The Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes in Romania (IICCR) merged with The National Institute for the Memory of the Romanian Exile (INMER), thus resulting a new institution, namely The Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and the Memory of the Romanian Exile (IICCMER).

IICCMER exhibition: June 1990, 13^th-15^th. Crime Scene Investigation

The story we are about to tell you is not a pretty one. As you enter the exhibition in the University Passage (June 12th – 27th, 2010), be prepared to hear about lies, violence, hatred, and dead bodies.

Twenty years ago, Bucharest was the scene of unconceivable violence, which the postcommunist power perpetrated against hundreds of Romanian and foreign citizens. On June 14th, 1990, thousands of miners from Jiu Valley arrived in the capital. Armed with hammers and iron rods, they were incited by the Romanian authorities to beat, to humiliate, to rob and to rape hundreds of students, teachers, open opponents of the regime, artists, pensioners, tourists, passers-by. Ethnic Romanians, Roma people, Hungarians and even foreign tourists were all abused. After the carnage, the officials acknowledged only six deaths. Only months later, some of the arrested people have been freed. They were not paid any physical and moral reparations.

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Press Release - 12 April 2010

The Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and the Memory of Romanian Exile is announcing the structure of the Scientific Council.

In accordance with Governmental Decree no. 134/2010, the Scientific Council establishes the general aims and the scientific agenda of the IICCMRE. It is formed of fourteen unremunerated members who meet once a year and have equal positions within the foregoing body. The members of the Council are coordinated by the President of the Scientific Council. They can represent and promote the IICCMRE both on national and international level, due to their acknowledged renown in their field of competence. Furthermore, their professional experience, their access to specialized publications as well as their institutional affiliation will ensure the establishment of a rigorous, scientific framework in compliance with the international research standards in the field. The Scientific Council will support and facilitate the comparative and interdisciplinary studying of the communist regime and its consequences in Romania.

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CALL FOR PAPERS: Politics of Memory in postcommunist Europe EXTENDED DEADLINE!

Annals of the Romanian and East European Communism, new series, vol. 1/2010.

The first issue of our new series will focus on ‘Politics of Memory in postcommunist Europe’. The manner  in which Communism  is remembered or forgotten, and the very dynamics of this process represent crucial aspects of the Eastern European transition from totalitarianism to democracy. In the past five years, our Institute has pursued  a thorough investigation of the legal and instititutional framework  the former Communist regime in Romania. Two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, scholars and researchers are invited to submit their contributions regarding the culture of remembrance and/or denial, allied with a politics of memory and/or oblivion, which have shaped Eastern Europe.

We welcome original contributions which discuss, ideally in a comparative perspective, the theme of memory in the light of the recent political, cultural and societal developments in the former Soviet bloc: Romania, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, former GDR, Poland, USSR and former Yugoslavia. Case-studies as well as new theoretical contributions are encouraged.

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The Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and the Memory of the Romanian Exile will organize in the period 20th of February - 1st of May 2010 the national contest of essays and graphic art „My family during communism”

The contest, now at its fourth edition, is destined to the students from the cycle 5th-12th grades and is organized in partnership with the Education, Research, Youth and Sports Ministry and the Commission’s Representation in Romania. This year we provoke the students to a new theme My family during communism, with this subject attempting to bring into attention the relationship between the communist state and family. Starting from the following questions: In what degree was your family affected by the communist regime? How do you describe the family life during communist regime?, we ask the students to sketch their opinion on the theme announced.

The International Conference "Crimes of the Communist Regimes"

In the interval 24-26 February 2010, the International Conference Crimes of the Communist Regimes took place in Prague (The Czech Republic). The event was organised by the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes and  partner institutions from the working group on the Platform of European Memory and Conscience.

The Conference aimed at presenting an overview of the crimes committed by the communist regimes behind the Iron Curtain, evaluating them from a legal point of view and searching for possible solutions to the situation today. The main purpose of the reunion was centred on the reconciliation within post-communist societies and a strengthened European integration across the former East-West divide.

The Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and the Memory of the Romanian Exile was represented by Marius Oprea and Raluca Grosescu, coordinator of the Documentation and Reseach Office.

Programme of the Conference
descarcă document (PDF)

The exhibition entitled Common Denominator: Death

The Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and the Memory of the Romanian Exile, the National History Museum of Transylvania – Cluj-Napoca, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Romanian Peasant’s Museum, supported by Projects Abroad and the National Council for Studying the Securitate Archives, are presenting the exhibition entitled Common Denominator: Death. The event is organised as a result of the ten field campaigns undertaken in order to exhume the remains of the opponents of the communist regime who were swiftly executed by the Securitate in the interval 1948-1952.

These actions were initiated as a result of the petitions sent to the IICCR by the opponents’ descendants and took place in the interval 2007-2009. The cases presented within the exhibition refer to 17 persons who were executed (most often shot to death). Their remains were traced and exhumed by means of archaeological methods in Hălmăsău, Nepos (Bistriţa-Năsăud County), Glodghileşti, Băieşti (Hunedoara County), Odoreu (Satu Mare County), Teregova (Caraş-Severin County), Muşca, Sălciua, Câmpeni (Alba County), Sântejude Vale (Cluj County).  In the foregoing locations the victims were buried either in individual graves (Glodghileşti, Satu Mare, Băieşti, Sălciua, Câmpeni, Sântejude Vale) or in mass graves of two victims (Hălmăsău/location 2, Teregova), three victims (Nepos) or four victims (Hălmăsău/location 1).

The exhibition “Common Denomintor: Death” was presented at Charles University in Prague, between 22 february - 5 march 2010, during the fourth edition of the “Mene Tekel” International Festival. The exhibition was organized in partnership with the Romanian Embassy in the Czech Republic and The Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes from the Czech Republic.