Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0302/03029.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 30KB | 501 lines

$Unique_ID{COW03029}
$Pretitle{360}
$Title{Romania
Flowers For Heroes}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Romanian Tourist Board}
$Affiliation{Embassy of Romania, Washington DC}
$Subject{bucharest
romanian
palace
cross
december
flowers
prince
place
square
years}
$Date{1990}
$Log{}
Country:     Romania
Book:        Romania Tourist Information
Author:      Romanian Tourist Board
Affiliation: Embassy of Romania, Washington DC
Date:        1990

Flowers For Heroes

     Spring has come and Bucharest is again flooded with flowers. Blessed be
the earth in which such wonderful flowers grow, blessed be the people that
grow this wonder of the earth ... From our pious intention to honour the
memory of the heroes of our freedom who fell in the streets and squares of
Bucharest on the day of December 22, 1989, the idea was born to commemorate
one hundred days that had passed since the bloody events of the Revolution.
The people working in the Trust of hot-houses, which has plantations of
flowers all over Romania, joined their efforts, their hearts and thoughts for
the commemoration of the young heroes and achieved an original premiere at the
National Theatre in Bucharest: the Exhibition of flower arrangements. The
hot-houses of Arad, Cluj, Constanta, Brasov (the famous Codlea), six
hot-houses nearby Bucharest sent to that exhibition genuine works of art. How
did they travel a rather long way without being deteriorated? Without doubt
the flowers, as living creatures, sensed the noble feelings of the people
carrying them and were cooperative .... Without doubt, they were tended with
the utmost care ... and were given oxygen from the very hearts of the people
who had grown them.

     Why did I say it was a premiere? Because it was organized five years
after the dictator had forbidden such exhibitions in Bucharest and the
majority of flower arrangements were in the form of obelisks, tricolour
carpets or banners, wreaths, garlands, crosses. An undercurrent of sorrow was
felt in this exhibition as it was organized in the memory of the heroes. All
the units taking part in it laid wreaths in the places where young people had
laid down their lives.

     From the moment it was inaugurated and till the last day of the
exhibition thousands of Bucharesters came to admire the flowers. Among them
were many tourists from abroad and all valued both the art of the
horticulturists and their noble thought of paying homage to those who died so
that we should live in freedom.

     In the end, the most beautiful flower arrangements were taken to the
Cemetery of Young Heroes. And as a last token of pious homage, telling of the
Romanians' thoughts and feelings, a wreath of white carnations, with a
tricolour woven in the middle remained at the statue of Mihai Eminescu which
stands in front of the Romanian Atheneum, a witness of the Romanian
Revolution.

NATALIA DUMITRU

THE TRIUMPHAL ARCH OF THE UNION

     In the northern part of Bucharest, near the Herastrau park, welcoming
like a stone and marble gate the visitors coming to Romania by air, the
Triumphal Arch raised in honour of the creation of the unitary Romanian state
within its natural boundaries, strikes one through the harmony of its
proportions, the classical beauty of its line, the impression of massiveness,
elegance and durability. Under its present form, it was erected in 1936. In
the past, there had been other two variants, both provisional, on the same
site (covering a surface of 300 square m): the first, a homage to the heroes
of the War of Independence of 1877, paid by the town of Bucharest "to the
defenders of independence"; the second, a monument dedicated to the heroes of
the struggle for the unification of the Romanian people was raised in honour
of the Great Union of 1918. In 1935, work was resumed on the present day Arch
with the contribution of some renowned sculptors and architects such as Petre
Antonescu, Ion Jalea, Emil Calinescu. They worked with zeal and dedication,
and so, in the autumn of the next year, the monument was ready; it was
officially inaugurated on 1st December, 1936. 30 m high the Arch is supported
by two pillars provided with interior stairs that go 27 m up to the terrace
and the attic crowning the monument. The small semi-circular arch inside has a
diameter of 10 m and a vertical line of 17 m. The architectural decorative
elements - cornices, mouldings profiles and portals - all preserve a specific
Romanian character. The texts carved in stone on all the sides of the Arch
belong to our great historian Nicolae Iorga, and extol the idea and heroic act
of the Romanians' union: "Glory to those who by their bravery and blood toll
have achieved our national unity". Remembering that the Great Union was
accomplished on 1st December 1918, I can't help wondering who will write the
new texts for another historic day - December the 22nd 1989. It will give us
great pleasure to further present them to you.

DAN ALEXANDRU

THEY DIED FOR THE ROMANIANS LIBERTY

     This cemetery has appeared in only a few days. Almost all the dead who
were buried here bear on their crosses the same dates: 22, 23, 24, 25, 26,
27, 28 December 1989. These were the days in which fell most of the heroes
of our Revolution. This is how the Belu cemetery was suddenly "extended".
That place of burial which lies not far from the tomb of the great poet
Eminescu has become the most frequently visited spot in these days. There is
a continuous pilgrimage here - from early morning till late at night. People
bring flowers, burn incense, light candles. And weep. Those young dead belong
not only to their families, they belong to all the Romanians...

     A tomb. On the wooden cross stands written: Silviu Mincu, b. 1975 - d.
1989. An old woman sets at the head of the hero, who was only 14, a large
bunch of flowers, a platter with a funerary wheat-cake, a bottle of wine; she
lights many candles around crosses herself and utters in a moving voice:
"Cursed be the one who killed this child!"

     "You are related to him?" I ask her. "No, my dear Sir, I didn't even
know the lad who lies buried here; look what a fine boy he was. (And she
points to the photograph on the cross). I always come here to bring him fresh
flowers and light candles; today I've brought a wheat cake for the priest to
bless it - it is the 40th day commemoration".

     "Why do you do this ? Who are you?"

     "My name is Constanta Dumitrescu: I am 70 and I am alone. I don't want
this child to feel lonely. I often think that I should have died in his place,
he had all his life before him. But he went ahead of me an shouted: "Down with
Ceausescu!" I walk further with the stream of people along the freshly opened
alleys. I read the names on the crosses and I often feel a pang, for I find
among the fallen heroes names of people I used to know: Petre Astafei (b.
1967 - d. 1989); Ioan Pop Simion (b. 1949 - d. 1989) my former colleague in
the Television studios.

     I read other names: soldier Savonea Emil Florin departed to heaven at the
age of 19. On his cross there is written: "A pious homage paid by the young
men of the Vilcea district to the victims of terror" - on the tomb of the
soldier there is a three coloured Romanian flag; Popescu Gabriela (b.
1968 - d. 1989); Cretu Florin, an air force captain (b. 1959 - d. 1989); near
the cross there stands a huge aircraft propeller stuck in the ground). The
tomb of Marian Niculescu is draped in a silk flag; by the cross his parents
set a plague on which they wrote: "On the evening of December 22, 1989 our
little hero was shot dead by the Ceausescu troops. "Why did you go there, my
son?" "I went to fight for liberty", these were his last words..."

     Stan Serban Bogdan (b. 1968 - d. 1989). There are a lot of people by his
grave where a woman in mourning tells her story; I learn that she is the
hero's mother and that she daily comes to the cemetery. "He died on Christmas
Eve, he had promised he would come on that evening to carol me. He had raised
barricades in the streets on the 22nd