The Romanian Revolution
A three year old's story
The Romania Revolution of 1989 consisted of a series of protests, street fights and demonstrations held in Romania, between December 16 and 25, 1989, which led to the fall of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and the end of the communist regime in Romania. The growing demonstrations resulted in the trial and execution of the Ceausescu. Before the Romanian revolution, all other Eastern European states had peacefully converted to democracy; Romania was the only country in the Eastern bloc that went through a violent revolution and in which the communist leaders were executed.
I was three years old at the time when the revolution began.
It was a cold December night, it was snowing with big flakes and in the cemetery next to my house gunfire started . I remember waking up because I was cold. I looked for my mother and brother in the house. My father was in prison at the time for a fight . I couldn't find them and I started to cry, scared by the darkness and the terrifying sound of frequent gunshots .
The front door was open so I went outside barefoot in thin, torn pyjamas.(we were too poor to afford new clothes and the communist regime was severe) . My mother was with my baby brother at the polyclinic to get his injections but I didn't know. Somehow I remembered where my grandmother lived a few blocks away .
I took my heart in my teeth and entered the cemetery because I had to go through there to get to my grandmother's house . With frozen feet I stepped between the graves. The gunfire was close. It was snowing and I could see almost nothing, I could only hear the cold frosty wind and the soldiers shooting in the cemetery of the heroes . The powerful gunshots froze my soul .
I was looking at the starry sky and I was praying to God to find my way to my grandmother's house or to find my mother. I was looking around me with fear over the graves covered in snow and I was thinking how many souls rest there . Bare trees swayed their branches in the strong wind and in my mind I had the impression that I could see ghosts .
I started to cry but I could no longer feel the tears on my frost-stained cheeks.
Gunfire became more frequent and outside the cemetery I could hear many voices talking and shouting about the revolution A short distance away I saw the exit of the cemetery.
Yes there was hope, my grandmother is close, and I will be away from cold, from weapons, from the revolution. In a few days it was Christmas. What joy!
I only felt my frozen feet but with the last of my strength I climbed the stairs and knocked on my grandmother's door. I heard my grandmother ask from behind the door who it was because it was past midnight. I replied that it was me, with a weak voice and tears in my eyes .
My Grandmother opened the door, and the next second she was shouting how such a thing was possible? I woke up the next morning in a warm bed and around me was my mother, my grandmother, my uncles and aunts. They all looked at me like a saint and I didn't understand why I was getting so much attention.
Today I understand it is not possible for a three-year-old girl to walk in the bitter cold through the cemetery at midnight and especially in the middle of the revolution, but I survived among so many martyrs who lost their lives. Young people who fought to their last breath for our hard-fought Romania .
Romania, I love you for letting me be your little heroine 31 years ago!
About the Creator
Alina Neagu
Hello, my name is ALINA, I am 34 years old, originally from Romania, but I have been living in Australia for almost 3 years, an adventure and an extraordinary experience far from my home.
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