You are guilty of these offenses even if you do not want to admit it. How can one say something like this? Ceausescu's last speech was interrupted but not by the shouts of the masses. "This is the final battle," he said. If you had had a mental illness and admitted this, you would not be responsible for your acts. In 1947, we assumed power, but under completely different circumstances. PROSECUTOR: But not of our army, you are not the commander in chief of our army. What do you think? One day Obama may wake up and find the alliances just gone. This shows how little patriotism there is, how many treasonable offenses were committed. I now ask the court to pass a verdict on the basis of the law, because everybody must receive due punishment for the offenses he has committed. PROSECUTOR: We have always spoken of equality. Richard III of England rode into Bosworth Field relying on his ally Baron Stanely to come to his aid. Sections in italic type are from Austrian television comentary: NICOLAE CEAUESCU: I only recognize the Grand National Assembly. I am talking to you as simple citizens at the least, as simple citizens, and I tell you: I am the president of Romania. Why did you starve the people? And today you are acting in the same megalomaniac way. ELENA CEAUSESCU: Incredible. Ceausescu and his wife were later captured, tried, and executed. One momentCeauescu was in total control of Romania, determined to crush his enemies. Then follows the reading of the indictment. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: I will not answer this question. Mystery surrounded the whereabouts of the former President and his wife, Elena, last night. The defendant has not recognized us. Since the old government has been dissolved and Ceausescu has lost his functions, he no longer has the right to be treated as the president. Nicolae Ceausescu - Last Speech, Trial and Execution - YouTube He, Elena and four others managed to get to the roof and escaped by helicopter, only seconds ahead of a group of demonstrators who had followed them there.. But those who shot at the young people were the security men, the terrorists. The Securitate had hidden food reserves on which Bucharest could have survived for months, the whole of Bucharest. In the uprising by people against Ceausescu during this speech and in subsequent days 1,058 people lost there lives. Workers from a Bucharest power plant started chanting Ti-mi-oa-ra! Another question . [1] The crowd, now totaling up to 80,000, were given orders on where to stand, when to applaud and what to sing. A flight into peril, flashbacks to underground action. Centralized Information as Hayek points out, eventually becomes the Official Lie. Share . Tell the people that I will answer all their questions. We have ensured an apartment for every citizen through corresponding laws. They were even worse than the king, the former king of Romania. The English translation is by the U.S. government's Foreign Broadcast Information Service. Sooner or later an administration neuters itself from sheer implausibility. Two: Armed attack on the people and the state power, in accordance with Article 163 of the penal code. All the world should know what is going on here. Romania's dictator Nicolae Ceausescu's final speech (executed You see, there is no use in talking to these people. The prosecutor turns to Elena: You have always been wiser and more ready to talk, a scientist. PROSECUTOR: You claim to have taken measures so that every peasant is entitled to 200 kilograms of wheat. I will only speak at the Grand National Assembly. PROSECUTOR: We have always spoken of equality. PROSECUTOR: Did you hear the charges? Paper is patient. Now we are making a last attempt. However, they will be indicted, and a sentence will be passed on the basis of the new legal system. They carried out acts that are incompatible with human dignity and social thinking; they acted in a despotic and criminal way; they destroyed the people whose leaders they claimed to be. You are faced with charges that you held really sumptuous celebrations on all holidays at your house. This page was last modified on 10 April 2016, at 21:40. Tell us! You were so impertinent as to cut off oxygen lines in hospitals and to shoot people in their hospital beds. They used to fetch people from orphans' homes or from abroad whom they trained in special institutions to become murderers of their own people. The counsel for the defense now takes the floor and instructs the Ceausescus once again that they have the right to defense and that they should accept this right. PROSECUTOR: So you know the new forum. A horse or a hearse? The final speech of the prosecutor follows: PROSECUTOR: It is very difficult for us to act, to pass a verdict on people who even now do not want to admit to the criminal offenses that they have committed during 25 years and admit to the genocide, not only in Timisoara and Bucharest, but primarily also to the criminal offenses committed during the past 25 years. In 1947, King Michael showed more dignity than you. This is a vulgar provocation. Ceausescu sprinkles snow on his wife's head during yet another hunting trip in 1976. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: No, we will not sign. PROSECUTOR: So you know the new forum. The prosecutor asks the counsel for the defense to ask Ceauescu whether he knows that he is no longer president of the country, that Elena Ceauescu has also lost all her official state functions and that the government has been dissolved. Every honest citizen who worked hard here until 22 December knows that we do not have medicines, that you two have killed children and other people in this way, that there is nothing to eat, no heating, no electricity. Video of Ceausescu's Last Speech, December 1989 This page was last edited on 8 October 2016, at 23:48. PROSECUTOR: Did you know about the genocide or did you, as a chemist, only deal with polymers? It is a historic time, given that no military member goes public to speak negatively about the ultimate commander. Here Nicolae Ceauescu steps in and defends her. Despite this, I ask the court to make a decision which we will be able to justify later as well. He then tried to placate the crowd by offering to raise workers' salaries by 200 lei per month (about 18 U.S. dollars at the time, yet a 10%-20% raise for a modest salary) and student scholarships from 100 to 110 lei while continuing to praise the achievements of the past 42 years. Here Nicolae Ceausescu steps in and defends her. Military base Trgovite - December 25th 1989. Ford said of his resignation,I was no longer in a position where I felt I could defend the American policy. Sooner or later inability to credit yoga or videos produced in Los Angeles as actual factors becomes more and more widespread. This speech was an annual event and carefully scripted by the regime to insure both success and the appearance of popular support. Ceausescu claims that the putsch was organized from abroad. I have no statement to make, and I will not sign one. CEAUSESCU: No one recognizes that. He refused to undergo a psychiatric examination. The front rows of the assembly were made up of low-level Communist Party officials and members who acted as cheer-leaders. One moment Ceauescu was in total control of Romania, determined to crush his enemies. I have observed that she is not even able to read correctly, but she calls herself an university graduate. But we are not talking about people. It is simply an accumulation of multitudes ignoring the official line bit by bit and thereby gradually placing themselves unwittingly in opposition to it. PROSECUTOR: Yes, but you are paying the mercenaries. Just a genteel, inoffensive refusal from an old gent. The court notes that the investigations have been concluded. At the moment the situation is rather uncertain. PROSECUTOR: That is to say, as a deputy prime minister you did not know about the genocide? His security guard appears, disappears and, finally, hustles Ceausescu off the balcony. What happened? PROSECUTOR: This would serve your defense. Ceauescu's final speech is a speech delivered by Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauescu on 21 December 1989. Because of this indictment, I call for the death sentence and the impounding of the entire property of the two accused. He still considers himself to be the country's president and the commander in chief of the army. Ceaucescu's Last Speech | half note And we will not betray our people here. It was one of the most pivotal moments in the Romanian Revolution of 1989. The great Ceauescu escape attempt came after it had become clear that most of the army had gone over to the people. I only recognize the working class and the Grand National Assembly -- no one else. Forget what the politicians on Capitol Hill are saying about the prisoner swap. The prosecutor asks the counsel for the defense to ask Ceausescu whether he knows that he is no longer president of the country, that Elena Ceausescu has also lost all her official state functions and that the government has been dissolved. Nobody has opened an account. His talks with Dubcek focused primarily on the events that had unfolded in Czechoslovakia over the last several months. I will not answer anymore. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: Nobody can change the state structures. In the second stage their edicts become unenforceable from sheer impracticability. . You were not used to talking to the people. Transcript of the closed trial of Nicolae and Elena Ceauescu PROSECUTOR: And who wrote the papers for you, Elena? This source is a part of the The Romanian Revolution of 1989 teaching module. Now the counsel for the defense, who was appointed by the court, asks whether Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu know the aforementioned facts -- that he is no longer president, that she has lost all official functions. Historical place Mark's spot where Ceausescu had his last speech Transcriptul "procesului" Nicolae si Elena Ceausescu. Do you want to sign this statement? I will not answer you putschists, Ceauescu says. CEAUSESCU: I do not recognize you. This is our home. The following is a transcript of the closed trial of Romanian Dictator Nicolae Ceauescu and his wife, Elena, as shown on Romanian and Austrian television. In the essay The Use of Knowledge in Society, Hayek argued that in complex systems the relevant facts are dispersed among many people. Are they the people, or are you paying them? Nobody has opened an account. Storming the Castle at Amazon Kindle for $3.99, why government should get small One of the first acts of the new leadership was to place the security forces, the dreaded Securitate, under control of the army. Now the counsel for the defense, who was appointed by the court, asks whether Nicolae and Elena Ceauescu know the aforementioned facts that he is no longer president, that she has lost all official functions. You need not admit your mistakes, mister. PROSECUTOR: Let us now talk about the accounts in Switzerland, Mr. Ceauescu. PROSECUTOR: So far, they have always claimed that we have built this country, we have paid our debts, but with this they bled the country to death and have hoarded enough money to ensure their escape. Wilson Center Digital Archive NICOLAE CEAUESCU: As a citizen, as a simple citizen, I tell you the following: At no point was there such an upswing, so much construction, so much consolidation in the Romanian provinces. The counsel for the defense now takes the floor and instructs the Ceauescus once again that they have the right to defense and that they should accept this right. This demonstrates their lack of understanding. PROSECUTOR: We now have another leading organ. This is not possible. Who are these fanatics? They were even worse than the king, the former king of Romania. I will only speak in front of it. PROSECUTOR: But not of our army, you are not the commander in chief of our army. PROSECUTOR: The people are fighting against you, not against the new forum. PROSECUTOR: The people are fighting against you, not against the new forum. Romanian Revolution - Wikipedia However, he had badly misread the crowd's mood. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: She was not a deputy prime minister, but the first deputy prime minister. The bill of indictment contains the following points: Genocide, in accordance with Article 356 of the penal code. Elena and Nicolae reject this. CEAUSESCU: Nobody can change the state structures. You have acted in a very irresponsible manner; you led the country to the verge of ruin and you will be convicted on the basis of the points contained in the bill of indictment. What defamation, what provocations! PROSECUTOR: Mr. Chairman, we find the two accused guilty of having committed criminal actions according to the following articles of the penal code: Articles 162, 163, 165 and 357. PROSECUTOR: Did you hear the charges? Immediately before them were plainclothes Securitate agents and a row of police militia, who kept the mass of the crowd about thirty yards back from the front of the Central Committee building. PROSECUTOR: By now, there have been 34 casualties. He always claimed to act and speak on behalf of the people, to be a beloved son of the people, but he only tyrannized the people all the time. The two defendants should also know that they are entitled to a counsel for defense, even if they reject this. We have sufficient data on this period.