History of Communism in Europe

Volume 1, 2010

Politics of Memory in Post-communist Europe

John Ely
Pages 59-62

Re-Membering Romania: A Ghost Story

Remembering the year of 1989 does not always seem to produce a coherent narrative about the recent history of Romania. Most likely, when asked about their own experiences or what truly happened back then, Romanians would refer to it as “the events” because there still is a certain veil of ambiguity over their shared collective memory. The author’s personal encounters with such story tellers confirm that Romanians are still torn apart between various interpretations concerning what happened during December 1989.