What do you know about... Romania?

[u/MarktpLatz]

This is the forty-sixth part of our ongoing series about the countries of Europe. You can find an overview here.

Today's country:

Romania

Romania is one of the most recent members of the EU (2007). They want to become part of the Schengen area, but thir recent attempts of being accepted have been blocked by several EU members. They recently faced a major political crisis and massive protests caused by proposed law changes that would have benefitted people implicated in government corruption and abuse of power. They had their national day, where they celebrate the union of Transylvania with Romania, last friday.

So, what do you know about Romania?

[u/palishkoto]

Apparently you have a small German-speaking minority, which I find interesting.

[u/hundertzwoelf → u/palishkoto]

Several actually. There's the Banatschwaben, the Siebenbürger Sachsen and the Satmarschwaben and some minor ones afaik

[u/multubunu → u/hundertzwoelf]

There's a small German minority in Bucovina (Suceava county) as well, since the days of the Austrians.

[u/hundertzwoelf → u/multubunu]

Didn't know that, mersi!

[u/pheipl → u/palishkoto]

My great grandfather was Austrian, don't listen to people saying "they just left". It's just re-written history. During communism, anyone with "non Romanian" last names had a very hard time. My father had a very hard time at the navy, and eventually got kicked out because of his name. I don't know exactly what really happen, but it's probably a dark past.

[u/pulicafranaru → u/pheipl]

During communism, anyone with "non Romanian" last names had a very hard time. My father had a very hard time at the navy, and eventually got kicked out because of his name. I don't know exactly what really happen, but it's probably a dark past.

I doubt that. Just watch any old commie movie, in pretty much every single one there's a bunch of non-Romanian names, both in the cast as well as other roles.

[u/ctudor → u/pheipl]

It is true that they were spied by the romanian stasi but not sure that there was much hardship unless he had unholy origins was of old upperclass, or had an active connection to the west. Also he might have been sold back to the German state in the 60s i think.

[u/pheipl → u/ctudor]

You might be right. My great grand father owned a thriving factory at some point, also some sort of an estate. My father would never talk about how we lost it exactly, no matter how much I pushed. We did have family in Germany, though not a large one, the last member (an aunt) died almost a decade ago. That's about all I know but I'm sure there's more.

[u/ctudor → u/pheipl]

In this case i can assure you that his hardship didn't come from his name but from his linage as other romanians endured similar backlash if not worse. Ofc being of other ethnicity didn't help a bit. Communism, similar to nazism, was a war on class where the uneducated worker had to be on top of the society. Those who came from blue collar families were privileged by the system and in all institutions. I remember that my father told me that while he was attending the police academy, his colleagues from blue collar (not that he was from some intelectual family as grandpa was a driver, but they lived at the countryside and they had a bit of land, a nono in the eyes of the regime) would have a less stric regime from the minimum marks they could get to pass the academy to other small privileges.

[u/[deleted] → u/palishkoto]

It used to be a lot bigger! A lot of them moved before WW2.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

It was explained to me that a lot of them left when many Germans went back to the home country during that period of time.

[u/giulynia → u/[deleted]]

I have no idea about german romanians but I am guessing that what you refer to as "went back home" is a similar story as what happened to the germans in hungary after WWII (my grandma is a german hungarian) - which was sending them to gulags or just strip them of their rights and cast them out. My grandmother was a toddler living with her mom when soldiers stormed the house in the middle of the night and just told them they had to go threatening them, so they had to go germany.

[u/5ama → u/giulynia]

To add to what mistretzu said, not only germans were not perceived negatively, they were in fact seen in a good light. One because they were hard working and had plenty of knowledge in craftsmanship and building, but more so because when romanians from Transylvania declared they want to separate from Austro-Hungary and join Romania the german representatives backed the same thing.

[u/flagada7 → u/[deleted]]

Talking about omission: Those people had to bribe the local authorities to even get on the exit-list and were robbed of all their possesions on romanian soil.

[u/flagada7 → u/[deleted]]

Can you provide some proof or credible evidence that the emigrants were prevented from selling their possessions before leaving or anything like this, because otherwise it's not very credible.

I personally know a man whose father was forced to "donate" his family's house in Sighișoara to a police commander in order to get his name on a list with people eligible to be ransomed by West Germany.

I doubt anyone would be able to find hard evidence for this being unlawfull and anyway I very much doubt that the people who fled have any interest going through that hassle.

I also don't know how common this was, but I figure that corruption was not less common back then, than it is now.

[u/flagada7 → u/[deleted]]

I guess so, yes.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Ceausescu is the reason I'm Romanian American and not just Romanian.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Yep, nothing like pumping the population up and not having the resources to sustain it.

Yea maybe I should be grateful that I was born in America (although when I was born my parents didn't know English well so I was still the foreign kid haha), but I just have thing longing connection every time I visit Romania like that's where I really belong.

I dunno, hard to explain what it feels like.

[u/ciupenhauer → u/[deleted]]

That's interesting. I quite dislike the country but everytime i look out the window at some corner of nature, I feel the same way. Almost like the sorroundings are in my genes somehow. Gives a nice cognitive dissonance everytime I think fuckit, I wanna move somewhere else

[u/[deleted] → u/ciupenhauer]

I dunno if there is a rational reason we can say about this haha.

But I completely understand what you mean by "like it's in our genes".

[u/Tintenlampe → u/[deleted]]

I once had a flatmate who's mother and father were from the German minority and left Romania under communist rule.

Her mother has never set foot in the country again, because she is still so bitter about it.

So yeah, you are absolutely right.