Transylvania - the recent history
If you go to Transylvania today, you could wonder, what has actually been retained of the old Transylvania.
People, especially in rural areas, are still living in an extraordinary harmony with nature and have a very original relation to it, which is still unknown to the western parts of Europe. People in Transylvania, Saxons or Hungarians are connected to their homeland with a kind of tragic love and a mystic passion. Since they were children they have been formed by a very strange social environment, the history, the traditions, the dark ballads and the rich mythology of their country. Until now some of them are living in an emotional stage, which is still connected to the 19th century. Though, in many cities it is confronted with an atmosphere of an oppressive industrialisation. The industrial areas, which have been established during a very recent period are disfiguring the landscape and destroying the nature. They have especially been built up during the last years of the Ceausescu dictatorship, because of a mixture of fascism and communism. Fortunately the dictator wasn’t able to damage the whole cou ntry. Nevertheless some areas offer a very depressing view.
Furthermore Ceausescu was heading decidedly for the destruction of the countries culture. A part of this was also the well-planned, bureaucratically detailed aim of the destruction of villages, the so called systematisation of agriculture. Its purpose was, to erase old, historical villages with their churches and cemeteries, treasures of the cultural tradition and national architecture from the map.
This plan was dedicated particularly to the minorities and should destroy the original, non-Romanian culture of the country. At this point, the renunciation of social, cultural and human values had reached its summit. The dictatorship of Ceausescu was one of the most cruel and barbarian regimes of modern history. It’s commonly acquainted, that it brought hunger and poverty, that it oppressed, tortured and killed thousands of political adversaries, while the dictator was celebrating oriental luxury in an extravagant way. The regime challenged the lowest instincts in mankind and caused an incredible harm to the souls of their adversaries, as well as to those of their supporters.
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