- Title: Ceausescu's bunker offers a window into Romania's communist past
- Date: 26th January 2017
- Summary: BUCHAREST, ROMANIA (JANUARY 25, 2017) (REUTERS) ENTRANCE TO THE PRIMAVERI ('SPRING') PALACE, FORMER CEAUSESCU FAMILY RESIDENCE VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF PRIMAVERI PALACE MUSEUM GUIDE ROXANA ILIESCU OPENING DOOR TO BUNKER ILIESCU WALKING DOWN STEPS INSIDE BUNKER ILIESCU OPENING DOOR TO MAIN HALL IN BUNKER AND SHOWING INTERIOR ONE OF THE GIFTS FORMER ROMANIAN DICTATOR NICOLAE CEAUSESCU RECEIVED FROM THE "WORKING CLASS" (SOUNDBITE) (Romanian) MUSEUM GUIDE, ROXANA ILIESCU SAYING: "It's a transitional bunker, because it doesn't have a toilet and a kitchen. It has four vents, and it's situated under the garden, not under the building." BEAR STATUE, CEAUSESCU RECEIVED AS GIFT VARIOUS OF ILIESCU SHOWING THE SECOND ENTRANCE/EXIT OF THE BUNKER ILIESCU WALKING THROUGH CORRIDOR SHOWING PAINTINGS OF THE CEAUSESCU FAMILY VARIOUS OF VISITORS AT FAMILY RESIDENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) RUSSIAN VISITOR, IULIA, SAYING: "It's huge amazing expensive house. We understand why Romanian people destroyed nomenclature regime in Romania." VARIOUS OF WOODEN CHESS GAME, CEAUSESCU USED TO PLAY
- Embargoed: 9th February 2017 14:25
- Keywords: Ceausescu bunker residence dictator communism museum
- Location: BUCHAREST, ROMANIA
- City: BUCHAREST, ROMANIA
- Country: Romania
- Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA00160PWRI1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS CONVERTED 4:3 MATERIAL
The heavy metal, hermetically-sealed door of Romania's former communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu's bunker which was first unveiled to the public in December opens with a squeak, releasing a burst of cool air.
The bunker sits two levels beneath a lavish villa in an upmarket neighbourhood in capital Bucharest, Ceausescu's private residence through the 24 years he ruled Romania.
"It is a transitional bunker," said tour guide Roxana Iliescu, adding that it has no toilet or kitchen. According to Iliescu it hasn't been used.
The bunker, which houses the dictators' hunting trophies, and an adjacent basement art gallery are the latest rooms made available to visitors in private tours.
The villa itself was only opened to the public last year, in what then deputy prime minister Vasile Dancu said was an attempt to help Romanians learn and put the past to rest.
The L-shaped mansion has 80 rooms and a plethora of styles, from Louis XIV in some bedrooms to an Art Deco cinema. Peacocks walk in the garden - descendants of the pair Ceausescu brought in after a visit to Japan in the 1970s. A chess board boasts intricately-carved wood pieces; the pawns depict peasants.
The villa was ransacked at the time, but protesters did surprisingly little damage, Iliescu said.
Ceausescu, who would have been 99 today, was summarily tried and shot by firing squad along his wife on Dec. 25, 1989, the only Cold War-era communist dictator to be executed.
And while his residence may look like an ornate, marbled time capsule from the 1980s, the country still bears the scars of his regime 27 years later.
Romania joined the European Union in 2007, but remains its second-poorest state, with entrenched bureaucracy and corruption that date back to those times.
Many communist-era officials are still in public life, wielding political and business influence. The government is still returning property seized under communism to their owners, whereas other countries in the region are long finished.
In 2016, the court sentenced then 90-year-old Alexandru Visinescu, a prison commander, for crimes against humanity, a landmark case and the first of its kind.
Up to 2 million people are believed to have been killed, imprisoned, deported or relocated in Romania between 1945 and 1989 under one of Eastern Europe's most repressive regimes. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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