rockeh

Not OP, but I do (vaguely) remember the trial.

Of the ten families that lived in our building, one had a TV set, and everybody was crammed in their living room. When Ceaușescu was sentenced, everybody who was old enough to understand what was happening started cheering. There were tears of joy, people saying things like "It's finally over", "We're rid of him", "Thank God".

This was about 20-odd adults, ages 30 to 70, of three different ethnicities, with education levels from virtually none to university professors. So, a fairly representative sample.

you can go in town

Even without the proof you posted, this is the best proof you're Romanian :)

That's a literal translation of "a merge în oraș", ie going out.

Wait, so when you sign up, you get a fabricated identity, right? But do your superiors just keep your ID and not give it back? Like the Qatari do to their illegal workers? (Not to mention pimps, with immigrant prostitutes.)

[edt] I'm not implying your superiors are Qatari pimps.

I lived the first years of my life under communism (in Romania as it happens), and can confirm it was pretty okay, if you were a kid.

As an adult, not so good. Like, my mom made it a fun game to wait in line 2 hours to buy half a loaf of bread, but you did wait in line 2 hours for half a loaf of bread.

Wanted to start a stampede? Just say "I hear they brought butter to so-and-so store." The rumor would spread like wildfire, and in half an hour tops the would be a huge line in front of the store. Oh, and on the off chance that they actually had butter (or meat, or eggs, or whatever), you could get one. Want to buy one for your friends, or neighbors, or just to have next week? Tough shit, comrade.

Everybody knew someone who they suspected was a Securitate informant (wrongly, btw; the true informant was someone else). I recall quite a few late night discussions between my parents, with a thick pillow over the phone (this was after we were approved for a phone), because of course the phone was bugged by the Securitate.

Evenings were cool, because we got 5 minutes of cartoons before the news, followed by a movie, for the daily two and a half hours of television.

There's more, of course, but this is all that comes to mind at the moment.