In 1989, Traian Radu was 21 years old. He had lived under the communist dictatorship his entire life. Scarcity, censorship and propaganda that glorified the regime, modeled after North Korea, were the rules. The news of the repression against the protesters in #Timișoara brought him out into the streets, along with hundreds of thousands of Bucharesters. ➡️ 35 years after the Revolution, Traian Radu went with a Free Europe team to the building of the former headquarters of the Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party, now the headquarters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It is the exact place where, on the night of December 22 to 23, 1989, he was shot in both ankles. At the end of dozens of judicial investigations, Traian Radu still does not know who fired the shots that night. Dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu had fled in the middle of the day, and communism had collapsed. The victors had proclaimed political freedom and open borders. However, after December 22, more people died, over 850, than during the repression ordered by Nicolae Ceaușescu, that is, on December 17-18 in Timișoara and December 21-22 in Bucharest, a total of 1,166 victims. On that night of the 22nd-23rd, public television, which was “broadcasting the Revolution live,” took over and spread rumors that they were shooting “terrorists” who were trying to oppose the collapse of the Ceaușescu regime and were defending it. The confusion and chaos in the CC headquarters led to the killing of many people who were there. Traian was lucky. Immediately after he was shot, other revolutionaries took him to Colțea Hospital in University Square, located nearby. He does not know who his saviors were, even though he asked about them over time. At Colțea Hospital, he was operated on by doctor Nicolae Constantinescu, who was on duty that night. After the operation, Traian's prognosis was grim: he risked never walking again. Doctor Constantinescu sent him to Italy, where doctors managed to save Traian's legs. Today, Traian can walk normally. He insists that he would like to know more about those days of confusion and chaos in December 1989. #35RomanianRevolution ___ ⚪ Follow us on other social networks: ➡️ / europalibera.romania ➡️ / europalibera.romania ➡️ / europalibera.romania ➡️ / europaliberaro 🌐 Our mission is to promote democratic values ​​and institutions and to offer our community what it often cannot get from other sources: uncensored news, serious and balanced debates, freedom of expression — https://romania.europalibera.org/. #Romania #FreeEurope ⚫ We encourage conversations in the comments section, but please keep the following in mind: 1️⃣ We reserve the right to delete comments that may have legal consequences, are defamatory, obscene, indecent, abusive, violent, pornographic, threatening, discriminatory, hateful, or otherwise illegal. 2️⃣ The comments section may not be used for commercial purposes.