Party Education in Communist Romania in the First Two Post-war Decades (1945–1965)
Party Education in Communist Romania in the First Two Post-war Decades (1945–1965)

Summary/Abstract: The present study is systematic research of the party education system in Romania, with a case study of two of its exemplary higher education institutions, namely the “Ștefan Gheorghiu” and the “Andrei Aleksandrovich Zhdanov” School of Social Sciences. Party education in Romania was founded and organized following the Soviet model, which served as a source of inspiration; an attempt was made to acquire a national element as well. The image of this system could be retraced after 1989, given the unrestricted access to the documents of the former Communist Party. Our aim is to present the image of the Romanian party education and to show the role played by the two institutions in the process of forming the Romanian Communist nomenclature. The two institutions were symbols of party education in the first two post-war decades. These higher education institutions were genuine bulwarks of communist proselytism and served as indoctrination vehicles of party members; finally, they were a springboard for those who wanted to reach the top of the political hierarchy. This paper is based on numerous documents found in the archives but also on the works of some authors who dealt with the history of Romanian communism.

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