Institute for study of communist crimes urges Romanian authorities to act against rising pro-totalitarian nostalgia

The Institute for the Investigation of the Crimes of Communism and the Memory of Romanian Exile (IICCMER) has issued a public appeal to president Nicuşor Dan and prime minister Ilie Bolojan to demonstrate “firmness in decision-making” in order to counter what it describes as an “increasingly insidious phenomenon of pro-totalitarian nostalgia,” G4media.ro reported. The institute argued that the trend “fundamentally threatens democratic values and institutions.”

Daniel Şandru, executive president of IICCMER, stated that “the crimes of the communist regime, the repressions of the Securitate, the restrictions on fundamental freedoms, hunger, cold and suffering are, unfortunately, trivialised today and replaced by campaigns to rewrite history and whitewash the totalitarian past.”

His comments were included in the public appeal addressed to the head of state and the prime minister.

The appeal noted that Romania will soon mark the thirty-sixth anniversary of the end of the communist regime, described as “an illegitimate and criminal regime, a totalitarian system that, through its atrocities, left deep marks on our collective conscience.” Şandru wrote that Romanians had a “moral obligation to do everything in our power so that that terrible history would never be repeated,” but said the country had “significantly deviated from this fundamental duty.”

He stressed that this moment should not be viewed as one of “capitulation” or “resignation” but rather of acknowledging “a painful but necessary truth.”

According to Şandru, Romanian society is “passively witnessing a furious, systematically coordinated assault, intended to rewrite and distort the historical reality of the recent past.” He warned that this situation represents “an existential danger for the memory and identity of Romanian society.”

The institute reiterated that the crimes of the communist period, including the actions of the Securitate and restrictions on basic freedoms, along with hunger, cold, and suffering, are increasingly being trivialised and replaced by efforts to rehabilitate the totalitarian past.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea)