Romania under Ceausescu was a complex situation. In the beginning, he had managed to cooperate with both the United States and China, so he belonged to the socialist community on the one hand, but he was also one of the “favorite children” of the West, introducing centrifugal tendencies from the Soviet milieu.
The Ceausescu regime exercised stifling control in all regions. It is this control, along with economic problems, that sparked the protests, then his trial, and the judges sentenced him to death.
The 1989 riots
On Christmas 1989, the whole world was watching Revolution live. The riots that broke out soon turned into an uprising against the country’s president, Nicolae Ceausescu. The protesters initially gathered in the city of Timisoara but spread to the capital and other major cities after Ceausescu ordered the army to open fire on civilians.
On December 21, the dictator appeared before the crowd and delivered a speech about the regime’s achievements and its glorious history. But the assembled crowd started booing him and Ceausescu had no choice but to hide inside the building that housed the Communist Party headquarters. He stayed there for a whole day, where he joined the angry rebellious mob including his former associates. The only solution left was to slip away.
He boarded a helicopter with his wife, Elena, and two faithful companions. They landed at the chief’s country house in Snagov and from there fled by car to Tergoviste. Their march stopped there when the police arrested them and handed them over to the army.
Juicio de Ceausescu
After Ceausescu’s failed attempt to leave the country, as well as his arrest, his trial took place immediately, in barely an hour. The generals informed the couple that they had been sentenced to death, after being found guilty of genocide, trespassing on public property, destroying the national economy, and armed repression of protests.
According to the official order, they were to be executed separately, but Elena asked to die together with her husband. The soldiers begin to tie their hands with ropes, despite their protests. They were led into the courtyard, where they were placed against a wall.
Ceausescu performed the international anthem. Just before they fired, he shouted: “Long live the Socialist Republic of Romania. Independent and free.” According to soldier Ionel Boyero, who fired the first shot, Elena Ceausescu’s last words were a curse directed at another soldier….
Minute by minute, the execution of Ceausescu
Some 33 years after the execution of Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, his executioner remembers that moment. Ionel Boeru tells The Mirror the full story of Ceausescu’s execution as he experienced it. He still remembers the 29 bullets he fired from his Kalashnikov assault rifle at Ceausescu, who placed them against a wall facing the firing squad. Ionel Burrow, 56, rarely talks about what happened on Christmas Day 1989. He has yet to tell his 9-year-old daughter Andrea that he killed them, ending a brutal regime. “I have no regrets at all. I’m sure my bullets killed them. It’s not something to be proud of, but it happened.”
Fearing for his life, Ceausescu and his wife left Bucharest by helicopter on December 22. They were forced to land in the city of Targovisti. Three days later, Ionel Boeru participated in the secret trial of Ceausescus. I was in the room and had orders to kill them if an attempt was made to rescue them. I had the gun on my chest. I watched them every moment. I listened to the deliberations and the decision of the judges”.
When the judges decided to impose the death sentence, he had to be executed immediately. “I ordered them to be dismembered and executed. They asked me to die together and their request was granted. Three soldiers handcuffed them behind their backs. Together with another, we took Ceausescu and two others to his wife. We went out first with Ceausescu and went to the place of execution, halfway stopped, and began to sing the first music video for the international world.
I took it to the wall. We turned around and walked six steps. We noticed that a soldier stayed by Ceausescu’s side. I’m sure. He had 29 bullets. I reminded the others to automatically lower their weapons when he ordered them to fire. He fired the first 3 bullets. Ceausescu fell to his knees. The bullet hit his legs, and when I raised the gun the rest hit his upper body.
The next shot was fired at his wife. he fell to the left. One of them forgot to fire the automatic and was firing single rounds. Another did not fire until he was already on the ground. I’m pretty sure my bullets killed them both. As they were being killed, shots were heard from other soldiers standing nearby. He was afraid of being the next to get shot.
I pointed my gun in the air and yelled: “This is for my colleagues in Bucharest and for everyone in Timisoara.” I said it out of fear and shock.”
What happened to the Ceausescu family?
Following the execution of Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, the assets of their three children were frozen.
The eldest son Valentine is the luckiest. Steaua and soccer fan, he studied Physics in England. He avoided getting involved in politics. He returned to Romania, married twice, spent nine months in prison, and after his release continued to work. Today he receives a pension of €450 per month, while he has also received payment for his confiscated assets.
Zoya – Elena Ceausescu taught mathematics. She got married, but rumors wanted her to be a free spirit who shocked the usually conservative capital society on several occasions. She passed away in 2006 at the age of 57 from bowel cancer. The house in which she lived with her husband was also seized and in the last years of her life, she was hosted by her friends.
The most famous of them is Nikos, who aspired to succeed his father. However, he had emotions that he couldn’t tame. He loved to drink, gamble and women. He was losing big money in Las Vegas. The same thing happened in Greece, where he came often. It is said that he raped Nadia Comaneci when she was 14 years old. Sentenced to 20 years in prison, he was released after three years. He suffered from cirrhosis of the liver and died on September 26, 1996, in a clinic in Vienna. His friends raised $4,000 to get him to the hospital. For More Info: Smoothies News
