Govt. approves setup of Romania's museum of communist terror

The Government approved in its December 4 meeting the administrative structure, activities, and financing of the Museum of Communist Horrors in Romania.

The museum, an institution subordinated to the Culture Ministry, will showcase the realities of Romania's social, economic, and cultural life between 1945 and 1989.

It aims to offer the public an accurate view of the abuses, crimes, and torture that the communist regime inflicted on its opponents and on the reality of the oppressive regime, the Culture Ministry said.

The museum will be temporarily located inside the HQ of the National Library of Romania. It will be financed by the state, from the Culture Ministry's budget, and from its activities, donations, and sponsorships.

During communism, 800,000 people died and more than 3 million suffered in the 44 prisons and 72 labor camps of the totalitarian regime, the Culture Ministry explained.

"We have a duty to know the history because those who forget risk repeating it. This museum will help the generations who lived under communism overcome the collective trauma through cultural expressions that can offer a feeling of resolve, mental, physical, or spiritual, to the gray existence and lack of freedom and resources for a decent living before 1989. These abuses are unimaginable to future generations, whom I would like to see more aware of the importance of democracy," culture minister Bogdan Gheorghiu said.

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