Gulliver Travels, censored by Ceausescu in 1985

 

Seditious Reverend Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) censored by Ceausescu in the 1980s

Little that the old Irish Reverend Swift expected, EVER, to fall foul of Romanian communist dictator Nicolae ceausescu: not that Ceausescu ever read Swift, not even ANY books at all – he was famous for being semi-literate and to speak a very poor Romanian…
Yet would you believe it or not Jonathan Swift fell foul of the Communist censorship… read on the problems encountered by an editor in Bucharest in the 1980′s who tried to publish Swift”s Satyres:

“Publishing Swift’s satires in 1985, I myself fought a lot with the censor in order to include “A Modest proposal” concerning eating Irish children, which had become subversive here on account of meat shortage in Romania. Faced with the alternative of not publishing the book at all, or doing it without the famous text, I gave it up. The supreme level of censorship was a department of the (Communist) Party Central Committee.”

Propaganda Poster of the People's Genius and his Scientist Spouse greeted by Happy Children

Source of quotation:

http://www.blouseroumaine.com/buy-the-book/index.html

Social, Economic and Political Background:

During such an epic leadership of the scholarly personage, which was embodied by Elena Ceausescu – the Woman Creator-Symbol, beside her husband-hero Nicolae Ceausescu, there was no question of any other Romanian woman being allowed any creative exercise, except in reproductive terms.

Bucharest Historic Downtown bulldozed by Ceausescu 1980s

As if such inhumane policies were not enough Romanians under Ceausescu suffered the constant threat of being evicted from their homes, in the drive of modernising the country, with scores of city centres being razed to the ground, and the historic architecture vanishing with it,

16th c Monastery in the heart of Bucharest being bulldozed by Ceausescu to make room for his Pharaih delusions of grandeur

in order to make room for prefabricated Stalinist-style  blocs of flats. People were given 72 hours to clear their belongings and move into modern chicken coops: they abandoned their furniture and pets in the streets (hence the errand dogs of Bucharest, that have become proverbial).

Proverbial stray dogs of Bucharest - descendants of abandoned pets during Communism

To add to this unseeming social nightmare, intended to cower the people into utter submission, and steal their memory and their pride, during the early 1980’s, Ceausescu decided that all foreign debt, incurred over an unreasonable industrialisation, should be repaid, for which most agricultural products were exported; Romanians were left without basic foodstuff and miles-long queues were formed in front of state-owned co-ops, lining for hours on end, in the hope that something to eat would be provided: there was no meat, no fish, no eggs, no vegetables –only some rotten potatoes, occasionally, not fit to feed the pigs and on a good day one may find some chicken claws, with which one could make some broth with (q.v. Eugenia Velescu):

Potatoes:

“I got up early, at the crack of dawn, to secure a place, by 6 AM, in an interminable queue, in the hope of buying milk and eggs for our silver wedding anniversary, but I came home empty handed. That afternoon I went again on an errand to see if I could buy anything for our dinner at our local market place. This was an open air market where peasants with a tiny plot of land could bring their vegetables. These were a luxury as they were so expensive, so I thought I had a better chance of finding something. The stalls made of wooden planks on struts were absolutely empty and in the fine rain they looked desolate and dirty. I scanned the stalls, as the last peasants were about to leave, for their villages, outside Bucharest. It was winter time and dark was falling early in the day. As I was about to give up, looking down, carefully to avoid the pot holes full of rain water, I just noticed a few potatoes which fell on the ground, under the stall, so I asked the peasant if I could pick them up. As I knelt on the ground, with difficulty, at my old age, because of my arthritis, I put them in my plastic bag and asked how much he wanted. He did not want to receive any money, in deference to my old age. I must have looked pityfull and exhausted. I hurried home with just an empty bag with three potatoes covered in mud. As I entered our block of flats I met this young neighbor of mine, who exclaimed in surprise: madame, she said, ‘where have you found these potatoes, because I looked the whole day and found none… and I have a young baby at home who has nothing to eat. I am desperate.’ So, I handed over to her the  three potatoes, which were visible through the plastic bag and came home with nothing: but was glad to have done a good deed.” (Jenny, personal communication, 1981)

The whole despair of hunger is summed up in an open letter sent by the women of Romania to Elena Ceausescu, in 1980 (q.v. Hunger, Potatoes), which was published in the West.

Elena and Nicolae Ceausescu's Cult of Personality

Hunger (Open letter to Elena Ceausescu):

“Mrs. Ceausesscu,

We are a group of Romanian women from across twelve different Counties of this very Land that you and your husband, aided by your family, are leading, with these smiling, well-groomed faces – judging at least from  your ubiquitous  portraits displayed everywhere, in offices, factories, and streets – whilst the population suffers from malnutrition, being deprived of basic foodstuff.

You allowed yourself to say on TV that Romanians are fat and that they eat too much. As if the lack of food would make one fat! Indeed, it may be that the very lack of food that makes one fat as we are without even the most basic foodstuff such as potatoes, onions, dry beans, not mentioning green vegetables.”

(……………………………………………………………………………….)

“Since 1980 one could scarcely find anywhere any potatoes on sale in the state-owned shops and if, by chance, one finds any one could hardly eat three or four good potatoes out of four kilograms, as the rest are unedible, being so bitter.”

(……………………………………………………………………………)

“Where is our agricultural produce, dear “First Lady of the country”? We would dearly love to know it, from yourself, in your capacity of communist woman, wife and mother, where is our foodstuff? Where on earth could one find cheese, margerine, butter, cooking oil, the meat which one needs to feed the folk of this country?

By now, you should know, Mrs. Ceausescu, that after so many exhausting hours of travail in factories and on building sites we are still expected to rush about like mad, hours on end, in search of food to give our husbands, children and grandchildren something to eat.

You should know that we may find nothing to buy in the state-owned food shops, sometimes for days or weeks on end. And finally if one is lucky to find something, as we must stand in endless queues, which in the end  would put paid to all desire to eat and even to be alive! Sometimes we would even feel like dying, not being able to face the suffering, the utter misery and injustice that is perpetrated on this country.”

{Translated from French, text quoted in the special Issue nr. 20, Summer of 1981 under the title  ‘Roumanie, Crise et Repression, 1977 – 1980’’, in the Periodical  ‘L’Alternative – pour les Droits et les L ibertés Démocratiques en Europe de l’Est’, pp. 97, Paris, 1982)

The Romanians known for their defiant spirit which allows them to laugh during grief, as a means of ultimate catharsis (a face haz de necaz) could at least show a bitter smile, when hearing the Romanian gypsy children performing the parody of a Christmas Carol, in 1980, nine years before the tyrant and his wife were put down, on Christmas Day:

CHRISTMAS CAROL

Christmas Carol - Romania

(A   Parody sung by Romanian Gypsy children)

Father Christmas we do beg

Bring us butter, bring us egg.

If you ever come on foot

Bring some cabbage, or beetroot

If your bag is large enough

Add some maize and garlic cloves.

Christmas Father don’t miss either

The potatoes and the flour.

Should you come, though, in a sleigh

Don’t forget for the New Year

Toilet paper that’s so sparse,

To wipe at least our arse.”

(Translated by Constantin Roman, from the French version published in the magazine “L’Alternative” (Paris), supplement 20, 1981, pp. 96)

Ceausescu Propaganda Poster

Smaranda Braescu, World Champion at Parachute jumping, Pioneer Aviator, WWII Pilot

IN MEMORIAM SMARANDA BRAESCU

(English version by Constantin Roman)

SMARANDA, where are you?

Your pilot wings have taken to the skies

To lift you like a feather in your plane

Across the Ocean you have got from all

A hero’s welcome hailing you to fame.

But you refused all glitter and all gold

And chose instead returning to your nest

In the Carpathians a Squadron White you set

Your homeland to defend from mountain  crests

Against invaders from the East and West.

But soon corrupt elections cut your breath

And like your ancestors you took your case

Protesting at an outcome so unfair

And so the wrath of Gods brought you Despair -

A Fugitive to stay until the End.

As you conspired to reveal the Truth

You carried on your fight from underground

Your noble Creed which steeled a life so brave

When suddenly Fate would  curtail your youth

To bury you, deep, in an unknown grave.

No family or friends were there to grieve

To light a candle at a stranger’s quest

No Requiems were sung by bearded priests

When your remains at night were laid to rest

And no hushed souls would know whom to bereave.

But your example was not all in vain

As History again moved on its Wheel

And five decades of sorrows passed us by

We finally are Free to sing your name

And honour you, at last, the best we can.

Copyright Constantin ROMAN

London, September, 2010

(from the volume: “Random Poems”)

Extract from: “Blouse Roumaine – the Unsung Voices of Romanian Women”
http://www.blouseroumaine.com

She was the first female Romanian pilot, the European skydiving champion in October 2, 1931, skydiving from a record height of 6,000 m, landing in the Bărăgan Plain, the world champion in 1932 with a jump of 7200 m near Sacramento, California, and set a record crossing the Mediterranean Sea. In the States she was offered lucrative contracts at Hollywood (for stunt jumps) but she recoiled in horror and went back to Romania. She stopped over in Rome where she got a heros’ welcome and had an audience with the Pope who wanted to find out what it feels like up in the sky…

With the advent of WWII, Smaranda Bràescu enrolled with other women pilots in the ‘White Squadron’, active on the Eastern front, where Romania was trying to retrieve from the Soviets the provinces taken by Russia as a result of the Hitler-Stalin Pact. After 1944, Bràescu joined the 13th squadron, which was fighting the Germans on the Western front, first in Transylvania, then in Hungary (Nyiregyhaza, Miskolc) and Czechoslovakia (Rimaska Sabota, Trencin and Piestany). Although a war hero Smaranda Bràescu soon fell foul of the communist puppet régime which was installed in Romania by Stalin’s armies. She protested to the United Nations about the legality of the 1946 elections and her letter of protest to the Allied Command in Romania fell into the hands of a Russian general. Thereafter Smaranda Bràescu became a pariah and had to join the underground resistance in order to escape imprisonment and certain death. She operated under an assumed name, first from a convent and then as an anti-communist resistance fighter. She died of cancer at the age of 51, and was buried in Cluj, under her assumed name of Maria Popescu, in a grave on which her merits and real identity could not be spelled out. The people who helped her were hounded out and given long prison sentences, including the doctors who looked after her in hospital.

Smaranda Braescu, Romanian Pioneer Pilot and World Champion at Parachute Jumping

Smaranda, unde esti?
Te-ai avantat in zboruri printre nori
Din ceruri coborat-ai ca un fulg
Peste Ocean, cantata indelung
Urale ti-au adus de sarbatori.

N-ai vrut onoruri si nici bani mai multi
Cinstit-ai vrut sa stai printre Romani
Si te-ai intors atunci la noi in munti…
Cu “Escadrila Alba” ai rapus
Dusmani din Rasarit si din Apus.

In ’46 cand s-au masluit
Alegerile suflul ti-au taiat
Ca bunii tai cu jalba in protap
Mai-marilor de-atuncea te-ai jelit
Dar soarta ta fugar-ai fost sa fii.

Din talcul vietii tale ti-a fost dat
Sa nu renunti la lupta nici de cum
Cu fruntea-n sus sa mergi pe-acelasi drum
Cand boala floarea vietii ti-a curmat
Si-n groapa zaci sub nume de-mprumut.

N-au fost nici popi, nici rude, nici parinti
O candela sa-ti puna pe mormant
Nici vesnici pomeniri, pomeni sau sfinti
Nu s-au aflat s-aline trupul tau
De cine-ai fost sa sufle vre-un cuvant.

Dar pilda ta n-a fost intr-un zadar
Acum ca roata vietii s-a rotit
Si patru zeci de ani trecut-au, chiar
O strada cu-al tau nume in sfarsit
Te va slavi atata cum mai stim.

Copyright: Constantin ROMAN
Londra, Mai, 2006

"Curierul Romanesc", Sweden, a Romanian Language Quarterly, Oct-Dec 2009

Curierul Romanesc, Suedia (nr 4, 2009):

Interviul luat de Silvia Constantinescu autorului Antologiei

‘Blouse Roumaine -the Unsung Voices of Romanian Women’

(Partea III-a):

Doamna SilviaConstantinescu (Suedia). Courtesy: Octavian Ciupitu

S.C.: O lucrare de referinta ca aceasta pe care ati realizat-o are marele merit ca informeaza rapid mai întâi persoanele care studiaza – elevi, studenti, cercetatori si apoi pentru ca informatiile date de acest tip de lucrari fiind clare si concise persista în memoria cititorului. Ca om de specialitate consider “Blouse RoumaÎne – the Unsung Voices of Românian Women” o lucrare care n-ar trebui sa lipseasca din nici o biblioteca, cu atât mai putin dintr-o biblioteca româneasca. De aceea va sfatuiesc sa nu va mai adresati Institutelor Culturale Român de ori unde ar fi ele, si sa trimiteti informatii si oferte despre aparitia acestei lucrari la bibliotecile universitare si populare din lumea întreaga si institutiilor care achizitioneaza carti pentru a le vinde intern, de tipul celei din Suedia, BTJ-serviciul bibliotecilor.

Aici sunt interesatii! Intelectuali, persoanele particulare intersate sunt putine la numar, dar ca material de studiu, de informare despre România, ar trebui s se gaseasca în toate bibliotecile. În Suedia cumparatorul de baza este biblioteca, mai ales ca o carte astazi costa o avere!

Si ca sa va plâng si eu pe umar vreau sa va povestesc ca în urma cu circa 10 ani, eu, sotul meu, arhitectul Octavian Ciupitu, si una din fiicele noastre, Anne-Marie Ciupitu, doctor în medicina, am realizat primul CD-ROM din lume despre viata si activitatea lui Alfred Nobel -”a multimedia presentation”, în 5 limbi. Având ca sponsor întreprindrea BOFORS, a fost posibil financiar ca lucrarea sa fie facuta cadou si câtorva biblioteci si persoane particulare, culturale din România. Nimeni din acestia nu au multumit autorilor, spre deosebire de M S. Regina Angliei, M S Regele Spaniei, M.S Regele Mihai, Presedintele Statelor Unite, Bil Clinton, Jacques Chirac, Presedintele Fran]ei, Presedintele Irlandei, Mary Robinson, Primministrul Canadei, si multi altii, pe care-i poti citi daa` intri la CURIERUL ROMÂNESC. Românilor li se cuvenea. ”Astia din exil, aveti obligatia sa-i ajutati pe cei de acasa!” Spuneti-mi cum a fost primita lucrarea de public?

C.R.: Desigur am întâlnit si reactii negative ale unor persoane care voiau sa transforme o antologie întreaga într-o biografie personala, în detrimentul celorlalte biografii, sau pur si simplu, exagerând valoarea personala; alte persoane care au obiectat si voiau sa dicteze selectia care am facut-o, ceea ce am rezistat ferm, dar politicos. Toata aceasta gestatie a durat peste sapte ani, în medie circa trei ore pe zi. Sigur ca m-am confruntat si cu invidia unor cercetatori care isi arogau monopolul unui subiect sau al unui personaj din antologie. Lista este mult prea lunga pentru a enumera asemenea dialoguri, în unele cazuri pe atât de hilare pe cât de neverosimile.

S.C.: Ce alte probleme v-a ridicat editarea acestei antologii?

C.R.: Marele dezavantaj al unei antologii pentru un autor este ca proiectul reprezinta o lucrare “vie” care trebuie în permanenta adus la zi. Ori în mod inevitabil întârzierile cauzate de factori care nu puteau fi optimizati sau controlati rezultau în necesitatea unor modificari sau adausuri de informatii. Din acest motiv “Blouse Roumaine” nu pretinde a fi si nu poate fi complecta, însa este în schimb o baza de la care un cititor interesat îsi poate construi în continuare un cadru de cercetare.  În pofida editarii antologiei de mai multi voluntari este clar ca se vor fi strecurat si unele erori editoriale care vor fi în continuare corectate si transmise gratuit cumparatorilor în editii ulterioare.

S.C.: Eu am ramas cu pasiune pentru cartea pe hârtie; am placerea rasfoirii unei carti, iar cea pe care a-i realizat-o se potriveste de minune unei tiparituri. Când apare o editie tiparita?

C.R.: Ideea unei editii brosate nu este abandonata, dar ea necesita obtinera unui suport financiar. Productia unui tiraj redus pentru o carte de 1100 de pagini este peste masura de scumpa –  circa 50 de lire sterline (65 de dolari) înainte de a adauga valoarea comerciala a exemplarului si posta). Global, în acest calcul nu pun la socoteala timpul personal si am luat o decizie constienta de a marca un pret sub nivelul costului  commercial.

S.C.: Ce doresti sa mai adugi?

C.R.: Desigur pe parcursul proiectului a existat un conflict de interes direct cu profesia mea: aceasta a necesitat o asceza si poate pe undeva a fost si un refugiu, un mod de compensare al acelui complex de apartenenta  la ”o tara mica”. Sper ca acest efort sa nu fi fost irosit si sa  reprezinte atât penru români cât si penru straini o curba de înitiere pasionanta asa cum a fost si pentru acest autor, motiv pentr care nu regret drumul  anevoios si sinuos care a trebuit sa îl parcurg. Sper ca pentru românii din România antologia sa deschida noi perspective asupra istoriei si culturii românesti în special asupra acelor aspecte mai putin cercetate ale diasporei românesti asupra careia s-a practicat decenii întregi o conspiratie a tacerii. La fel în acelasi context a existat o tacere preprogramata si despre exilul din interior. Pentru românii din afara granitelor aceasta poate i-ar ajuta sa descopere noi valori românesti care sa le transmita copiilor si nepotilor, dar si prietenilor straini pentru a dovedi contributia care am facut-o ca români în strainatate si nu numai. Pentru cititorul strain Antologia este menita sa demonstreze ca Romania a avut in mod permanent un rol activ in contributia unor valori asa cum a avut si in asimilarea unor valori din exterior.

"Curierul Romanesc", a romanian language Quarterly, Sweden, Oct-Dec 2009

“Curierul Romanesc”, Suedia (nr 4, 2009):

Interviul luat de Silvia Constantinescu autorului Antologiei

‘Blouse Roumaine -the Unsung Voices of Romanian Women’

(Partea II-a):

Doamna SilviaConstantinescu (Suedia). Courtesy: Octavian Ciupitu.

Silvia Constantinescu: Fii, te rog, amabil si prezinta cititorilor CURIERULUI ROMÂNESC problemele avute în munca de cercetare si realizare a antologiei.

Constantin Roman: Sunt obisnuit cu munca de cercetare de când eram în liceu si mai tarziu din profesia mea, ceea ce îmi permite de la început sa am o ideie clara în care sa încadrez o lucrare de genul Antologiei femeilor din România. Nu este usor din mai multe motive: ignoranta si desinteresul publicului larg din strainatate fata de România si tot ce reprezinta ea în afara de stereotipia: Dracula, Ceausescu, orfelinate, coruptie, infractiune. Am fost întrebat fara menajamente de un editor strain:

“Femei din România? Care femei? Nu cunosc decât trei!”

La care i-am raspuns ca

”aecsta este un început promitator”…

Omul avea dreptate! Cautând pe Google doua cuvinte cheie ”Romania + women” am gasit pagini întregi doare de anunturi de servicii sexuale, agentii de escorta si retele de bordeluri. Trist, dar adevarat! Dar gândindu-ma mai mult mi-am dat seama ca nici eu nu eram mai breaz, daca m-ar fi întrebat cineva câte nume de femei celebre as fi putut enumera din Bulgaria, Ungaria sau Polonia? Desigur ca sufar si eu ca toti românii de complexul apartenentei unei “tari mici”, exprimându-se într-o limba de circulatie redusa… Poate din acest motiv simtind povara acestui handicap încercam în mod eroic si naiv sa corectam pe undeva aceasta realitate incomoda! Dar unde si cum sa începem?

S.C.: Care este ideea de baza a antologiei “Blouse Roumaine – the Unsung Voices of Românian Women”?

C.R.: În primul rând trebuie sa atragi si sa mentii atentia unui public amorf, care în general nu se intereseaza de un asemenea subiect. Este evident ca ”Antologia” vizeaza un public inteligent, care sa aiba în plus o minte iscoditoare, o pasiune pentru un unghi nou, pentru o perspectiva noua, un subiect poate inedit. Ca sa îl interesezi trebuie sa-l atragi pe un teren cu care sa se simta familiar – prin aceasta vreau sa spun, sa ofer o punte de legatura între polul de cultura ai istorie româneasca pe de o parte, ai, la celalalt capat, un punct de interes international. Acesta din urma poate fi un eveniment istoric care leaga România de exterior. În acest scop am facut trimiteri la personaje de statura internationala cunoscute cititorului, un om politic sau un scriitor, critic sau artist de reputatie mondiala. Deci am încercat sa nu privesc la România si la românce în mod izolat, ci în concertul unor natiuni si culturi universale. Bine înteles ca asemenea legaturi trebuie gasite si prezentate convingator, inteligent si chiar anecdotic. Asta este o conditie absolut sine-qua-non pentru ca o carte arida despre un subiect specializat si în mod evident “obscur” pierde în mod automat interesul publicului, dar mult mai important, pierde interesul unui editor sau agent literar care s-ar interesa sa publice o asemenea carte.

S.C.: Ca bibliotecara am remarcat imediat importanta acestei lucrari de referinta, mai ales pentru ca fiind prezentata în limba engleza, are marele avantaj de a putea fi consultata de o paleta forte variata de cititori, de la elevi de scoala, la studenti, cercetatori si alti interesati de informatii despre România. Ea aduce astfel un mare serviciu României prin difuzarea cunostiintelor despre România unui public larg.  Cum a întâmpinat Institutul Cultural Român si alte institutii de cultura din România aceasta lucrare? Ai primit vreun sprijin?

C.R.: Institutului Cultural Român si editurile din România au  aratat un dezinteres total! Sigur pentru a corecta ignoranta despre România nu ajunge o singura carte si nu ne putem astepta la miracole, dar ar fi poate un început, dar pentru a creea un interes mai larg ar trebui sa se ocupe guvernul român si oficialii lui din strainatate. Ori stim prea bine lipsa de competenta si de interes al acestora, daca judecam cel putin dupa nivelul realizarilor – suntem prost reprezentati de persoane care nu înteleg limba si cultura, carora le lipseste ‘suprafata’ si modul de comunicare cu publicul tarii unde sunt afectati. De patru zeci de ani de când sunt în Occident nu am vazut nici un articol de fond al vreunui atasat cultural sau diplomat român sau mai târziu al vreunui reprezentant al Institutului Cultural Român în strainatate care sa apara într-un ziar sau revista prestigioasa de circulatie cu maximum de impact, nici macar când România era sistematic denigrata de presa straina. Cu ce îsi justifica existenta acesti lefegii? Evident perceptia competentei sau a patriotismului lor care se face cu surle si trâmbite este complect strâmba, iar banii si timpul se irosesc de pomana. Ca un corolar al celor de mai sus desigur ca ideea lansarii unei antologii de genul acesta ramâne un fenomen izolat si nu un substitut a ceea ce ar trebui sa fie un produs sprijinit oficial de România sau macar de acele edituri românesti care îsi aroga întâietatea în panegericul culturii noastre: ori aici va dau doar doua exemple: mai intai ca editurile din România sunt insensibile la o astfel de oferta – am plimbat timp de un an si jumatate, poate chiar mai mult macheta antologiei “Blouse roumaine”, începând cu târgul de carte Bookarest si apoi la o duzina  de edituri, pe care nu le mai numesc, si toate încercarile s-au soldat cu esec si o pierdere de timp colosala cauzate de persoane care în principiu ar fi trebuit sa promoveze valorile culturii noastre în strainatate – al doilea exemplu – Institutul Cultural Român de la promisiuni fara acoperire la invocarea unei ”Românii sarace” (sic).

Despre practica promisiunilor fara acoperire a domnilor Buzura si Patapievici, în alt context,  nu-l mai pomenesc. Însa mai recent, la Paris, am fost îndemnat de un personaj important  sa solicit sprijinul ICR-ului din Franta.  Gasisem un editor cunoscut care ar fi fost interesat sa publice în traducere manuscrisul din engleza înainte chiar ca acesta sa fi aparut în Anglia si Statele Unite. Deci aveam recomandarea unui istoric francez marcant care sprijinea aceasta initiativa si îmi facuse contactul cu ICR la Paris. Trebuie sa spun ca am umerii largi si nu ma formalizez de un raspuns negativ, care în mod previzibil l-am si primit, dar am ramas consternat de maniera agresiva cu care am fost tratat – bine înteles nu chiar la nivelul mitocaniei care o înfruntam în cotidianul din tara, dar o atitudine care mi-a amintit de limbajul de lemn al proceselor de vrajitoare al anilor stalinisti, citez:

“Dar de ce nu traduceti Dvs cartea, caci vad ca vorbiti frantuzeste foarte bine!”

Desigur o întrebare care nu i-ar fi pus-o domnului Plesu a carui teza de doctorat tocmai o publicau în Franta (o teza de 190 pagini tiparita la editura ‘Somogy’ in Sept. 2007, contra unui cost de 28.500 de euro platit de ICR) si au cumparat-o integral înainte sa ajunga în librarii – episod despre care a vorbit domnul Portocala. Oare traducerea a fost platita de ICR pentru ca dl Plesu nu stia frantuzeste, ori pentru simplul motiv ca banii contribuabililor erau automat canalizati spre o asfel de destinatie?

Si mai departe:

“Vai, domnule, cum sa va platim o asemenea traducere? România este o tara foarte saraca!”

Sigur ca nu i-am raspuns:

de ce suntem saraci? pentru ca se fura ca în codru si ca putinii bani care mai ramân sunt folosti în înteresul cumetriilor!

Dar ceea ce a pus bomboana pe coliva a fost o gaselnita, un argument stalinist folosit de altfel si în celebra ”Istorie a literaturii Române” a lui George Calinescu, publicata de România la UNESCO la sfarsitul anilor ’80:

“Cartea Dvs nu este româneasca (sic!) pentru ca manuscrisul original este scris în engleza!”

Exact cum spunea acel George Calinescu care servea regimul comunist decretând ca:

“Scriitorii români din strainatate care publicau în limbi straine dovedeau o lipsa de patriotism.”

Explicati-mi, va rog, ce anume s-a schimbat în mentalitatea Tranzitiei, chiar dupa ce am intrat cu oistea româneasca în gardul Europei?

Înterlocuoarea mea, pe atunci adjuncta la ICR Paris si acum ocupând primul post dupa demisia colegului sau în urma scandalului cunoscut (din 2007), era o distinsa poetesa care prin definitie ar fi trebuit sa demonstreze o convergenta de idei si sa sprijine propunerea, iar daca nu mai avea fonduri (pt ca le cheltuise pentru filosofia tanarului student Plesu) , sa sugereze alternative.

Atitudinea era cu atât mai neverosimila cu cât venisem cu acea înalta recomandare fata de care ar fi trebuit macar sa ma trateze cu mai multa curtoazie, daca nu era capabila sa tina seama de personajul respectiv. De abea dupa aceeasta conversatie epica am înteles, asa cum se întâmpla cu ”mintea românului cea de pe urma”, ca reactia dumneaei era de fapt previzibila în cea mai buna traditie a educatiei primite – în spiritul literaturii tractoriste - pentru ca mai avea si alti barzi prin familie:

”un caz unic de doua generatii lirice în aceasi familie, fenomen ce nu a mai existat în literatura universala de la Alphonse Daudet încoace, unde tatal si fiul erau poeti!”…

asa ne informa un interviu dat la Bucuresti de înterlocutoarea mea pariziana.

Dar sa lasam la o parte aceste mici neajunsuri si sa revenim la dificultatile de cercetare întrinseca a acestei Antologii. Surse de informatie sarace si încomplecte ceea ce a necesitat confruntarea acelorasi detalii din surse diferite de multe ori fara rezultat. Am cumparat sute de carti în diverse limbi, am facut cautari infinite pe Internet, am telefonat în România si în strainatate, am intervievat persoane în diverse tari direct si la telefon. Sigur ca în cursul acestor cautari am întâlnit niste femei exceptionale în România, dar si în multe alte tari care mi-au pus timpul lor la dispozitie fara nici o reticenta. Am tradus în engleza circa sase sute de citate românesti inclusiv versuri, am compilat discografii, liste de spectacole si de expozitii personale.

(Urmare in Partea a III-a)

"Curierul Romanesc" Oct-Dec 2009, Romanian-Language Quarterly, Sweden

Curierul Romanesc, Suedia (nr 4, 2009):

Interviul luat de Silvia Constantinescu autorului Antologiei ‘Blouse Roumaine -the Unsung Voices of Romanian Women’ (partea I)

CONSTANTIN ROMAN:

“ÎN REALIZAREA LUCRARII MELE ‘ANTOLOGIA FEMEILOR DIN ROMÂNIA’, M-AM IZBIT DE IGNORATA SI DEZINTERESUL PUBLICULUI LARG DIN STRAINATATE FATA DE ROMÂNIA SI TOT CE REPREZINTA EA, ÎN AFARA DE STEREOTIPIA: DRACULA – CEAUSESCU – ORFELINATE – CORUPTIE – INFRACTIUNE.”

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Constantin Roman, autorul antologiei “Blouse Roumaine – the Unsung Voices of Romanian Women”.

Foto: © Constantin Roman.

Doamna SilviaConstantinescu (Suedia). Photo Courtesy: Octavian Ciupitu.

Pe Constantin Roman l-am prezentat cititorilor deja în numarul 2 din 2003 al CURIERULUI ROMÂNESC. Avusesem atunci o discutie lunga despre viata petrecuta în România comunista a anilor ’50-’60, despre anii de doctorat si activitatea profesionala în Anglia, despre furtul de idei si obstacolele puse de colegii români, atunci când a încercat sa-si prezinte lucrarile stiintifice în România, despre persistenta gândirii staliniste la cei mai multi intelectuali români chiar si dupa caderea regimului stalinisto-ceausist, despre sentimentele pe care le-a nutriti si le nutreste pentru etnia careia ii apartine, despre experienta de exilat-diasporit-expatriat-destarat român, dar si despre recunoasterea meritelor personale prin aprecierea acordata de catre presedintele Emil Constantinescu, al carui Consilier personal pentru Energie si Resurse Naturale a devenit în 1998, care l-a investit cu Ordinul pentru Merit cu gradul de Comandor, si prin conferirea titlul de “Professor Honoris Causa” de catre Universitatea din Bucuresti, acea universitate la care studiase si absolvise în 1966 geofizica.

De data aceasta doresc sa vorbesc cu Constantin Roman despre realizarea lucrarii deosebit de importante, nu numai pentru unicitatea ei în istoria literaturii române, ci si pentru contributia ei la cunoasaterea României în lumea întreaga despre “Blouse Roumaine – the Unsung Voices of Românian Women”.

În meseria mea de bibliotecara de informatie în Suedia, am întâlnit zilnic elevi, studenti, cercetatori care s-au izbit de lipsa de informatii despre acea Romanie care n-a fost creatia ”partidului comunist si a lui Ceausescu, fiului cel mai iubit al poporului”, ci despre adevarata Românie, care dainuie de secole, înaintea comunismului si a ”eliberarii” tarii de catre armata rosie.

Sunt o femeie cu studii superioare îndelungate, efectuate în doua tari si stiu cât de multa munca cere cercetarea si nu diminuez munca enorma depusa de Constantin Roman pentru realizarea unei astfel de lucrari, dar sunt si bibliotecar de profesie, cu practica îndelungata numai în informatii, la mari biblioteci populare din Suedia si aceasta mi-a dezvoltat capacitatea de apreciere a lucrarilor de referin]a în general si în limbi de mare circulatie în special. Eu stiu din proprie experienta ca în biblioteci nu puteam oferi informatii despre România cititorilor mei, pentru ca ele fie ca erau numai în limba româna, fie ca nu existau de loc.

Lucrarea lui Constantin Roman si-ar fi capatat, desigur, un loc în istoria literaturii române, dar ar fi ramas limitata la aria limbii române, falindu-ne noi între noi cu personalitatile feminine din istoria noastra. Lucrarea lui Constantin Roman si-ar fi câstigat, desigur, un loc în istoria literaturii române, dar pe plan international n-ar fi ajutat sa se împrastie ignoranta cititorilor despre o tara despre care informatiile existente sunt numai despre ”Dracula, Ceausescu, orfelinate, coruptie si infractiune”, informatii primite prin scurtele buletine de stiri din ziare, de la radio sau TV.

Prezentata în limba engleza, a treia limba vorbita pe aceasta planeta, dupa chineza mandarina si spaniola, antologia “Blouse Roumaine – the Unsung Voices of Românian Women”, da posibilitatea a peste 380 de milioane de vorbitori si cititori ca prim FEMEILE românce, sa fir cunoscua România. Cine poate arata mai bine mentalitatea, sufletul unui popor, daca nu femeile acelui popor, caci ele sunt mamele, logodnicele, sotiile. Si mai vreau sa evidentiez lucrarea lui Constantin Roman “Blouse Roumaine – the Unsung Voices of Românian Women” pentru ca eu o consider un omagiu adus femeilor românce. Când am primit direct de la Constantin Roman informatia despre aparitia acestei lucrari, m-am oferit s-o prezint imediat cititorilor CURIERULUI ROMÂNESC, considerând ca astfel îmi fac si datoria de bibliotecara, dar si de românca, ajutând astfel la propagarea informatiilor despre România.

I-am pus câteva întrebari lui Constantin Roman despre imensa munca de cercetare necesara în realizarea unei lucrari de referinta de aceasta anvergura, dar si despre problemle financiare pe care le ridica munca în sine de la strângerea de informatii pâna la tiparire.

(Continuare in Partea a II-a)

I

‘Queen of the Heights’, ‘Virtutea Aeronauticà’, (Gold Cross), (1897 – 1948) Pioneer aviator, first Romanian woman parachutist (1928), 1931 European parachute champion (6,000m), 1932 World Parachute Champion (7,200m), WWII fighter pilot, underground anti-communist freedom fighter, buried under an assumed name

Biographical Note:

Winner’s Glory:

” My life means nothing if I’m keeping it for myself. I dedicate my life to my country, and I want to live it in glory. I will only come back as a winner.”

(Smaranda Bràescu addressing American lournalists in 1931, in New York, before she beat the World record at parachute jumping, at 7,000 m)

Ethics:

” I brought a record to my country, and I can’t transform the glory into a business. I represent Romania and I must act accordingly.”

(Smaranda Bràescu, declining a lucrative contract for show jumping in America, after she beat the World record for parachute jumping, in 1932)

Extract Bio Note from the Anthology:

“Blouse Roumaine – the Unsung Voices of Romanian Women”:

http://blouseroumaine.com/buy-the-book/index.html

With the advent of WWII, Smaranda Bràescu enrolled with other women pilots in the ‘White Squadron’, active on the Eastern front, where Romania was trying to retrieve from the Soviets the provinces taken by Russia as a result of the Hitler-Stalin Pact. After 1944, Bràescu joined the 13^th squadron, which was fighting the Germans on the Western front, first in Transylvania, then in Hungary (Nyiregyhaza, Miskolc) and Czechoslovakia (Rimaska Sabota, Trencin and Piestany). Although a war hero Smaranda Bràescu soon fell foul of the communist puppet régime which was installed in Romania by Stalin’s armies. She protested to the United Nations about the legality of the 1946 elections and her letter of protest to the Allied Command in Romania fell into the hands of a Russian general. Thereafter Smaranda Bràescu became a pariah and had to join the underground resistance in order to escape imprisonment and certain death. She operated under an assumed name, first from a convent and then as an anti-communist resistance fighter. She died of cancer at the age of 51, and was buried in Cluj, under her assumed name of Maria Popescu, in a grave on which her merits and real identity could not be spelled out. The people who helped her were hounded out and given long prison sentences, including the doctors who looked after her in hospital.

But the wrath of the communist vendetta followed this woman-hero to her grave: twenty two years after “Maria Popescu” died, the tomb of Smaranda Bràescu was desecrated, the bones dispersed and the plot where her grave was located in the Central Cemetery of Cluj was sold to another family in 1970: now the conspiracy of silence was complete.

After the fall of Communism and 42 years after Smaranda Bràescu died, many a town street throughout Romania was named after her and in 1996 the President of Romania signed a decree for the award of the honorary parachutist battalion colours named after Bràescu (‘drapelul de luptâ al Batalionului 498 Parasutisti ‘Smaranda Bràescu’’).

In the summer of 2006, at the initiative of Tudor Sàlàgean, curator of the History Museum of Transylvania, the grave of the fallen hero was finally inscribed on a monument at Cluj Central Cemetery and a street in the city where she died under an assumed name was be named after her.

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Smaranda Braescu (1897-1948)

In Memoriam

Smaranda, unde esti?

Te-ai avantat in zboruri printre nori

Din ceruri coborat-ai ca un fulg

Peste Ocean, cantata indelung

Urale ti-au adus de sarbatori.

N-ai vrut onoruri si nici bani mai multi

Cinstit-ai vrut sa stai printre Romani

Si te-ai intors atunci la noi in munti…

Cu “Escadrila Alba” ai rapus

Dusmani din Rasarit si din Apus.

In ’46 cand s-au masluit

Alegerile suflul ti-au taiat

Ca bunii tai cu jalba in protap

Mai-marilor de-atuncea te-ai jelit

Dar soarta ta fugar-ai fost sa fii.

Din talcul vietii tale ti-a fost dat

Sa nu renunti la lupta nici de cum

Cu fruntea-n sus sa mergi pe-acelasi drum

Cand boala floarea vietii ti-a curmat

Si-n groapa zaci sub nume de-mprumut.

N-au fost nici popi, nici rude, nici parinti

O candela sa-ti  puna pe mormant

Nici vesnici pomeniri, pomeni sau sfinti

Nu s-au aflat s-aline trupul tau

De cine-ai fost sa sufle vre-un cuvant.

Dar pilda ta n-a fost intr-un zadar

Acum ca roata vietii s-a rotit

Si patru zeci de ani trecut-au, chiar

O strada cu-al tau nume in sfarsit

Te va slavi atata cum mai stim.

(Poem by Constantin ROMAN, London, May 2006)

Constantin Roman © 2009. All Rights Reserved

Smaranda Braescu (1987–1948), pioneer pilot, parachutist and anti-communist fighter

De ce si pentru ce “altfel’?
Din mai multe puncte de vedere:

One of the 160 Romanian women presented in the Anthology

In primul rand mesajul lucrarii NU este unul ‘oficial’, parafat de cei care ne dramuiesc adevarul. Autorul este constient de faptul ca traim intr-o periada a nesfarsitei “Tranzitii” unde bajbaim inca, pe carari intortocheate, ca sa ne aflam identitatea, Pe aceleasi carari misuna ‘experti’, autoproclamati ‘boieri ai mintii’ care nu numai ca isi dau coate intre ei ca sa ramana in capul bucatelor, dar sunt gata ori si cand sa ne abureasca memoria si sa ne re-scrie istoria. Metodele sunt aceleasi care au fost folosite sub dictatura: o cenzura prin omisiune, urmata de un facsimile cosmetizat atat de neverosimil incat tipa dela distanta. Acest fenomen nu este unul propriu Romaniei ci se afla in speta in toate tarile ‘ex-comuniste’ fiind insumat perfect de simplu si plastic de catre un parlamentar Polonez cand a afirmat:
Imperiile se destrama doar in cateva saptamani, in timp ce mentalitatea imperiala are nevoie de cateva generatii ca sa dispara.

Antologia prezenta nu isi poate permite sa ‘corecteze’ dintr-un condei aceste aberatii care se impamantenesc, dar isi propane in schimb sa ofere cititorului o lucrare sub un unghi ‘alternativ’ si pe undeva neconformist, despre o realitate istorica perceputa de partea cealalta a baricadei.

In al doilea rand, alegerea subiectului si al punctului de  referinta, plasarea lui intr-un context istoric si social dar si intr-un cadru European, plaseaza antologia “Blouse Roumaine” intr-o categorie foarte diferita.

In al treilea rand, ca Forma lucrarea se adreseaza nu numai specialistilor din Universitati dar si publicului larg, facnd-o accesibila unei categorii mari de cititori romani si straini. In acest context formatul Antologiei ofera pentru prima data cititorilor Anglo-Saxoni, nefamiliarizati cu Romania, posibilitatea de a intelege ca Romanii nu au fost doar simpli consumatori ale unor valori Euuropene dar au contribuit in mod substantial la cultura Europeana si de peste Ocean. Aici Antologia evoca o panoplie intreaga de de voci de femei de profesii foarte diverse si uneori neasteptate evocand astfel imagini cu totul insolite si admirabile: femei ramase in Romania dar si femei desradacinate, care au luat drumul exilului sau care s-au nascut pe pamant strain doar pentru ca parintii lor s-au exilat, femei care au reusit in mod extraordinar sa isi pastreze valentele romanesti.
Pe parcursul cartii vom putea face o selectie dintre cele o suta saizeci de biografii critice sau ne vom putea delecta alegand dintre cele sase sute de citate, in majoritate traduse pentru prima oara in limba engleza. Aici se vor gasi nu numai citate in proza dar si versuri. Cei care ar dori sa aprofundeze unele aspecte specifice au la dispozitie o bibliografie de circa 3.000 referinte inclusiv situri web (URL), credite de spectacole, recitaluri si expozitii, inregistrari audio, s.a.
Iata de ce, fara nici un dubiu “Blouse Roumaine” se poate considera o carte “altfel”. o Antologie foarte diferita care ramane, totusi, o carte de capatai si poate un manual de studiu pentru aprofundarea subiectelor de interes mai specializat.
Cautarea selectiva este usurata considerabil de existenta a nu mai putin de sase Indexuri organizate pe profesii, subiecte de citate, localitati geografice, nume de familie, sau ordine alfabetica sau dupa data nasterii.

La inceput mi-a fost teama ca ar fi fost o carte plictisitoare, dar citind-o mi-am dat seama ca mi-a oferit o lectura foarte placuta si instructiva.

O alta cititoare din Hawai a scris:
Reticenta initiala de a cumpara cartea a rezultat din teama ca ar fi fost o carte academica, arida, dar citind   rezumatul si unele pgini accesibile liber pe Internet m-am decis sa o command.

Stilul lucrarii este voit alert si accesibil si prin urmare usor de parcurs, sau asa cum marturisea o cititoare din Texas:

Autorul a fost recompensat sa constate ca dimensiunea Europeana a Antologiei a fost recunoscuta de experti de formatie foarte diferita in afara perimetrului de interes romanesc, respectiv cercetatori ai literaturii franceze, muzicologi, istorici, sociologi, comentatori politici, ziaristi.

Mesaj catre cititorul Roman:
Daca traiesti in Romania si ai impresia si ti-ai pastrat curiozitatea si dorinta de a-ti recupera Memoria pierduta sub Dictatura sau falsificata sub Tranzitie si doresti sa ai acces la un unghi ‘diferit’ – aceasta este o carte pentru tine, plina de surprize placute si informatii noi, provocatoare.
Daca traiesti in strainatate si esti plictisit de stereotipia care ni se aplica noua Romanilor in mod injust si reductiv – despre Dracula, orfelinate, prostitutie, coruptie sau saracie si vrei sa tii capul sus si sa demonstrezi copiilor, prietenilor sau vecinilor ca Romanii sunt “altfel”, traiesc si gandesc “altfel” si ca au fost si sunt destul de talentati ca sa contribuie la valorile universale, dincolo de manele, de mici, de cantece de pahar sau de dorinta de a ne pricopsi peste noapte, indifferent de mijloace, atunci “Blouse Roumaine” este o carte pentru time.
Daca esti un official Roman, diplomat, politician, functionar public, director al unui ONG, editor de revista sau ziar (inclusiv Director al Institutului Roman, Ministru al Culturii sau al Turismului) si vrei sa demonstrezi ca realitatea este “altfel” si ca am fi inceput de mult procesul de a ne fi debarasat de acea “mentalitate imperiala”, inoculata de un imperiu acum apus, atunci “Blouse Roumaine” este o carte pentru tine: felicitarile cu adevarat sincere se pot demonstra doar prin promovarea activa a acestei carti prin publicarea rezumatului, sau a unei evaluari critice, al unui link pe site-ul tau, sau asa cum ar spune Englezul:
The proof is in the pudding.
ceea ce intr-o traducere mai plastica ar insemna:
Dovada se poate gasi in meniul care il consumam.

CUMPARA:

http://www.blouseroumaine.com/orderthebook_p1.html

EXTRASE/LINK:

http://www.blouseroumaine.com/freeexcerpt_download.html

SYNOPSIS:

http://www.blouseroumaine.com/about-the-book/index.html

Daniel Rosenthal - 'Revolutionary Romania' (19th c)

Romanian-Jewish Topics (Part One of Two):
Quotations from an Alternative Anthology:
“Blouse Roumaine – the Unsung Voices of Romanian Women”

Presented and edited by Constantin Roman, Preface by Catherine Durandin, published by the Centre for Romanian Studies (London), 2009

1,100 pages, 160 biographies, 600 quotations, 4,000 references, credits, discography and URLs , 6 Indexes

http://www.blouseroumaine.com/orderthebook_p1.html

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Lauren Bacall, Movie Star (Lauren's mother was born in Romania and migrated to New York with her parents.

Lauren BACALL,

“Betty” (née Betty Joan Perske), Miss Betty Bacall, Mrs. Humphrey Bogart, (b. New York, 16 September 1924)
First-generation Romanian-American, film star, wife of Humphrey Bogart

Romanian immigrants:

Mother left Romania by ship – aged somewhere between one and two – with her father, mother, elder sister, baby brother. Her father had been in the wheat business, had been wiped out, and had turned out whatever silver and jewellery there was left to a sister for money, enough to transport his family to the promised land – the New World – America. They arrived in Ellis Island and gave their name – Weinstein Bacal (meaning wineglass in German and Russian). The man must have written down just the first half of the name – too many people from too many countries, too many foreign names – so it was Max and Sophie Weinstein, daughters Renée and Natalie’s, son Albert.
(Lauren Bacall By Myself, pp. 5, Jonathan Cape, London, 1979)

Happy Times:
We had happy times, my grandmother cooking, singing German songs, reading constantly in French, German, Romanian, Russian and English. She and mother spoke Romanian and German when she did not want me to understand.
(Lauren Bacall, By Myself, op.cit. 5)

Read more about Lauren Bacall:

http://www.blouseroumaine.com/orderthebook_p1.html

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Georgeta (Georgette) CANCICOV, née Maria Jurgea
“The Angel Saviour of Moldavian Jews”
(b. 29 May 1899, Godinesti, County Bacàu – d. Bucharest, 16 April 1984),
Novelist, essayist, violinist, nurse in WWI, wife of Liberal justice minister and politician Mircea Cancicov

Georgeta Cancicov – Saviour of Moldavian Jews:
Taking advantage of the fact that Marshall Antonescu stayed at her house whenever he visited Bacàu and given the good relationship she had with him, Mrs. Cancicov interceded robustly and ensured that no ghettos be set up in Moldavia.
(…)
Then, there was the question raised that Jewish women be forced to perform labour in town. We again interceded with Mrs. Cancicov in a petition addressed to Marshall Antonescu, who decreed that the women should only do such work as befitting their profession, which was a gain in our favour.
(…)
On the eve of 22nd August 1944, there was an order to evacuate all Jews. (Consequently), on the morning of 23rd August, in the courtyard of the Church of Our Lady, a detachment of 600 Jews was gathered for evacuation. You can imagine their distress, as they had to leave behind their families and be driven among (the retreating) Hitler’s armies. As I intervened with Mrs. Cancicov, she communicated to me in writing that no Jews should be evacuated and I presented this order to the (military) commander. He checked with Mrs Cancicov, who confirmed, on her authority, that nobody should go, so he freed everybody. As a result no Jews from the any other detachments were evacuated either.
(…)
Of course, there were countless other little matters on which Mrs. Cancicov acted as the protecting angel and saviour of our wretched and oppressed Jewish people.
(D. Ionas, President of the Jewish community of Bacàu, Petition to the Prefect of the County Bacàu, dated 9th September 1945, in favour of Georgeta Cancicov, whose house was requisitioned by the Soviet Army, quoted by the Memoria)
(http://www.memoria.ro/?location=view_article&id=821&l=ro)

Jewish Ghettos:
There will be no Jewish ghettos set up here: (I defy you, that) should there ever be any of these set up, then I am going to be an inmate in one of them myself.
(Georgeta Cancicov, reassurance given to Schiller, the representative of the Jewish Community in Bacàu, quoted by D. Ionas, op.cit)

Read more about Georgeta Cancicov:

http://www.blouseroumaine.com/orderthebook_p1.html

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Nina Cassian, - a successful Poet under dictatorship, who sought refuge in America at the end of Communism

Nina CASSIAN (Renée Annie Cassian)
(b. 27 November 1924, Galati),
Poet, novelist, translator, composer, exile and now expatriate living in New York since 1985

Conviction:
I worked to be understood by the farmers and workers, I was torturing myself and distorting my artistry. Some of us Romanian writers did it with conviction. That was the worst.
(Nina Cassian)

Excluded:
They don’t want me there, I’m not sure why. They used to consider me eccentric and rebellious…But now maybe it’s because they resent that I’m living a better life in America.
(Nina Cassian)

Uprooting:
It is a terrible tragedy, at age 60, to leave one’s country and live in a place where one is surrounded by a foreign language and with two impossible professions — poetry and classical music, I have had my share of fame and glory, and didn’t expect more.
(Nina Cassian)

Read more about Nina Cassian:

http://www.blouseroumaine.com/orderthebook_p1.html

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Maria Forescu, Romanian Movie star of the silent cinema: died at Buchenwald

Maria FORESCU (née Maria Füllenbaum)
(15 Jan 1875 Cernàuti, Bukowina – (?) 23 November 1943, Buchenwald Concentration Camp, Thuringia, Germany)
Movie star, operetta singer, Nazi concentration camp detainee, killed at Buchenwald

Maria Forescu (née Maria Füllenbaum) is one of Europe’s earliest stars of the silent movie. She dedicated herself to her career with great zest, acting in over one hundred and sixty films from 1911 to 1933, a thread which was abruptly severed by Nazi censorship which resulted in her dramatic deportation to the infamous Buchenwald cocentration camp where she was killed ten years later, in 1943.
(Extract from the Biography of Maria Forescu published in “Blouse Roumaine – the Unsung Voices of Romanian Women”, 2009)

Read more about Maria Forescu:

http://www.blouseroumaine.com/orderthebook_p1.html

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Nicoleta (Nicolette) Franck (née Apotheker/Apoteker)
(b. 21st July 1920, Iasi, România)
Lawyer, political analyst, journalist, translator, exile in Switzerland

Political illiteracy:
The tragedy of the vote (for presidential elections) of 26th November 2000 cannot be explained in any other way than in the perspective of the political illiteracy of the Romanian people. Our schools had not yet made good the teaching of history, and so distorted has it remained that our past is not correctly understood and thus we cannot shape the present or have a glimmer in the future.
(Nicoleta Franck)

Rumours:
Certainly after half a century of outright lies peddled by the communist régime, Romanians now believe only in rumours rather than public declarations. Consequently they are easily misled through whispered rumours, which are aimed at the calumny of honest people, pointing out their failures rather than at their achievements, – the latter, alas, being few and far between and rather slow in materializing.
(Nicoleta Franck)

Read more about Nicoleta Franck:

http://www.blouseroumaine.com/orderthebook_p1.html

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Clara Haskil, Romanian born pianist: her talent was discovered by Carmen Sylva, Queen Elisabeth of Romania who gave her a scholarship to study in Vienna.

Clara HASKIL,
‘La Princèsse de la Musique’,
‘Clarinette’, (nickname given by Dinu Lipatti)
(b. 7 January, 1895, Bucharest– d. 7 December 1960, Brussels),
Pianist, exile in France and Switzerland

Clara Haskil about Georges Enesco:
I always felt alone when I played with Enesco. I could not see what we had in common. This great man and little me. Yet we were both Romanian, and apparently our playing blended perfectly. But what else? Such a towering figure. And me?
(Clara Haskil, ibid.)

Clara Haskil about Dinu Lipatti:
Oh, I could spend hours talking about Dinu. He was always so aware, so alive, in spite of all the terrible pain he had to suffer. And his music-making! I really can’t find the words to describe what I felt whenever I hear him play. I often thought he felt almost guilty he had been blessed with so much genius.”
(Clara Haskil, ibid.)

Clara Haskil about Dinu Lipatti:
How much I envy your talent, may the Deuce take it! Must you have so much talent and I so little? Is there justice in this world?
(Jean-Yves Conrad, Roumanie, capitale Paris, Guide des promenades insolites, sur les traces des Roumains célèbres de Paris, page 130)

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Helen, Queen Mother of Romania and Mother of King Michael: during WWII she fought fearlessly to save Jewish lives: her tribute is alive at Yad Vashem

Princess HELEN of Greece and Denmark,
Romania’s ‘Queen Mother’ (Regina Mamà Elena)
(b. 2 May 1896, Athens – d. 28 November 1982, Lausanne, Switzerland)
consort of King Carol II,

Helen, Queen Mother of Romania, seen by Great Rabbi Alexandru Safran:
I would like to refer to the posthumous award of the title of “The Righteous Among the Nations” to Helen, Queen Mother of Romania. This letter is meant to bring to the fore two fundamental aspects pertaining to this matter: (1) actions by which the Queen Mother saved the lives of many Jews during the Second World War; (2) the risks personally taken by the Queen Mother in undertaking such actions.” (…)
“Such consciousness of possible risks extended over the whole period between 1941 and 1944. My own contact with the Queen Mother allowed me to gage her sharp and lucid perception of the realities of these unstable and turbulent times and at the same time to be appraised of her apprehensions concerning such risks. I can, at the same time bear witness that the Queen Mother constantly interceded on behalf of the Jews and that she saved Jewish lives in spite of all apprehensions: she was drawn to it by her kindness and her moral values.
Hoping that this letter will be helpful to the Commission of the Righteous Among Nations Award…
(Alexandru Safran, Grand Rabbi of Switzerland)

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Lupescu - The indomitable Romanian royal seductress: she became King Carol II third wife: her remains were recently transferred from the Braganza chapel in Lisbon to a monastery in the Carpathians

Elena LUPESCU,
(née Elena Grünberg, alias ‘Wolf’),
(aka ‘Magda’, aka ‘Duduia’, aka ‘Princess Elena’)
Mrs. Elena Tâmpeanu – by her first married name
(b. 1896, Herta, România, or 1899, Iasi Moldavia – d. 1977, Estoril, Portugal)
Socialite, royal concubine, third wife of King Carol II, exile

Limerick on Madame Lupescu:
Have you heard of Madam Lupescu,
Who came to Romania’s rescue?
It’s a wonderful thing
To be under a King:
Is Democracy better I ask you?
(Anonymous)

Bleeding:
While he whom I adore, he in whom I put all my hope for the good of my country did not send me a telegram, not even a single line in order to share with me his happiness, happiness to which I had contributed… my heart is sad, it is bleeding because I expected to be the first to whom you would send a telegram.
(Elena Lupescu’s letter to Carol, Quoted by Lilly Marcou, Le Roi trahi – Carol II de Roumanie)

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Romanian-Jewish Topics(continued in Part Two):

© copyright Constantin ROMAN, 2003-2009, all rights reserved

Presented and edited by Constantin Roman, Preface by Catherine Durandin, published by the Centre for Romanian Studies (London), 2009

1,100 pages, 160 biographies, 600 quotations, 4,000 references, performances & exhibition credit, discography and URLs , 6 Indexes

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As a young girl from Hungarian-occupied Transylvania, Ana NOVAC knew the whole gamut of Nazi concentration camps. She was a surviver of both Nazi and Communist dictatorships, who opted for freedom in France.

Ana NOVAC, (née Zimra Harsany)
‘The Romanian Anne Frank’
(b. Dej, Transylvania, 21 June 1929)
Actress, playwright, poet, novelist Auschwitz, Kratzau, Plaszow camps survivor, exile living in Paris

Nationality:
I was born in 1929 in Transylvania (România). One good morning when I was 11 years old I woke up to be a Hungarian citizen without having moved to another place, another street, or even without having changed my shirt. At the age of 14 I was deported to Auschwitz as a Jew. On my release in 1945 I had again become a Romanian citizen. That is why I have the greatest difficulty in establishing my nationality, other than from my identity papers which specified that I was Jewish.
(Ana Novac, The Beautiful Days of My Youth: My Six Months in Auschwitz and Plaszow)

‘Anti-semite’:
That text was rejected by the censors as ‘anti-Semitic’….’It is useless to explain to a bureaucrat trembling for his job and his life that one can be Jewish, persecuted, and a bastard at the same time; that martyrdom and heroism do not necessarily go together; that misfortune does not imply any merit and does not confer any more right to glory than a car wreck, or an earthquake.
(Ana Novac, The Beautiful Days of My Youth: My Six Months in Auschwitz and Plaszow)

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Ana PAUKER (née Hannah Rabinsohn, or Rabinovici)

Ana Pauker together with Elena Ceausescu shares the distinction of belonging to the Romanian Communist Demonology

‘A Jewish Female Bukharin’
(b. 1893, Codàesti, County Vaslui, Moldavia – d. Bucharest, 1960)
Granddaughter of Rabbi Hersch Kaufmann Rabinsohn, communist activist prior to WWI, political prisoner, exile in the Soviet Union, NKVD operative/ spy, returnee,
vice-president of the Council of Ministers, (1949-52), Foreign Minister, (1947-53),
Politburo Member responsible for the enforced collectivization of agriculture, (1944-56),

Rabbi Alexandru Safran on Ana Pauker:
“Ana Pauker, a rabbi’s daughter…. when she was Minister of Foreign Afairs, wanted everybody to know, especially when I was present, that she was not a Jew, she was a communist”….
“… when she saw me approaching the Prime Minister and the other ministers she stepped out of the line and turned aside for a moment in order not to greet me. She thus thought to demonstrate that she, the communist, did not want anything to do with the Chief Rabbi and Jewry; that she had less in common with him than even the other members of government….”
“…the expression of Ana Pauker’s face during her time of glory, had always been impertinent”.
(Alexander Safran, Grand Rabbi of Switzerland, formerly Grand Rabbi of Romania: Resisting the storm, Romania 1940-1947, op.cit 139, 161, 166)

Tesu Solomovici on Ana Pauker:
The most shining star amongst the huge number of Moscow-trained spies and activists was, undoubtedly the Jewish communist Ana Pauker. She knew Joseph Vissarionovitch Stalin personally and worked under the orders and direct command of the henchmen of the Soviet repressive services, Lavrentie Pavlovitch Beria, Victor Semionovitch Abakhumov, Piotr Vassilievitch Fedotov and Pavel Mihailovitch Fitin and furthermore she enjoyed the admiration of yet another dinosaur of Soviet power – Vyactheslav Molotov. Notwithstanding all that, Gheorghiu-Dej succeeded, with a patient cunning to pluck out all her feathers.
(Solomovitch: 54-55)

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Elisabeth Roudinesco Parisian-born Psychoanalist of Romanian stock

Elisabeth ROUDINESCO (Elisabeta RUDINESCU)
(b. 1944)
Academic, psychoanalyst, historian of science, historian, journalist, editor,
French-born Romanian living in Paris

Antecedents:
“Being Jewish, in such conditions, did not make sense, because I was baptised, but not being Jewish did not make sense either, because this baptism did not imbue in me any integrating principles. How should I answer my classmates who might enquire about my origins and my religion? My father called himself an orthodox convert to Catholicism; my mother rather considered herself a Protestant and both parents felt rather detached from any religious tradition. Furthermore, my mother kept in a drawer a fake birth certificate which was produced for her benefit by a willing abbot, by which she was spared the obligation of wearing the yellow star badge and consequently saved from deportation. How could one believe, in such conditions, in the validity of a ‘real’ birth certificate and how will I know what might be the implications of ‘really’ belonging to a religion? It took me twenty years to unravel this imbroglio of my Jewish origins.
(Elisabeth Roudinesco, Généalogie)

Dracula:
“One day, as I returned from the cinema, where I discovered that the most famous Romanian on this planet was Count Dracula, I bought Bram Stoker’s book, which I read breathlessly. As soon as I reminded my father that his worthy ancestors may not have been those whose descendant he claimed to be, he raised his arms to the sky and treated me (in Romanian) of that highest swear word of being a ‘tzigan’. From then on we did not stop wrangling. He was always singing the merits of Voltaire, Anatole France and Paul Valéry, whose friend he was, while I loved Balzac, Michelet and Proust.”
(Elisabeth Roudinesco, ibid.)

Immigrant’s delusions:
“My father who emigrated (from Romania to France t.n.) in 1904, passed his time obfuscating his origins. Being wary of anti-Semitism (in France. t.n.) and anxious to prove his desire of being assimilated, he was claiming an Orthodox father and that he himself had converted to Roman Catholic. This is how he could claim, without admitting it, a link with Alexandru Socec. As for any reminiscences regarding his own itinerary, he invented a family novel to suit his imagination, to the point of thinking himself more French than the French themselves and to relegating his native Romania to the status of a country inhabited by vampires and gypsies. He had in his disquisitions two way of looking at history. A scholarly approach, based on academic books and which he presented and eschewed  in the clearest manner. By contrast his private life was punctuated by mystery and rumor. My father would assign to archives and to the truth a positivist cult, whilst for his own family history, he was covering his tracks and was clouding the genealogies.”
(Elisabeth Roudinesco, ibid.)

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Annie SAMUELLI, victim of Communist witch hunt

Annie SAMUELLI
(b. 1912 – d. ca. 2003)
Clerk at the British Legation Bucharest, political prisoner, exile

Cosmopolitan bourgeois:
The debased spies, recruited from among the cosmopolitan bourgeois, have finally received their retribution.
(The Communist newspaper Unirea commenting on Annie Samuelli’s ‘conspiracy in favour of Great Britain and the U.S.A’. in the 1948 political trials. Quoted by Tesu Solomonovici, in Securitatea si Evreii, vol 2, pp.51l)

Miracle Rabbi:
Carla, aged 40, arrived at our cell: she was a brilliant accountant. Carla was given a 20 years prison sentence for having been a member of a so-called ‘subversive organization’. Although a Roman Catholic she would tell us about the pilgrimage to the tomb of the ‘Miracle Rabbi’:

Some hundred years ago, this rabbi would have led his folk on foot all the way to a small Romanian village to escape a pogrom in Poland. This humble and enlightened man handed out wise counsel, which was of the greatest help to the community. After his death at a venerable age, people would still come along to his grave to ask advice. The ritual unfolded in the following way: in memory of the rabbi’s long treck from Poland, the pilgrims, Jews and Gentiles alike, would walk to the cemetery, which was rather far from the city. Along the way, they would pick up a stone. Any request or problem would be scribbled on a piece of paper, which was put under the stone and placed on the rabbi’s grave. In time, all these stones grew to become a gravestone in the shape of a pyramid, which grew and grew. Each time a request or a problem was satisfied, the pilgrim would return to collect the stone and destroy the piece of paper.

Carla heard the story from an inmate with whom she shared a prison cell in said town. Although she was Romanian Orthodox this woman prisoner was convinced that her husband was praying at the rabbi’s tomb for her to be given a reprieve of her prison sentence, because the rabbi had already miraculously saved their dying son.
‘Well, would you believe it?’ Carla would exclaim. ‘This woman was acquitted within six months. And you know how rare it is for a political prisoner to be freed. She had failed to denounce some refugee and she would have been sentenced to a minimum of five years. Now, owing to the Miracle Rabbi, she could go home’.
(Annie Samuelli, Dayyenu)

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Silvia SIDNEY, First Generation romanian-American Movie Star

Sylvia SIDNEY (aka SYDNEY), (née Sophia Kosow),
1stly Mrs. Bennett Cerf, 2ndly Mrs. Luther Adler, 3rdly Mrs. Carlton Alsop
(b. Bronx, New York, 8 August 1910 – d. New York, 1st July 1999)
First-generation Romanian-American, film and stage actress, needlepoint artist

As in the case of Lauren Bacall, (q.v.), another glamorous New York-born actress with Romanian roots, one may question Sylvia’s inclusion in the Blouse Roumaine. Sylvia’s father, Mr Kosow, was indeed Russian, but her mother was Romanian.

(Extract  from: ‘Blouse Roumaine – the Unsung Voices of Romanian Women’)

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Sanda Stolojan: a freedom fighter and sharp observer of Romanian exiles

Sanda STOLOJAN (née Alexandra Zamfirescu)
(b. 1919, Bucharest – d. 2 August 2005, Paris)
Essayist, poet, memorialist, translator, journalist human rights activist,
Personal interpreter for four French presidents, exile in France

Franco-Romanian Jews:
I went to Beaubourg to the symposium on Benjamin Fondane, on whom I was writing an article in the ‘Cahiers de l’Est’. In the auditorium many Romanian Jews were gathered , a world with which we other Romanians have few contacts other than some personal friends. An old émigré, Claude Émile Rosen, read one of Fondane’s poems in Romanian. Stefan Lupasco who knew Fondane was there too. Generally the tone of the evening, imprinted by the philosopher Chouraki, a specialist in the Jewish mystique, was Hebraic and anti-Romanian, with pre-war Romania painted in anti-Semitic colours all over. Throughout the course of the evening I felt an odd sensation of being there only tolerated, marginalized, in spite of being at the core of a cultural space with which I was very familiar. In a certain fashion I was the “Jew”, the foreigner within this audience. In fact our manner of living our exile is situated at the opposite pole of the sensitivity of these Franco-Romanian intellectuals of Jewish origin. It is all a matter of the past, a question linked to the antecedents of our lives, yesterday in communist Romania, today in Paris. Even further back, there is a matter of ancestors, ours steeped in the glebe of deepest Romania, in its beliefs and traditions, theirs errant for three thousand years; ours lost in the Neolithic mist, theirs mingled to the history of Babylon and Egypt. These are profound matters, old causes, as old as the biblical prophecies and their different interpretations which shaped us. And then there is the recent past, our situation and theirs under communism, which of late has forced us to take the road of exile, where we see them again, these old errant hands. Today the experience of exile ought to bring us closer to each other, but our contact with them, like that of last evening, only revealed to what extent we remained attached to our land archetype implanted in the Parisian milieu. What could be more foreign to their spirit than our obsessions, our reactions, our commitment. It is by rejecting this spirit of our soil that Cioran succeeded in placing himself above this state of mind which is justly ours, that of the provincials of Europe, a characteristic which was also his. Paradoxically, it is while strongly denouncing his origins that Cioran discovered his inner depth: for, as he said, ‘Nobody is in control of his own inner depth’. How could one solve this dilemma? How could our exile bring us closer to the Jewish exile?”
(Sanda Stolojan, Au balcon de l’exil Roumain a Paris)

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Sabina Wurmbrand - a Pastor's Wife who knew the Communist Prisons

Sabina WURMBRAND (née Sabina Oster)
(1913, România –2000, California, U.S.A.)
Missionary of the underground church, pastor’s wife, political prisoner and prisoner of conscience, exile in the USA

Prison Carcer:
..I was marched to the guardroom and put into a prison cell. It was a narrow cupboard built into the wall in which you could just stand. The iron door had a few holes to admit air… After a few hours, my feet were burning. The blood in my temples beat with slow, painful thuds. How many hours could they keep me here?… Drops of water were falling from somewhere on the roof of the box. It was a desolate sound. I counted them to make time pass… I don’t know how long I did this, but at a certain moment.
I simply began to cry aloud to avoid despair:
’One, two, three, four,’
I cried, and again:
‘One, two, three, four…’
After a time the words became inarticulate. I didn’t know what I said. My mind had moved into rest. It blacked out. Yet my spirit continued to say something to God.
(Sabina Wurmbrand, The pastor’s wife)

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© copyright Constantin ROMAN, 2003-2009, all rights reserved