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  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • THE FAMILY ALBUM
  • ONCE UPON A TIME IN ROMANIA
    • ▸Bucharest, 1989: The days of Revolution
    • ▸I’ve also lived under communism
    • ▸Portraits of transition
    • ▸”Cabernet cu pepsi”
    • ▸Romania, 1990: Beyond the headlines
    • ▸“Mineriada” – My story
    • ▸Memorial of pain
  • WORK IN PROGRESS
    • ▸Barbershop
    • ▸Melancholic Identities
    • ▸Faces
    • ▸Fragmentary world
    • ▸Two
    • ▸Buddhist monks
    • ▸About windows and walls
    • ▸Mediterraneo
  • STORIES
    • ▸Alone, together
    • ▸Life and death in Varanasi
    • ▸Trans-Siberian – An experience of becoming
    • ▸Boxing in Havana
    • ▸Moving out of Escobar shadow
    • ▸One night at Htee Thein monastery
    • ▸Easter in Sicily – I misteri
    • ▸Easter in Sicily – La pasquetta
    • ▸Stalin’s Museum in Gori
    • ▸Havana: Between magic and decay
    • ▸Muay Thai for a day
    • ▸Cuban billboards
    • ▸Seeking a geisha
    • ▸Belfast’s murals: Behind and beyond
    • ▸Riding the Yangon’s ring train
    • ▸Bazar-Barakholka-Vernisazh
    • ▸An unexpected trip to Dhobi Ghat
    • ▸A different way to look at death
    • ▸Cannes under siege
    • ▸Inside the Guru’s kitchen
    • ▸Tibetan refugees
    • ▸The Golden Triangle: A Mecca of tribal diversity
    • ▸Bullfighting: Barbaric or art ?
    • ▸Crafts and traditions in Morroco
    • ▸Glastonbury with God
  • TRAVEL
    • Cuba
      • ▸The show must go on (part 1)
      • ▸The show must go on (part 2)
      • ▸The show must go on (part 3)
      • ▸The show must go on (part 4)
    • France
      • ▸Paris
      • ▸Paris. Again
    • Greece
      • ▸Mount Athos
      • ▸Postcards from Santorini
      • ▸Athens
      • ▸Mykonos – The picture-perfect Island
    • Germany
      • ▸Berlin
    • Vietnam
      • ▸Four days in Hanoi
      • ▸Cruising through the misty Halong Bay
    • India
      • ▸Portraits of Kashmir
      • ▸Rishikesh – Spiritual marketplace
      • ▸Life on the Sidewalk
    • Ireland
      • ▸The capital of pubs
      • ▸Ireland in ten days
    • Israel
      • ▸Israel in black & white
    • Colombia
      • ▸Colombia
      • ▸Paisas, coffee and much more
      • ▸Streets of Bogota – From Dystopia to Hope
      • ▸Life along the magical Magdalena River
      • ▸A non-touristy guide to Cartagena’s Caribbean paradise
    • Myanmar
      • ▸Min-ga-la-ba Myanmar
      • ▸Up and down on the hills of Shan State
    • Japan
      • ▸Tokyo
      • ▸Springtime in Kyoto
    • Portugal
      • ▸Life at the edge of Europe
    • Russian Federation
      • ▸The unexpected Moscow
      • ▸White Nights in St. Petersburg
    • Italy
      • ▸Rome
      • ▸Random Sicily
      • ▸Vedi Napoli e poi mori
      • ▸Venice
      • ▸Vanishing Venice
    • Morocco
      • ▸Sunset, camel rides and tea in Erg Chebi
      • ▸Medinas: Morocco’s hidden cities
      • ▸Morocco outskirts
      • ▸Djemaa El Fna encounters
      • ▸Surf and hippies
      • ▸The road of the One thousand kasbahs
      • ▸Amazigh – Berber – Free men
    • Georgia
      • ▸Postcards from Georgia
      • ▸The Many Faces of Tbilisi
    • Nepal
      • ▸Kathmandu Valley
    • Romania
      • ▸Romania to go
      • ▸Maramures
      • ▸Tara Motilor
    • Jordan
      • ▸Bedouin Trails
    • Turkey
      • ▸From Turkey with love
      • ▸Ballooning Cappadocia
      • ▸Where East meets West
      • ▸Street life, Istanbul-style
    • Mexico
      • ▸Finding Mexico City
    • Malaysia
      • ▸Transit KL
    • UK
      • ▸London
      • ▸Grab your kilt and bring your pipes
    • Sweden
      • ▸Stockholm
    • Spain
      • ▸Off-season Andalusia
    • Thailand
      • ▸Bangkok, year 2555
      • ▸Life in Pai
      • ▸Thailand
    • Laos
      • ▸Luang Prabang – The City of ultimate Zen
    • Poland
      • ▸Why I love Poland
    • Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania
      • ▸Neighbors, but not relatives
      • ▸Patarei – A little slice of Hell
    • Findland
      • ▸A sunny day in Helsinki
    • Denmark
      • ▸Copenhagen
  • SINGLES
  • CONTACT
  • MY BOOKS
  • MY VIDEOS
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”Mineriada” – My story

 

“Mineriada” is the term used to name any of the six successive violent interventions of miners in Bucharest. The term is mostly used to refer to the most violent one, which occurred in Bucharest during the period June 13–15, 1990, by far the bloodiest and the one that has irreversibly changed the image of Romania.

At that time I was a correspondent for the AFP which had its headquarters at Intercontinental Hotel, where I have spent many nights “keeping close” to the marathon demonstration that began on April 22 and ended on June 13.

The Interest for Romania was huge.

In June 13 at 6 o’clock in the morning the police forces intervened and made the first arrests. The tents of the hunger-strikers were ripped up and destroyed. The square was deserted for a few hours, only the municipality cars sprinkled water and sanitation teams picked up the garbage. At 11:30 the madness began. The Architecture Institute was assaulted by groups of workers from the Bucharest’s industrial platforms. Manny hours of chaos, car fires and street violence followed. In the morning on day of 14th it seemed everything was over. At five o’clock in a terrifying rumble a hideous shadow approached in a crescendo tension. They were the first “army” of miners who occupied the University Square. I immediately got on the 1st floor on the circular balcony and started to photograph the assault. Miners were hitting everything that came out, men and women. At 8:30 the first images have already been sent.

The tally of the day was creepy. Several people were killed; even today their number is not well established. Several hundred people were injured and taken to different hospitals. Within hours, Bucharest was completely occupied and chaos descended on the streets. Opposition party headquarters were destroyed. Many intellectuals, people with beards or wearing fancy clothes were beaten and arrestees. The outcome was catastrophic externally and the side effects dissipated very slowly. Thousands of young people left the country. Romania was excluded from every international funding association. In the coming years, Romania became a member of NATO and the European Union. However, although 25 years have passed since the events, the “miners file” is far from complete. No one has not been sentenced yet.

 

 

”Mineriada” – My story

 

“Mineriada” is the term used to name any of the six successive violent interventions of miners in Bucharest. The term is mostly used to refer to the most violent one, which occurred in Bucharest during the period June 13–15, 1990, by far the bloodiest and the one that has irreversibly changed the image of Romania.

At that time I was a correspondent for the AFP which had its headquarters at Intercontinental Hotel, where I have spent many nights “keeping close” to the marathon demonstration that began on April 22 and ended on June 13.

The Interest for Romania was huge.

In June 13 at 6 o’clock in the morning the police forces intervened and made the first arrests. The tents of the hunger-strikers were ripped up and destroyed. The square was deserted for a few hours, only the municipality cars sprinkled water and sanitation teams picked up the garbage. At 11:30 the madness began. The Architecture Institute was assaulted by groups of workers from the Bucharest’s industrial platforms. Manny hours of chaos, car fires and street violence followed. In the morning on day of 14th it seemed everything was over. At five o’clock in a terrifying rumble a hideous shadow approached in a crescendo tension. They were the first “army” of miners who occupied the University Square. I immediately got on the 1st floor on the circular balcony and started to photograph the assault. Miners were hitting everything that came out, men and women. At 8:30 the first images have already been sent.

The tally of the day was creepy. Several people were killed; even today their number is not well established. Several hundred people were injured and taken to different hospitals. Within hours, Bucharest was completely occupied and chaos descended on the streets. Opposition party headquarters were destroyed. Many intellectuals, people with beards or wearing fancy clothes were beaten and arrestees. The outcome was catastrophic externally and the side effects dissipated very slowly. Thousands of young people left the country. Romania was excluded from every international funding association. In the coming years, Romania became a member of NATO and the European Union. However, although 25 years have passed since the events, the “miners file” is far from complete. No one has not been sentenced yet.

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