Romania's revolution

Ioan Savu was one of the leaders of the Romanian revolution in the western city of Timisoara.

During the unrest preceding the fall of the communist regime in December 1989, Ioan openly confronted the authorities, shouting that the protest leaders are ready to die for their freedom.

His son, Adrian Savu, was 11 years' old at the time. He now works for the European Union and is a father of three children.

This conversation between Ioan and Adrian Savu is part of a series of eight cross-generational interviews from Czechoslovakia, Germany, Hungary, Russia, Poland, Romania, Tajikistan and Cuba.

Adrian Savu: How do you remember 1989, and the meaning of those events?

Ioan Savu: For me, 1989 was the purest moment of my life. It was the first time I felt truly relieved. That unique state of mind, that feeling of freedom, has always existed and is still there in our hometown of Timisoara.

Before taking to the streets I had a long discussion with your mother. I convinced her that I could not keep on living with that ‘rat mentality’ anymore. Something needed to be done. I told her “what if something happens and I am not there? How will I look my children in the eye?”

The risks were huge for all of us, but someone had to start the change. We can’t always wait for the other person to make the first step.

Adrian Savu: At the time, I didn’t realise that the risks you were taking. They just told us to prepare to leave home. I was 11 and could not understand the danger we were exposed to.

I just remember you shaving off your beard – a clear sign that we were going into hiding. In fact it was quite exciting; hiding was something we did a lot during the communist era.

I later realised the magnitude of this decision and now, as a parent myself, I know there is no sacrifice you wouldn’t do for your own children.

Ioan Savu: Your words bring up memories from my own childhood.

I was a kid, no older than you were in 1989. My father refused to join the communist agricultural collective, so they took everything from us. The cows, the bricks we saved to build a new home, our clothes. Everything.

When there was nothing left they pointed a gun to my father’s chest and asked him to sign the papers, to agree to join them. He said “shoot me, I will still not do it!”

In the 1950s, when whole families simply disappeared overnight, my mother fell ill. Her heart just couldn’t cope with the tension. She never fully recovered from that. That’s why I have never been able to live with the idea of communism.

There was no room for it in my heart or my mind.

Adrian Savu: Something I disagreed with you after 1989 was your decision not to get involved in politics. I believe it was difficult to take this kind of responsibility, with so many former communist figures keeping their prominent positions even after the regime fell. But now our society is struggling with people and mentalities of the past.

Ioan Savu: At the time, we all knew very well what we didn’t want anymore. But we didn’t know what we wanted or how to achieve what we wanted. We assumed everything would change by itself. We were simply naïve, and I was one of the naïve ones, I admit that.

Before 1989 I had made a number of attempts to leave the country, which always ended in failure.

If things hadn’t changed in 1989, I would have eventually left.

Adrian Savu: We would have survived in communist times, but for us it’s definitely much better now. However the country still has serious social problems.

Before 1989, communism was like a giant umbrella covering all citizens. Everyone was under that umbrella whether they wanted it or not. The individuals had become completely dependent of the system. The system made them unresponsive, unable to take initiatives.

That has been quite obvious since 1989. Whenever we had social problems, or even natural disasters, we just didn’t react.