Cremation in Romania: Stereotypes and Communist Perceptions
Cremation in Romania: Stereotypes and Communist Perceptions

Summary/Abstract: Our research aims to analyze the mechanisms by which the imaginary of communist death (focusing on the perception of cremation as a funerary practice) influence the reception of cremation in contemporary Romania. From a historical point of view, the strong association between cremation and communism was inappropriate, leading to the wrong idea that such practices were typical to communism. In this regard, the inauguration of Crematorium Cenuşa, in 1928, and the decrease of the number of cremations, compared to the interwar period, after the establishment of the communist regime are striking facts. The few Romanian communists that have chosen cremation (Bela Brainer corner of Cenuşa) were rather an exception. Nevertheless, after 1990, people started to give communist interpretations to the practice of cremation; therefore a strong belief that the cremation is a communist practice started to emerge.

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