More than 150 historians, journalists and witnesses of events reviewed the main topics of this period: the XXth congress of CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union) and Khrushchev’s secret report on Stalin’s crimes, East European and Western reactions following Khrushchev’s disclosures, the Movements in Poland, the Hungarian Revolution, solidarity actions with the Hungarian Revolution, conservatism and internal power struggle in PMR, “Anti-Soviet Stalinism”, the Warsaw Pact and the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, improvement of Romanian – Yugoslav relations, resistance actions in the mountains, the domestic and international resistance and reactions of the Romanian Government, students’ movements of 1956, intensification of the collectivisation, the peasants’ riots (1958-1960), “liquidation” of bourgeoisie, retreat of Soviet troops from Romania, the new waves of arrests 1958-1960, the public trials of intellectuals.
Among this years’ poarticipants were: Dennis Deletant (England), Paul Michelson (SUA) Tatiana Pokivailova (Russia), Antonina Kuzmanova (Bulgaria), Pierre Vallino (France), Katharina Kilzer and Hans Bergel (Germany), Katalin Somlai and Andras Hegedus (Hungary), Member of Academy Alexandru Zub and professor Dumitru Sandru (Iasi), Adrian Marino and Stelian Mandrut (Cluj). Of the Romanian exile personalities we have been honoured by the participation in the symposium of Monsignor George Surdu, Mircea Carp, Sergiu Grossu.
This year’s commemorative holy mass at the Cemetery of the Poor was served together by Orthodox and Greek – Catholic priests, with the participation for the first time of Monsignor Gheorghe Surdu, the leader of the Greek – Catholic Mission from Paris.
