Sighet Annals

No. 1: Memoria ca formă de justiție (Memory as a Form of Justice), edited by Romulus Rusan, 360 p., 1994

No. 2: Instaurarea comunismului – între rezistență și represiune (The Onset of Communism: Between Resistance and Repression), edited by Romulus Rusan, 530 p., 1995

No. 3: Anul 1946 – începutul sfârșitului (Year 1946 – The Beginning of the End), edited by Romulus Rusan, 588 p., 1996

No. 4: Anul 1946 – scrisori și alte texte (Year 1946 – Letters and other Texts), edited by Romulus Rusan, 292 p., 1997

No. 5: Anul 1947 – căderea cortinei (Year 1947 – The Curtain Falls), edited by Romulus Rusan, 832 p., 1997

No. 6: Anul 1948 –  instituționalizarea comunismului (Year 1948 – The Institutionalisation of Communism), edited by Romulus Rusan, 924 p., 1998

No. 7: 1949-1953 –  Mecanismele terorii (Years 1949-1953 – Mechanisms of Terror), edited by Romulus Rusan, 942 p., 1999

No. 8: 1954-1960. Fluxurile și refluxurile stalinismului (Years 1954-1960 – Ebb and Flow of Stalinism), edited by Romulus Rusan, 1006 p., 2000

No. 9: 1961-1972. Țările Europei de Est între speranțele reformei și realitatea stagnării (Years 1961-1972 – Eastern European Countries Between the Hopes of Reform and the Reality of Stagnation), edited by Romulus Rusan, 870 p., 2001

No. 10: Anii 1973-1989 – Cronica unui sfârșit de system (Years 1973-1989 – Chronicle of the End of a System), edited by Romulus Rusan, 1040 p., 2003

 

Analele Sighet (Sighet Annals) is the first and undoubtedly the most discerning and original collection that the International Centre for Studies into Communism edited during those troubled years at the very beginning, when the Sighet Memorial was only being established, looking to settle in the prison’s building, which was under reconstruction. We were four-five people on the organizing team, in contrast to the numerous participants who attended the annual symposia (between 200 and 300, let alone the hundreds of people in the audience, who arrived unannounced from all directions). Covering the 650 kilometres from Bucharest meant travelling via rented buses or overfilled trains for which additional wagons had to be obtained directly from the Ministry of Transportation. We ordered special buses and took care of the visa arrangements for those travelling from Chișinău or Cernăuți. Guests coming from England, France, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Norway and so many other countries had to be welcomed at the airport and were then driven to Bucharest’s North Railway Station, from where they continued their voyage by train for 12-13 hours to Sighet. Newcomers crowded in the hotel, which was always undergoing repairs, in the city centre, three or four people in one room. The Memorial’s conference room was still under construction, so we rented one or even two rooms in the city. The speaking time was limited to ten minutes to allow all registered participants to take the floor during the 2 or 3 days of the symposia. The microphone was guarded by two yellow lamps, which would go on ten seconds before the sound was cut off. Those who ignored this time allocation system were interrupted by the moderator, who asked for their manuscript to have it published entirely. However, authors would often send their final, revised and extended papers weeks or even several months later, which made the editor’s work very challenging. How do we explain the fact that so many people were extraordinarily drawn to Sighet? Romania – a country they knew nothing about expect for that it had gone through a televised revolution, but also through a bloody mineriad – was in itself an attraction for foreigners. At the same time, there was still no programme in Romania meant to reconstruct recent history. Hundreds of people came to Sighet as if they were on a pilgrimage to a sacred site. They were former political prisoners, former deportees, historians and scholars who had themselves gone through hard times and prison, diligent students and young people without access to the archives, but with an inner drive to gain access to them, which no longer exists today; and finally, historians coming from neighbouring or Western countries. Some were storytellers, other researchers. Some carried encouraging messages from great personalities of the world, others were accompanied by alumni who were as passionate as ours. Their names are all included in an enclosed list. As one can see, they weren’t few in number for the ten years in which the symposia were organized.

Over a decade, ten volumes, each bearing a number and a title, resulted from the transcription of these symposia. Covering three-four hundred pages at the beginning, then more, and then many more, as we were approaching the present and the history of daily life was fresher in our memory. In the end, in 2003, we had reached a total number of 7388 pages, and many congratulated us for having created a true compendium, like an atoll of remembrance in a sea of forgetfulness. It is true that the archives were meanwhile beginning to open, and the confessional part of the books was increasingly better armed with complementary documents. These ten volumes are the pillars that gave the museum, and implicitly the Sighet Memorial, strength and duration. Remembering them over the years will show us where we came from and where we are now. I particularly insisted on how one of the collections was brought about – namely Sighet Annals – because it crystallises the way in which the Memorial was born and grew over the years. A sort of pathetic effort was perpetuated through the creation of a data base, the gathering of never before published documents, the publication of books, and, at the same time, the development of the sixty exhibition rooms. I met hundreds of people at the symposia, they shared their stories with me; their coming together brought about summaries, the summaries led to conclusions.

 

PEOPLE WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE SIGHET MEMORIAL SYMPOSIA AND/OR CONTRIBUTED TO THE SIGHET ANNALS BY WRITTEN MESSAGES OR PAPER SUBMISSIONS (I-X) Dinu Adameşteanu • Gabriela Adameşteanu • Petru Albert • Lucica Albinescu • Maria Albu • Andrei Alexandrescu • Doina Alexandru • Bartolomeu Valeriu Anania • Dumitru Andreca • Ion Andrei • Gabriel Andreescu • Silvia Angelescu • Cornelia Anghelache • Cristina Anisescu • Mioara Anton • Vilma Anyzova • L.M. Arcade • Eftimie Ardeleanu • L. Artemenko • Gheorghe Arvunescu • K. Astahova • Laurenţia Axente • Florence Babics • Victor Babiuc • Alexandru Baciu • Dumitru Baciu • Vasile Baghiu • Hannelore Baier • Dumitru Balan • Maria Ballasch • José-Maria Ballester • Nicolae Balotă • Florian Banu • Priscilla Banu • Gheorghe Mihai Bârlea • N. Bârsan • Victor Bârsan • Marius Bâzu • Petre Mihai Băcanu • Fronea Bădulescu • Ion Bălan • Niculae I. Bălan • Leopoldina Bălănuţă • Flavia Bălescu • Gheorghe I. Bărbatu • Gheorghe Bărbulescu • Liviu Marius Bejenaru • Alexandru Beldiman • Corneliu Beldiman • Dana Beldiman • Ştefan Bellu • Annie Bentoiu • Pascal Bentoiu • Valentin T. Beregic • Hans Bergel • Lavinia Betea • Ana Blandiana • Ioana Boca • Liliana-Maria Bocu • Marius Boeriu • Matei Boilă • Gheorghe Boldur-Lăţescu • Traian Borcescu • Jan Willem Bos • Grigore Bostan • Lora Bostan • Teofil Botlung • Iulian Boţoghină • Doru Braia • Aurel Brazdă • Ioana Brătianu • Maria G. Brătianu • Vintilă Brătianu • Steliana Breazu • Constandina Brezu • Leons Briedis • Adrian Brişcă • Mihalache Brudiu • Ioan Marius Bucur • Cosmin F. Budeancă • Ion Buga • Vladimir Bukovski • Alexandru Bulai • Hildegard Bunčáková • Ulrich Burger • Nicolae Burileanu • Ovidiu Buruiană • Daniela Buşă • Mihai Caitar • Alexandru Capotă • Petru P. Caraman • Ion Caramitru • Gellu Caraza • Matei Câlţia • Ştefan Câlţia • Brânduşa Cârciog • Mişu Cârciog • Mircea Carp • Gabriela Carp • Gabriel Catalan • Marcel Gh. Cazacu • Cornelia Călin Bodea • Katia Ceamurliska • Gheorghe Ceauşescu • Ion Cepleanu • Dan Cernovodeanu • Ruxandra Cesereanu • Rafael- Dorian Chelaru • Pavel Chihaia • Mircea Chiriţoiu • Alexandru Chivoiu • Petre Chivu • Roland Chojnacki • Nicolae Ciobanu • Galatea Ciorănescu • Victor Ciorbea • Gheorghe Cipăianu • Gheorghe Ciugureanu • Constanţa P. Ciupagea • Ioan Ciupea • Victor Cojocaru • Wanda Cojocaru • Cristina Connolly • Mariana Conovici • Constantin Constantinescu • Elena Constantinescu • Emil Constantinescu • Valentin Constantinescu • Ion Constantinescu-Mărăcineanu • Florin Constantiniu • Corneliu Coposu • Rodica Coposu • Doina Cornea • Clara Cosmineanu • Emanuel Cosmovici • Horia Cosmovici • Angela Costin • Miron Costin • Dorana Coşoveanu • Stéphane Courtois • Iuliu Crăcană • Rodica Crăsnaru • Mihai Creangă • José Cremades • Gheorghe Creţu • Eleonora Criste • Ion Cristodulo • Ioan Cupşa • Livia Dandara • Mircea Daneliuc • Octavian Dascăl • Gheorghe Dăescu • Mihai Dăncuş • Dennis Deletant • Camilian Demetrescu • Mihaela Demetrescu • Şerban Demetriu • Eugen Denize • Gheorghe Derevencu • Ion Diaconescu • Aurelia Diaconu • Ion St. Diaconu • Petre Diaconu • Gabriel Dimisianu • Mihai Dinu • Neagu Djuvara • Andrea Dobeş • Dorin Dobrincu • Adriana Dogaru • Ionuţ Dogaru • Szöke Domonkos • Mihai Dorin • Maarten Doude van Troostwijk • Jessica Douglas-Home • Şerbana Drăgoescu • Corina Dubeşteanu • Nae Dueşan • Constantin Ticu Dumitrescu • Mircea Dumitrescu • Petre Dunca • Tudor Dunca • Franz Echeriu • Constantin Eretescu • Elisabet Ernst • Florin Eşanu • Bogdan Ficeac • Iulius Filip • Radu Filipescu • Anca Filoteanu • Ignaz Fischer • Mariana Florian • Ioan Folea • Nicoleta Franck • Monique Frank • Victor Frunză • Robert Fürtos • Isil Gachet • Anghel Gâdea • Nicolae Gaftoi • Ion Gavrilă-Ogoranu • Constantin Geangu • Luzian Geier • Georgeta Gheorghe • Mihai Gheorghiu • Ion Gherasim • Ion Andrei Gherasim • Ilie Gherheş • Stelian Gherman • Şerban Ghica • Cornelia Ghinea • Micaela Ghiţescu • Mitru Ghiţiu • Ioan Ghiurco • Dinu C. Giurescu • Jaroslaw Godun • Sanda Golopenţia • Armand Goşu • Cornel Grad • Dimităr Granciarov • Dan Grigore • Aurelian Grigorescu • Liviu Grigorescu • Sergiu Grossu • Aurelian Gulan • Petre Guran • Julius Hager • Mirela Hagiopol • Bernard Halle • Anca Haţiegan • Václav Havel • András B. Hegedüs • Jacqueline Heinemann • Klaus Heinemann • Alexandru Herlea • Constantin Hlihor • Dumitru Holdiş • Margaret Holmes • Jiři Hoppe • Corneliu Horescu-Blănaru • Lucia Hossu-Longin • Cristina Huiban • Damian Hurezeanu • Dănuţ Iacob • Gheorghe Iancu • Victor Iancu • Ioana Ieronim • Virgil Ierunca • Ion Ilban • Mihai Iliescu • Ştefan Iloaie • Sorina Ion • Constantin Ionaşcu • Florea Ioncioaia • Nicoleta Ionescu- Gură • Maria Ioniţă • Nicu Ioniţă • Cicerone Ioniţoiu • Mircea Iosifescu • Elena Istrăţescu • Leontin H. Iuhas • Lavinia Ivaşcu • Piotr Jakubovski • Doina Jela • Gheorghe Jovin • Ioan Gh. Jurchescu • Katharina Kilzer • Michal Klinger • Gerhardt Kneipp • Miroslaw Kojecky • Ragni Kolle • Peter Kopecky • Horst Kossack • Dušan Kováč • Ladis Kristoff • Hary Kuller • Antonina Kuzmanova • Viorica Lascu • Ernest H. Latham Jr. • Octavian Lazăr-Cosma • Lia Lazăr-Gherasim • Gheorghe Leahu • Maria Lesiecka • Antonin Liehm • Bogdan Lis • Monica Lovinescu • Bogumil Luft • Gheorghe Luncan • Victor Lungu • Nicolae Lupan • Marius Lupu • Vasile Lupu • Şerban Madgearu • Doina Magheţi • Ovidiu Maitec • Bogdan-Petru Maleon • Dan Manolache • Laura Manolache • Ilie Manole • Costin Manoliu • Dragomir Manta • Iustin Marchiş • Dragoş Marcu • Ada Marghetici • Stere Marian • Ioan Marina • Vasile Marina • Aurel Sergiu Marinescu • Emil Marinescu • Ion Marinoiu • Ştefan Mariţiu • Mircea Martin • Constantin Marţian • Tudor Matei • Mirela Matiu • Dan Mazălu • Daniela Mărgineanu-Ţăranu • Liviu Mărgineanu • Nicolae Mărgineanu • Florin Mătrescu • Cezar Mâţă • Wenche Elena Medboe • Augustin V. Meteşan • Nadia Ruxandra Mezincescu • Simina Mezincescu • Jean T. Michelson • Paul Michelson • M. S. Regele Mihai I • Liana Mihail • Petre Mihaly • Katia Mihailiova • Andi Mihalache • Cătălina Mihalache • Niculae Mihalcea • Radu Mihăilescu • Radu Milian • Dumitru Mitchievici • Ana Mocanu • Marin Radu Mocanu • Silviu B. Moldovan • Ovidiu Iuliu Moldovan • Camelia Moraru • Constantin Moraru • Frusinica Moraru • Patrick Moreau • Gheorghe P. Motrescu • Helmut Müller-Enbergs • Alexandru Munteanu • Ioan Munteanu • Galina P. Muraşko • Caius Muţiu • 13 Gheorghe Năstăsescu • Laura Neagu • Mihai Neagu • Bujor Nedelcovici • Gheorghe Netejoru • Victor Neumann • Nicolae Nica • Alexandra Nicoară • Corneliu Nicoară • Paul Nicoară • Gheorghe Nicolescu • Theodor Nicolin • Adrian Niculescu • Alexandru Niculescu • Florin Niculescu • Mariana Niţelea • Nicolae Șt. Noica • Albina F. Noskova • Cristina Oancea • Stejărel Olaru • Ionel Olteanu • Cornel Onaca • Gheorghe Onişoru • Marius Oprea • Antoaneta Opriş • Petre Opriş • Traian Orban • Şerban Orescu • Alexandru Oşca • Dan Ottiger-Dumitrescu • Rodica Palade • Alexandru Paleologu • Ştefania Panea • Vasile Pânzariu • Vasile Paraschiv • Cornelia Paţica • Sanctitatea Sa Papa Ioan Paul al II-lea • Şerban Pavelescu • Zenovia Pavlică • Cristina Păiuşan • Constantin Părăuşanu • Gheorghe Penciu • Daniel M. Pennell • Thomas Michel Penette • Aurel Pentelescu • Mark Percival • Elena Perdichi • Francisc Perei • Jean-Claude Perisset • Robert Perks • Adrian Nicolae Petcu • Anatol Petrencu • Arcadiu Petrescu • Cristina Petrescu • Dragoş Petrescu • Liana Petrescu • Nicolae Petrescu • Nicolae Stan Petruţiu • Silvia Pintea • Florin Pintilie • Petr Pithart • Octavian Pleşa • Jaromir Plisek • Ioan Ploscaru • Gheorghe Poenaru • Liviu Pojoni • Tatiana Pokivailova • Adrian Pop • Georgeta Pop • Ion Pop • Valer Pop • Anca Popa • Augustin Popa • Daniel Popa • Eugen Popa • Floriana Popa • Maria-Raluca Popa • Mircea Popa • Ştefan Popa • Vasile Popa • Marta Pop-Bentoiu • Iosif I. Popescu • Ilie Popescu • Iosif Toma Popescu • Traian Popescu • Petru Popescu-Gogan • Dumitru Pop-Roibu • Radu Portocală • Dumitru Preda • Gavriil Preda • Oana Preda • Nicolae Prelipceanu • Alenka Puhar • Anca Radacovici-Lemaire • Remus Radina • Gino Rado • Doru Radosav • Mihai Râpeanu • Gheorghe Raţă • Alexandru Raţiu • Virgil Raţiu • Teofil Răchiţeanu • Banu Rădulescu • Ciupi Rădulescu • Ovidiu Rădulescu • Zoe Rădulescu • Şerban Rădulescu-Zoner • Wolfgang Rehner • Milan Resutič • Ştefan Romocea • Nuţu Roşca • Radu Roşeanu • Maria Luise Roth-Höppner • Romulus Rusan • Stela Rusu • Viorel Rusu • Elke Sabiel • Alexandru Salcă • Ileana Samoilă • Dora Sarafolean • Silviu Sarafolean • Nicolae Savin • Ana Scarlat • Jean Schafhütl • Claudiu Secaşiu • Jardar Seim • Ana Selejan • Emanuela Siteanu • Elena Siupiur • Micaela Slăvescu • Aurora Smaranda • Marius Smighelschi • Alexandru Smochinescu • Maria Someşan • Katalin Somlai • Cassian Maria Spiridon • Apostol Stan • Stoica Stan • Teodor Stanca • Dumitru Stavarache • Veaceslav Stavilă • Florin Alexandru Stănescu • Gabriel Stănescu • Mircea Stănescu • Virginia Stănescu • Detlef W. Stein • Maria Stein • Alexandr S. Stîkalin • N. Stoica • Valeriu Stoica • Dana Stoicescu • Sanda Stolojan • Nicolae Stroescu-Stânişoară • Ioan P. Suciu • Vasile Suciu • George Surdu • Petruška Šustrova • Eugen Şahan • Dan Șalaga • Dumitru Şandru • Ovidiu Şerban • Ilie Şerbănescu • Elena Şişcanu • Ion Şişcanu • Florin Şperlea • Adelina Ştefan • Ion-Traian Ştefan • Cristache Ştefănescu • Irene Talaban • Daniel Tarschys • Silica Tănase • Stelian Tănase • Tănase-Pavel Tăvală • Valer Tehei • Constantin Tennyson • Georgia Tennyson • Grigore-Anton Teodorescu • Cristian Teodorescu • Viorel Thira • Mihai Timaru • Gjerji P. Titani • Dan Todiraşcu • Dorel Tofan • Eugen Toma • Florentin Toma • Virgiliu Toma • Taşcu Topa • Kurt Treptow • Aurelian Trişcu • Maria Truşcă • Alina Tudor • Liviu Tudoraş • Sorin Tulea • Vasile Ţânţaş • Liviu Ţîrău • Virgiliu Ţârău • Liviu Ţăranu • Cornel Ţăranu • Almira Ţentea • Gabriel Ţepelea • Ioan Ţiplea • Paul Ţurcanu • Ana Ţuţuianu • Maria Udrescu • Mihaela Udrescu • Ioan Udria • Laurenţiu Ulici • Zaharia Urdea • Dumitru Vacariu • Libuše Valentová • Pierre Vallino • Neculai Vânătoru • Ion Varlam • Lucian Vasiliu • Maria Vasiu • Gavril Vatamaniuc • Vitalie Văratec • Dragoş Ştefan Velica • Ioan Velica • Vasile Vetişanu • Ion Vianu • Daniel Vighi • Antoniu Vincler • Aurel Vişovan • Aurel Vlad • Constantin Voicescu • Ioana-Raluca Voicu-Arnăuţoiu • Claudia Voiculescu • Ion Voievozeanu • Raul Volcinschi • Tatiana Volokitina • Simona M. Vrabiescu-Kleckner • Măriuca Vulcănescu • Smaranda Vultur • Lech Walesa • Alicja Wancerz-Gluza • Peter Ulrich Weiss • Nicolas Werth • Teodor Wexler • Henri Wilhelm • Henryk Wujek • Roman Wyborski • Pavel Žaček • Mihai Zamfir • Ioan V. Zăgan • Dan Zelbu • Victoria Zinca • Māra Zirnīte • Alexandru Zub • Ion Zubaşcu • Cezar Zugravu.