I asked each child, “Do you like living here?” They said “See that lady over there? She still beats us.” I asked “how long she has been working here?” They said “from day one, since this place opened.” Most of the kids saw my story on television and were comfortable talking to me. You can’t expect change by renovating buildings when you have the same people and same culture. The biggest problem we have today is that the workers who worked in the institutions in the 1980’s through the mid-1990’s still work in the system. Our train stations are filled with homeless. At least institutions provide a bed, food, clothing and shelter. Simply putting kids on the streets is even worse. But I am not in favor of just shutting down the institutions. We all know that institutions are not the answer. It is a great joy to see all of the Romanian families that have adopted and want to adopt. I get lots of emails from social workers and was shocked to see how many social workers showed up at the Romania Without Orphans conference last November. I am actually impressed with how many good social workers want to change the system. We need to acknowledge the utterly uncivilized society of our communist past and rid all traces of this sickness from our child protection system.” Let us do something on the media level and at the institutional level in order to ensure that no child in this country who has a handicap, or illness, or has been abandoned will ever be slapped, starved, tied down or left to die in their own feces. Radu Preda, director of ICCMER says “My plea as a father is to ensure that these things never happen again. Children in the latter two categories were thrown into centers to die. Investigators say Communist records classified children into 3 categories: reversible, partially reversible and non- reversible. ICCMER investigators and archivists say official records list pneumonia and brain disease as the main causes of deaths, but witnesses say the causes were exposure to the cold, poor hygiene, starvation, lack of healthcare, rat poison, and violent physical abuse. Investigators say this is just the tip of the iceberg for a much wider investigation that is needed into Romania’s 26 orphanages. On June 1, 2017, the state-funded Investigation of Communist Crimes (ICCMER) submitted a criminal complaint to the Ministry of Justice for the deaths of 771 children in the Sighetu Marmatei, Cighid and Pastraveni orphanages between 19. Children’s rights and interests are still being ignored. For me, it is all about forgiveness and making sure Romania stops sweeping the child welfare issue under the carpet. Many former orphans are returning to Romania for answers. Three years ago, a nurse from institution confirmed that Marius and many other kids were given rat poison. In 1995, there was a media story that Romanian orphans were given rat poison. His Dad was crying and praying to heaven.
I remember looking out the window on the Sunday when he died in his Dad’s arms. In time, Marius stopped eating and lost the will to live. His father visited him every weekend and I would jealously look out the window as they sat on a bench. There was another kid named Marian who was hyperactive and was often given medicine.
His official cause of death was “stopped breathing.” In the morning, I saw Duma’s naked bruised body and by lunch he was dead. When I was seven, a kid named Duma was beaten so badly that I hid under the sheets, fearful that I might be next. Even though the place had been closed for 11 years, it is still filled with records and supplies. It was our only childhood home.īut the biggest reason is to find out what really happened there. When I asked them if they missed this place, we all said ‘yes’. It felt really good for us to share our common experience.
But it was remarkable that each of us remembered things that the others had forgotten. Crows were everywhere like in a haunted house. Dolls, furniture and clothes were lying around like it just closed. In 2014, four of us went back to the institution. I go back to reconnect with the kids I grew up with. Now I take a picture of that cross every time I am back in Sighet. I kept feeling sorry for him when I got back to the institution. I actually thought he was some poor guy from Sighet. The nurse said it was Jesus Christ, but without any explanation. On one of my trips outside the institution, I saw a dead man hanging on a cross. There is also a specific memory that reminds me that God was with me even though I did not know who He was. Their love and compassion was the only source of hope I had. Romania to me was the beautiful land outside the institution, not the evil inside the institution. The few times I was allowed out of the institution, I was in awe of the natural beauty of Sighet. First off, it was my home for 11 years and believe it or not, there are memories I cherish.
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