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The death of Defense Minister Vasile Milea represented the strongest blow to the dictator. The feeling of loneliness against everyone made Nicolae Ceausescu try, one last time, to address the crowd. He hoped this would reassure people and regain control. But this was not the case, when the crowd appeared at the window, the crowd erupted and booed him angrily.
In the squares, on the boulevards, groups of protesters chanted indignantly: “Down with Ceausescu! Death to the tyrant! New Year Ceausescu / He will do it at the grave! In the XV Congress / Four years since his death! ”. The military cords were broken, the protesters began to climb into the tanks, they hugged the soldiers. The decision to withdraw the troops from the PCR headquarters was crucial for the events of 1989. The forces of order were cut off from a direct confrontation with the protesters, which allowed them to hand over their responsibilities to the regime.
“As the pressure mounted, General Iulian Vlad ordered his subordinates in the internal apparatus:
“If they come and want to go in, don’t stop them.” Although the officers and NCOs of the 5th Directorate of the device did not oppose the entrance to the building, many of them were disarmed and harassed by the heated civilians ”(1).
Once the army in Bucharest fraternized with the masses, the senior officers had no choice but to withdraw their forces to the barracks, regardless of whether or not this action responded to Ceausescu’s orders.
Constantin Manea: “Faced with the situation, he also had nothing to do… The protesters began to enter the square, two to three at a time. I was also looking out the window and when I realized it I said, “Look, it’s already filling up.” Eftimescu was introduced in the report: “- Comrade. Supreme Commander, the situation can no longer be controlled, the soldiers have already fraternized. “He says:” You are worth nothing.
I think he was starting to think about what he was doing in this situation. I left it; there she was, he and the assistant Tălpeanu. I went to his office, because it didn’t look very good from there, and I looked around the square. There were more than 100 people in the square. He went, looked, lay on his face and ordered me to pick up the documents from the desk. I packed everything, put it in the file, which was immediately in the other room, locked it, put the keys in my pocket and went to my mail, next to the phones. He called Dăscălescu, Bobu and Manea Mănescu “. (2)
Ion Tălpeanu, the assistant to the head of state: “People entered the square. At that moment, Ceausescu headed for the reception hall. I accompanied him there, he looked out the window, he saw the crowd, he studied it very, very closely and said: they are working people, without addressing me, he was probably talking to himself. Then he turned and asked to speak to the crowd, asked for a gigaphone. Dăscălescu proposed to speak, but Dăscălescu did not have the courage to do so and said: “You are the only one who can stop them.” And he said, “Okay, I’ll go out.”
Seeing the deterioration of the situation in Palace Square, Ceausescu realized that the headquarters of the Central Committee is no longer a safe place. He decided that the best solution to save the situation was to leave the building, hoping to bring peace to the evolution of events from another point of command. General Marin Neagoe: “The helicopter was called by Tălpeanu, Ceaușescu’s assistant, by personal order.” (4)
Constantin Manea confirmed this testimony: “I was in the office and the assistant told me that he ordered the helicopter to arrive and land at the headquarters… The others did not know this indication. I was in the office and (Nicolae Ceaușescu) gave him the order. “(5)
General Iosif Rus: “General Stănculescu and General Neagoe called me through their dispatcher to take off the helicopters. Specifically, the helicopters take off at my command. In this case, however, it was something more special, in that when I submitted the order, the unit had already turned on the helicopter’s engines, a sign that they had the order broadcast on other channels as well. So, specifically, the take-off was carried out directly by order of the V Directorate, through the dispatch office ”. (6)
The testimony of Major Aurel David manages to describe the state in which Ceaușescu was at that time: “I had the impression that, however, he did not want to leave the CC headquarters. Although his close collaborators urged him: -Let him go! leave! At one point, sitting in the hallway, I heard him say, “But where is he going? Why go, where to go? The tension and disorientation were so great that he practically did not know what was happening. Who comes from outside? Who is attacking us? Who will enter the CC headquarters? Who are the ones who will enter? – because, in the meantime, the sound of broken windows was heard ”. (7)
It was a strong moment, the emotional pressure was maximum, the panic had settled. After a 21st with the rebellion of the population, after a night of unsuccessful attempts to rest in the Central Committee, after a tense meeting, followed by the suicide of General Milea and after understanding that those in the street were even “his workers”, Nicolae Ceausescu felt the first time he was stoned in front of everyone. He was politically annihilated and destroyed as a human being.
However, the dramatic episode described above would not have forced him to leave, since the decision to leave the headquarters of the Central Committee was evidently influenced by the insistence of those close to him. Visibly marked by what happened, with a closed heart, with the communist dream lived for more than two decades and shattered in 2 days, but also with the declared conviction that the country is in great danger, Nicolae Ceausescu leaves office for the last time . “He came out. He didn’t even look at me. He didn’t call anyone and didn’t say anything to anyone.” (Constantin Manea)
Note
1. Interview Vasile Mălureanu 09.09.2020
2. Senate Archives, Transcript 23, pp. 34-35
3. Senate File, Transcript of July 26, 1994, pp. 21-22
4. 35 years in the shadow of Ceaușescu, Ed. Lumea magazin, 2005, p.224
5. Senate Archives, Transcript 23, p.14
6. Senate Archives, Transcripts 32, pp. 11-12
7. Senate Archives, Transcript 92, pp. 16-17
