It all began with one pastor who said, "No."

 

 

The Money Changer

 

 On 22 December 1989 the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu was overthrown in Romania, ending 42 years of Communist rule. It all began with a Romanian-Hungarian Reformed pastor, Laslo Tokes (pron. Toe-kesh). The government was trying to evict him from his church apartment. His parishioners began a vigil outside on 15 December, refusing to move when guards ordered them. Even though Tokes advised the people to leave, several hundred hung around. Events escalated, the crowd grew. When the mayor of Timisoara warned the crowd to disperse or face water cannons, the crowd stayed, and no water cannons appeared. The crowd began to sing the patriotic song, "Wake up, O Romanian!" banned since 1947 by the Communists. Next they began to shout, "Down with Ceausescu! Down with Communism!" The crowd headed toward the city center where the militia failed to disperse them. Water cannons were brought out, but the crowd seized them & threw them into the river.

On Sunday, 17 December, the army fired into the crowd, killing many. On 18 December thousands of workers in Timisoara joined the protest, and by 20 December the city was in full revolt. News spread across Romania and triggered more protests that swirled into the Romanian Revolution that overthrew Ceausescu and the Communists. On 25 December Ceausescu and his wife Elena were captured by the armed forces, tried and convicted of genocide and sabotage of the Romanian economy in a one-hour session -- longer than they had given many of their victims -- and then shot by a firing squad.