Fingerprints of the Past: Cluj photographer tells the story of life as a wealthy bourgeoisie under Ceaușescu’s regime

In February 1952, the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania put Alexandru Ruja behind bars for being a “cheabur,” a pejorative term used to identify wealthy bourgeoisie peasants who own lands, farms, and crops. 70 years later, his great-granddaughter, Denisa Moldovan, is living to tell his story.

Denisa Moldovan is a law student at Babes-Bolyai University. While pursuing journalism as her double degree, she dived into her roots in a new photo report, “Fingerprints of the Past.”