Tablouri de epocă (I)
Old Paintings (I)

Summary/Abstract: The article evokes memories of the 1950s regarding Stalin’s death and the reactions of the Romanians, as well as other events in 1953, such as the World Youth and Students Festival for Peace and Friendship (fourth edition). Tens of thousands of people were summoned, some even mimicked pain and tears, a lot of speeches were delivered, and before the 24 cannons bursts, the first anecdote about Stalin’s death was already circulating through the crowd. For the Romanians, Stalin’s disappearance meant the end of the most terrible period (1948-1953) in their contemporary history. Immediately after Stalin’s death a weakening of the oppression that had touched paroxysms began. In August 1953, the World Youth and Students Festival brought a spot of color and a little joy to the gray city of Bucharest, with its poorly fed inhabitants dressed in calico, ducks and “flag cloth”, frightened, cautious, attentive to what they talk.

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