stuck in the mind of an impressionable teenager (Saddam Hussein's execution, while distressing, simply doesn't compare). My only experience of 'big C' Communism is a three-year stint in China - which is the most capitalist country I've ever seen. But as a child, when I thought of Communist countries, I thought of drably-dressed people who did monotonous jobs and rode bicycles or walked everywhere.
Luckily for me, we now have the World Wide Web and the resource thoughtfully addressed at www.ceausescu.org, which gives us a good overview of Ceausescu and his legacy. It appears that Ceausescu had a vision for Romania's economy and society, but reality was never allowed to intrude - weakening the country and paving the way for the revolution that ended his life. The country's government is currently attempting to get financial aid from the IMF, but the Fund is demanding politically unpopular cuts in its budget before any loans are released, adding to their economic woes (while their forecasters seem cautiously optimistic).
A (now) familiar Romanian who has written about life under Ceausescu's 'Stalinist paradise' is Nobel Prizewinner Herta Muller, who went into exile in West Berlin in 1987 after years of harassment by Ceausescu's secret police. It is her assertion that many in Romania (and Germany) have never really come to terms with the more brutal elements of Communism, and that many Romanian secret police are indulged with fat pensions or have been moved into 'respectable' positions in the post-Communist era.
Muller has written at least 20 books, but only five have been translated into English. Nobel Prize Secretary Peter Englund recommends that we familiarise ourselves with her work, starting with The Land of Green Plums, followed by Everything I Possess I Carry With Me - her latest novel (not currently available in English).
It's clear that even two decades after the widely-acknowledged 'end' of the Cold War, many issues remain unresolved and while the execution of Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu may have played a very bloody part in proclaiming Communism over, ordinary people are still feeling the effects of the era and it is up to writers, artists and musicians to keep attention on the issues and not give 'former' Communists a pass.
