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 . I told you right at the beginning that I will not answer a single question. Here Nicolae Ceauescu steps in and defends her. How can one say something like this? ELENA CEAUSESCU: Such impudence! Centralized regimes may seem to collapse suddenly, yet in reality they have been coming apart for a long time. PROSECUTOR: We have wonderful programs. PROSECUTOR: And who wrote the papers for you, Elena? 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. He then tried to placate the crowd by offering to raise workers' salaries by 200 lei per month (about 18 U.S. dollars at the time, yet a 10%-20% raise for a modest salary) and student scholarships from 100 to 110 lei while continuing to praise the achievements of the past 42 years. No, no, he says. I only recognize the working class and the Grand National Assembly -- no one else. Storm Over the South China Sea $0.99, how China is restarting history in the Pacific PROSECUTOR: Note the following: The defendant refuses to sign this statement. At the moment the situation is rather uncertain. PROSECUTOR: Do you not know anything about the order to shoot? It should be stated once and for all that this military court is absolutely legal and that the former positions of the two Ceauescus are no longer valid. You, as a scientist, did you know about it? They will receive a link in their email and it will automatically give them access to a Kindle reader on their smartphone, computer or even as a web-readable document. I now ask the court to pass a verdict on the basis of the law, because everybody must receive due punishment for the offenses he has committed. You see, there is no use in talking to these people. We will speak only at the National Assembly, because we have worked hard for the people all our lives. 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. Therefore, it is a mistake for the two accused to refuse to cooperate with us. ELENA CEAUESCU: How can one tell us something like this? Central planning in economics leads to a mismatch in prices and a collapse in the economy while a Central Narrative in politics leads to an increased incidence of involuntary rebellion. [1], His security guard appeared, disappeared and, finally, hustled Ceauescu off the balcony. I will not answer anymore. Its just that he makes it so hard to do so.. Storming the Castle at Amazon Kindle for $3.99, why government should get small The prosecutor quotes Ceauescu, Ceauescu's program. I am a member and the chairwoman of the Academy of Sciences. He would be executed a few days later. ELENA CEAUSESCU: We will not sign any statement. They not only deprived the people of heating, electricity, and foodstuffs, they also tyrannized the soul of the Romanian people. Only a president who is still confirmed in his position can demand to speak at the Grand National Assembly. If you had had a mental illness and admitted this, you would not be responsible for your acts. PROSECUTOR: Let us now talk about the accounts in Switzerland, Mr. Ceausescu. Like a jalopy falling apart on the road, dropping a screw here and a spring there, the Obama administration is gradually shaking itself to pieces. PROSECUTOR: Who gave the order to shoot in Bucharest, for instance? The charges are incorrect, and I will not answer a single question here. Ceauescus hated son, Nicu, a one-time candidate to follow his father as the countrys leader, was said to have been arrested in the city of Sibiu as he was trying to take hostages. Share . Richard III of England rode into Bosworth Field relying on his ally Baron Stanely to come to his aid. Ceausescu relates his recent meeting with Dubcek in Prague in August 1968. It is a historic time, given that no military member goes public to speak negatively about the ultimate commander. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: I do not answer, I will only answer questions before the Grand National Assembly. Workers from a Bucharest power plant started chanting Ti-mi-oa-ra! PROSECUTOR: You have never been able to hold a dialogue with the people. This speech was an annual event and carefully scripted by the regime to insure both success and the appearance of popular support. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: I will not sign anything. 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. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: This is not possible at all. ELENA CEAUESCU: I will not answer. Then he is treated like a normal citizen. I will only speak at the Grand National Assembly. Do you want to sign this statement? CEAUSESCU: I will not say anything more. At the beginning, Ceausescu claimed that it is a provocation to be asked whether he was sick. Nobody is likely to rise up and become a Man on Horseback. 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. The National Salvation Front is now our supreme body. They not only deprived the people of heating, electricity and foodstuffs, they also tyrannized the soul of the Romanian people. All their property will be impounded. At that very moment, many everyday Romanians saw the weakness of Ceauescu's regime for the first time. I will only speak in front of it. Fiction. PROSECUTOR: Note - He does not recognize the points mentioned in the bill of indictment. For example,the administration recently issued a new list of prisoners to be released from Guantanamo, citing theirpractice of yogaas proof they had reformed. Forget what the politicians on Capitol Hill are saying about the prisoner swap. You are guilty of these offenses even if you do not want to admit it. In response, Ceauescu raised his right hand in hopes of silencing the crowd; his stunned expression remains one of the defining moments of the end of Communism in Eastern Europe. In 1947, King Michael showed more dignity than you. Now you know what members of our U.S. military are thinking and saying. PROSECUTOR: Who ordered shooting into the crowd? Tell us! This speech was an annual event and carefully scripted by the regime to insure both success and the appearance of popular support. PROSECUTOR: Do you not know anything about the order to shoot? The message was apparently sent on the understanding that Mr Ceauescu had been arrested. The administrations threats, so dire on paper, are toothless in practice because they actually cant afford to carry out the threat. The produce which the peasants grew was exported, and the peasants came from the most remote provinces to Bucharest and to the other cities in order to buy bread. Later reports suggested the couple had been captured. We want a legal trial. Within hours Ceauescu was beseiged inside the Central Committee building by irate crowds. The workers were augmented by bystanders who were rounded up on Calea Victoriei. This work is a translation and has a separate copyright status to the applicable copyright protections of the original content. His 1936 mugshot at age 18 still haunts the internet. You have acted in a very irresponsible manner; you led the country to the verge of ruin and you will be convicted on the basis of the points contained in the bill of indictment. This demonstrates their lack of understanding. PROSECUTOR: You claim to have taken measures so that every peasant is entitled to 200 kilograms of wheat. 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. You, as a scientist, did you know about it? I now ask the court to pass a verdict on the basis of the law, because everybody must receive due punishment for the offenses he has committed. As a simple citizen, I tell you the following: For the first time I guaranteed that every peasant received 200 kilograms of wheat per person, not per family, and that he is entitled to more. All the world should know what is going on here. We have ensured an apartment for every citizen through corresponding laws. The English translation is by the U.S. government's Foreign Broadcast Information Service. "This is the final battle," he said. By 6 pm, Romanian television was broadcasting live reports of victory rallies attended by thousands in Bucharest. Ceausescu refused to answer. You held monologues and the people had to applaud, like in the rituals of tribal people. Not a single shot. PROSECUTOR: Children cannot even buy plain candy, and you are living in the palaces of the people. The prosecutor cites all academic titles she had always claimed to have. The following is a transcript of the closed trial of Romanian Dictator Nicolae Ceauescu and his wife, Elena, as shown on Romanian and Austrian television. That is why the people are fighting all over the country. And you might perhaps have achieved the understanding of the Romanian people if you had now admitted your guilt. The court notes that the investigations have been concluded. However, they will be indicted, and a sentence will be passed on the basis of the new legal system. We must not allow the slightest impression of illegality to emerge. For example, there isa silent falling away among American allies. PROSECUTOR: Please, ask Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu whether they have ever had a mental illness. The people only received 200 grams per day, against an identity card. The process usually follows this path. You should have stayed in Iran where you had flown to. This speech was an annual event and carefully scripted by the regime to insure both success and the appearance of popular support. Thirty years on, will the guilty pay for horror of Ceauescu orphanages? Therefore, it is a mistake for the two accused to refuse to cooperate with us. Dressed in a black Persian lamb hat with matching coat collar, Ceausesecu, 71, was . The president of the United States is the commander in chief over all branches of the military. PROSECUTOR: Who ordered shooting into the crowd? Ceausescu sprinkles snow on his wife's head during yet another hunting trip in 1976. A tyrant stops knowing the difference. The defendant has not recognized us. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: I do not recognize this new forum. Nicolae Ceausescu - Last Speech, Trial and Execution - History Channel (ENG subtitled) ac agencija 258 subscribers Subscribe 743 Save 111K views 3 years ago Notice Age-restricted video (based. They obstructed the normal process of the economy. PROSECUTOR: Please, make a note: Ceausescu does not recognize the new legal structures of power of the country. We want a legal trial. Workers, military units and other popular organizations were bused to the capitol and given orders on where to stand, when to applaud and what to sing. 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. Machine guns splattered against a background of church bells ringing in triumph. The destruction of buildings and state institutions, undermining of the national economy, in accordance with Articles 165 and 145 of the penal code. I will not answer any question. No Way In at Amazon Kindle $8.95, print $9.99. . I will not answer any question. The prosecutor turns to Elena: You have always been wiser and more ready to talk, a scientist. They were given red flags, banners and large pictures of Ceauescu. This gang will be destroyed. COUNSEL FOR THE DEFENSE: Even though he like her committed insane acts, we want to defend them. Sooner or later an administration neuters itself from sheer implausibility. Mr Ceauescus overthrow followed a week of carnage in which thousands of men, women and children protesting against his regime were killed in cold blood, and probably tens of thousands wounded. Tens of thousands of people gathered in the early hours in front of the Intercontinental Hotel in Bucharest, undeterred by armoured vehicles. Almost none of the uninsured will end up paying the ObamaCare mandate penalty, according to an updated analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, which found that 87% will be able to claim an exemption. This source is a part of the The Romanian Revolution of 1989 teaching module. Just a genteel, inoffensive refusal from an old gent. As the crowd becomes more unruly, Ceausescu becomes more confused and he begins arguing with the unseen hecklers. I have nothing to do with them. PROSECUTOR: Whether you have ever had a mental illness. I will only speak in front of it. But who gave the order to shoot? Elena and Nicolae Ceausescu must be held fully responsible for this. All Rights Reserved. Tip Jar or Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the Belmont Club. 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. The crimes against the people grew year by year. PROSECUTOR: This is how you worked with the people and exercised your functions! As the crowd becomes more unruly, Ceausescu becomes more confused and he begins arguing with the unseen hecklers. In 1947, we assumed power, but under completely different circumstances. Only a few hours before the Genius of the Carpathians had been in apparently complete command. The workers were augmented by bystanders who were rounded up on Calea Victoriei. Forget the pontifications from the myriad talking heads on TV and radio. Bucharest television said that they had left the country. Nobody has the right to abolish the Grand National Assembly. Furnish proof! PROSECUTOR: Esteemed Mr. Chairman, I have been one of those who, as a lawyer, would have liked to oppose the death sentence, because it is inhuman. You have destroyed the Romanian villages and the Romanian soil. This shows again how false the charges are. I only recognize the working class and the Grand National Assembly no one else. The catastrophic situation of the country is known all over the world. Ceausescu claims that the putsch was organized from abroad. PROSECUTOR: Mr. Chairman, we find the two accused guilty of having committed criminal actions according to the following articles of the penal code: Articles 162, 163, 165 and 357. The counsel for the defense now takes the floor and instructs the Ceauescus once again that they have the right to defense and that they should accept this right. And we will not betray our people here. 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. Military base Trgovite - December 25th 1989. The atmosphere was one of jubilation, and the over-riding feeling among the thousands celebrating in the city centre before the shooting began was one of undiluted triumph. PROSECUTOR: But not of our army, you are not the commander in chief of our army. Queen Victoria and Her Prime Ministers The balcony where Ceauescu delivered his last speech, taken over by the crowd during the Romanian Revolution of 1989 The speech was typical of most of Ceauescu's speeches over the years. ALISON SMALE December 21, 1989. PROSECUTOR: So far, they have always claimed that we have built this country, we have paid our debts, but with this they bled the country to death and have hoarded enough money to ensure their escape. The prosecutor says: The world already knows what has happened here. I am a member and the chairwoman of the Academy of Sciences. Paper is patient. Paper is patient. I do not recognize the court. Fanatics, whom you are paying. Another question to Ceausescu: Who ordered the bloodbath in Timisoara. What about the accounts? PROSECUTOR: Please, ask Nicolae and Elena Ceauescu whether they have ever had a mental illness. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: I do not recognize this court. You held monologues and the people had to applaud, like in the rituals of tribal people. PROSECUTOR: Did you hear the charges? I am the president of the people. Its not that we dont want to respect the commander-in-chief, one told me sadly. You have information about it. ELENA CEAUSESCU: The intelligentsia of the country will hear what you are accusing us of. They were even worse than the king, the former king of Romania. You were so impertinent as to cut off oxygen lines in hospitals and to shoot people in their hospital beds. 105). JUDECATORUL: Va rog sa luati loc. The front rows of the assembly were made up of low-level Communist Party officials and members who acted as cheer-leaders. Have you understood them? CEAUSESCU: I do not recognize this court. Why did you ruin the country so much: Why did you export everything? All strategic points in the country were said to be under the control of the people. 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. The people only received 200 grams per day, against an identity card. It is a lie that I made the people starve. The next he was a hunted man. ELENA CEAUSESCU: What genocide? No truth, no survival. Elena says: Look, and that they are calling genocide. quotes Israeli oppositionists as accusing Benjamin Netanyahu of loathing Barack Obama so intensely it has endangering the Jewish states security. Tell the people that I will answer all their questions. Not a single shot. 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 He had been falling for a long time, and proved the last to know. He refused to undergo a psychiatric examination. What prevents him from doing so? Then he is treated like a normal citizen. A lie, a lie in my face. You are faced with charges that you held really sumptuous celebrations on all holidays at your house. He refused to undergo a psychiatric examination. 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. He did not realize, however, that a real revolution was starting right before his eyes. PROSECUTOR: The Grand National Assembly has been dissolved. The Three Conjectures at Amazon Kindle for $1.99, reflections on terrorism and the nuclear age And who brought them into the country? Whatever the reason, the result is that the penalty will raise $27 billion less over the next decade than the CBO had originally expected. PROSECUTOR: In the same way he refused to hold a dialogue with the people, now he also refuses to speak with us. Elena answers: The intellectuals of this country should hear you, you and your colleagues. The Times of Israel quotes Israeli oppositionists as accusing Benjamin Netanyahu of loathing Barack Obama so intensely it has endangering the Jewish states security. CEAUSESCU: No, no. If he no longer has a certain function, he cannot demand anything at all. They wanted to separate the people from the army. PROSECUTOR: This is how you worked with the people and exercised your functions! The archive focuses largely on the period from 1965, when Romania was ruled over by the Ceausescus, until. Quantum: Einstein, Bohr and the Great Debate About the Nature of Reality Finally, I would like to refer once more to the genocide, the numerous killings carried out during the past few days. 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 . At some point the entire structure of governance becomes a system of workarounds with all real power devolved to the man on the ground. PROSECUTOR: Did you know about the genocide or did you, as a chemist, only deal with polymers? Sections in italic type are from the austrian television comentary: It must be cleared up whether Ceauescu wants to, should, must or can answer at all. They organized the putsch. Elena and Nicolae Ceasescu state: Well, you told us about it. 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Have you understood them? How to Debate Leftists and Destroy Them: 11 Rules for Winning the Argument. We have sufficient data on this period. The slippage that attracts the most attention of course, is discontent within the United States military. I am the president of the people. 23 December 1989: Nicolae Ceauescus overthrow follows a week of carnage in which thousands of protesters against his regime were killed in cold blood. Sections in italic type are from Austrian television comentary: The entire intelligentsia of the country ran away. 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. The counsel for the defense now takes the floor and instructs the Ceausescus once again that they have the right to defense and that they should accept this right. No one can deprive me of these functions. One announcer called it the heart of our nation. PROSECUTOR: By now, there have been 34 casualties. Watching the "Video of Ceausescu's Last Speech" on the Making the History of 1989 website, a speech which Nikolae Ceausescu made on 21 December 1989, I was curious to see what the disturbance was that so rattled Ceausescu because by the end of the speech it appears a semblance of order had returned. Now we finally saw your villa on television, the golden plates from which you ate, the foodstuffs that you had imported, the luxurious celebrations, pictures from your luxurious celebrations. I will not say anything here. Who pays them? PROSECUTOR: Yes, but you are paying the mercenaries. PROSECUTOR: So you know the new forum. It doesnt happen as one big wave. The War of the Words for $3.99, Understanding the crisis of the early 21st century in terms of information corruption in the financial, security and political spheres PROSECUTOR: Did you know about the genocide in Timisoara? They not only killed children, young people and adults in Timisoara and Bucharest; they allowed Securitate members to wear military uniforms to create the impression among the people that the army is against them. I have no statement to make, and I will not sign one. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: No, no. Why did you ruin the country so much: Why did you export everything? CEAUSESCU: We had no account in Switzerland. One of the fundamental defenses of a democracy is the truth. However, they will be indicted, and a sentence will be passed on the basis of the new legal system. 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. I hope that you do not also work for the foreigners and for the destruction of Romania. You have information about it. The collapse of the narrative doesnt happen in a single big step, but through an accumulation of small, personal, often innocuous refusals.
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