Bucharest University Library burns in 1989
Bloodiest social unrest in the Eastern Bloc
In Romania the Central University Library of Bucharest (Romanian: Biblioteca Centrală Universitară) burned on December 22, 1989 during the Romanian Revolution.1
The flames of the revolution turned the books to ashes and the walls to ruins. The devastating fire led to the disappearance of over 500,000 volumes (12,000 volumes of bibliophile book, 52 from Eminescu's library), numerous ex-libris, old maps and almost 3700 manuscripts belonging to great personalities of Romanian culture including Eminescu, Maiorescu, Caragiale , Coşbuc, Blaga, M. Eliade.2
“After forty-five years of communist oppression, the popular uprising of December 1989 led to the bloodiest social unrest in the Eastern Bloc, culminating in the demise of the regime and the execution of Ceauşescu and his wife on Christmas Day. The Carol I Central University Library Bucharest was at the heart of these events. Situated next to the former headquarters of the Romanian Communist Party and one of the top departments of the secret police, the library became one of the first victims of the confrontation between the protesters and the armed forces still loyal to the tottering communist regime. The library’s building was engulfed in flames, and over half a million books and old maps, along with about 3,700 irreplaceable manuscripts, were destroyed.” 3
Romanian dictator, Nicolae Ceaușescu was one of the most feared and tyrannical leaders in Europe in the 20th century known as the “Genius of the Carpathians.” The army switched sides and joined the protests. Ceaușescu and his wife, Elena, fled Bucharest but were arrested, tried and executed December 25, 1989.4
Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu were the last people to be condemned to death and executed in Romania; capital punishment was abolished in Romania on 7 January 1990.
The library building was repaired and modernized and reopened on 20 November 2001.
The Central University Library "Carol I" Biblioteca Centrală Universitară „Carol I” din Bucureşti, Sala Profesorilorîn Decembrie 1989, complet distrusă de foc.
Ibid.
ANGHELESCU, HERMINA G. B., and ELENA CHIABURU. 2015. “Regime Change in Romania: A Quarter-Century Impact on Libraries.” Library Trends 63 (4): 809–43
Anniversary of the final days of Ceaușescu regime .Euronews. December 22, 2014.
Great picture as the lead.
I remember the news when it was going on, and it sucks that the library burned but the Ceausescu's deserved that by all accounts.
elm
war sucks
I was living in Bayern/Bavaria at the time and don't recall reading contemporaneous reports. I wonder now what else I missed. I seem to recall attempted mass destruction of secret police files across Eastern Europe at the time.