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In Bucharest,
a woman places flowers at a street
memorial to those who were killed in the fighting.
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Crossing the
"Friendship" Bridge over the Danube on the morning of March 15, we
were on our way north to Bucharest,
Romania -- an
easy, 60-mile drive past flat fields and farms. Upon arrival, we checked into
the Hotel Nord (North), about which, more later.
Louise and I had a few hours on
our own, so we hired a car and driver to take us around. Romania had
just thrown off Communist rule and scenes of the battle were all around us.
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One of the many buildings in Bucharest showing
the effects of the battles of December, 1989,
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The
regime of Nicolae Ceausescu
was considered the most totalitarian and repressive in Eastern
Europe. When protests broke out in Timisoara, little more than a month
after the
Berlin Wall was breached, he ordered his military to fire on the
protestors, killing and wounding many. Massive rioting and fighting
ensued. Ceausescu and his wife
Elena attempted to flee in a helicopter, but were caught by the
military, which
had changed sides. They were tried and swiftly executed by a firing
squad on
December 25, 1989. The revolutionary forces then began the process of
establishing a free Romania.
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Romanian soldiers man a tank at one
of the national capitol buildings.
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We photographed one of Ceausescu's
palaces, other government buildings, some of them showing damage from shelling,
and the pedestal from which Vladimir Lenin's statue had been removed in front of the very impressive national press
building.
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Another building badly damaged by the shelling.
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I asked our guide "What does that graffiti
mean?"
He replied, "It means We Got Them!"
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That evening we were taken to a
service at the Maranatha
Church, which was packed
with people, as has been every service we have attended on this tour.
When we returned to our room at
the Hotel "North," we discovered how it had earned its name: the heat was turned
off at night! We slept, not very comfortably, under a pile of blankets. The
next morning, Louise ran hot water in the tub to see if she could warm the
bathroom. We both ended up taking hot tub baths, which did chase away the
chill!
Breakfast at the hotel restaurant
was cold cuts and cheese and some of Paul Lauster's instant Nescafe, which he
unfortunately left on the table. Then off to the Church's National Headquarters
and Theological Seminary. The only Church
of God school for Christian workers in all Eastern Europe, they were only
allowed 15 students at a time by the Ceausescu regime.
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A class at the Church of God School
of Theology
in Bucharest.
The only seminary in all of Eastern Europe.
|
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A student at the Theological Seminary in Bucharest.
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After lunch with the students, we we were taken on a tour of the Romanian capitol buildings, the Basilica of the Romanian Orthodox Patriarch, University Plaza, where Ceausescu's men fired on protesters on December 21 and 22, and the Palace Plaza, where Ceausescu attempted to speak to the crowds from a balcony and had to be rescued by helicopter.
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The balcony of the Presidential Palace in Bucharest
from which the dictator Ceausescu attempted to
address
the protesters. He had to be rescued by helicopter.
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Sickened by having shed the blood of their own
fellow-citizens,
the Romania
army came over to the side of the people.
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That evening, we went to a service at Philadelphia Church, a large building that again, was fully packed. Despite years of government opposition, the Church of God had by that time grown to 250,000 members.
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Worshipers at one of the Bucharest churches.
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Supper was at the hotel restaurant again, and then back to our room, where another hot bath before bed made for a less chilly night.
Photographs made with Olympus OM and Leica M cameras and lenses, Fujichrome 100D and 400D films. Photographs copyright 2021, David B.Jenkins
I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday each week.
Soli Gloria Deo
For the glory of God alone
Tags: photography, Dave Jenkins, Eastern Europe, Romania, Bucharest, Church of God, Ceausescu, Olympus OM camera, Leica M camera, Fujichrome film, film cameras
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