Grigore Ion Răceanu (1906–1996) was a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

politician and opponent of

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( , ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He was ...

. Born in

Cojocna Cojocna ( hu, Kolozs; german: Salzgrub, Klosmarkt) is a commune in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of eight villages: Boj-Cătun (''Bósi alagút''), Boju (''Kolozsbós''), Cara (''Kolozskara''), Cojocna, Huci (''Cserealja''), Iu ...

Cluj County Cluj County (; german: Kreis Klausenburg, hu, Kolozs megye) is a county ( județ) of Romania, in Transylvania. Its seat ( ro, Oraș reședință de județ) is Cluj-Napoca (german: Klausenburg). Name In Hungarian, it is known as ''Kolozs megye ...

, he became a

train driver A train driver, engine driver, engineman or locomotive driver, commonly known as an engineer or railroad engineer in the United States and Canada, and also as a locomotive handler, locomotive operator, train operator, or motorman, is a pers ...

for

Căile Ferate Române Căile Ferate Române (; abbreviated as the CFR) is the state railway carrier of Romania. As of 2014, the railway network of Romania consists of , of which (37.4%) are electrified. The total track length is , of which (38.5%) are electrifie ...

. He was also a

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

leader, being one of the organizers of the strikes of

Cluj ; hu, kincses város) , official_name=Cluj-Napoca , native_name= , image_skyline= , subdivision_type1 = County , subdivision_name1 = Cluj County , subdivision_type2 = Status , subdivision_name2 = County seat , settlement_type = City , le ...

in 1929-1933. He became a member of the underground

Romanian Communist Party The Romanian Communist Party ( ro, Partidul Comunist Român, , PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that woul ...

in 1936. Toward the end of the 1930s, he moved to

Brașov Brașov (, , ; german: Kronstadt; hu, Brassó; la, Corona; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the administrative centre of Brașov County. According to the latest Romanian census (2011), Brașov has a popu ...

, where he worked for

Industria Aeronautică Română Industria Aeronautică Română (IAR) (now IAR S.A. Brașov) or Romanian Aeronautic Industry in English, is a Romanian aerospace manufacturer. It is based in Ghimbav, near Brașov, Romania. IAR was founded in 1925 with the aid of the Romanian g ...

. In September 1940, he organized a protest in Brașov against the

Second Vienna Award The Second Vienna Award, also known as the Vienna Diktat, was the second of two territorial disputes that were arbitrated by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. On 30 August 1940, they assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania, including all ...

.''Plai cu Boi'', nr. 12,
Ultimul condamnat la moarte
'' – an interview with Mircea Răceanu During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Răceanu lived in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, where his views conflicted with those of Ștefan Foriș, the leader of the Communist Party. Răceanu criticized the stance of the party on its obedience to the orders of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, especially on the annexation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina in June 1940. Due to this, in 1942, he was excluded from the party. After the war, Răceanu was accepted again as a member of the party, but soon after, in 1958, he was excluded once again and arrested as an

enemy of the people The term enemy of the people or enemy of the nation, is a designation for the political or class opponents of the subgroup in power within a larger group. The term implies that by opposing the ruling subgroup, the "enemies" in question are ac ...

for his opinions, being freed from prison in 1960. Grigore Răceanu married Ileana Pop and became the stepfather of

Mircea Răceanu Mircea Răceanu (born Mircea Bernat October 17, 1935) is a Romanian diplomat. Early life His parents were two Transylvanian members of the underground Romanian Communist Party (PCR) in the 1930s: a Romanian worker named Ileana Pop and a Jewish ca ...

, who later became a noted diplomat. In March 1989, he was one of the six old-time Communists (together with

Gheorghe Apostol Gheorghe Apostol (16 May 1913 – 21 August 2010) was a Romanian politician, deputy Prime Minister of Romania and a former leader of the Communist Party (PCR), noted for his rivalry with Nicolae Ceaușescu. Early life Apostol was born near T ...

Alexandru Bârlădeanu Alexandru Bârlădeanu (or ''Bîrlădeanu''; 25 January 1911 – 13 November 1997) was a Romanian Marxian economist and statesman who was prominent during the communist regime until being sidelined in 1968. In his later years, following the collap ...

Silviu Brucan Silviu Brucan (born Saul Bruckner; 18 January 1916 – 14 September 2006) was a Romanian Communist politician. He became a critic of the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu. After the Romanian Revolution, Brucan became a political analyst. Ear ...

Corneliu Mănescu Corneliu Mănescu (8 February 1916 – 26 June 2000) was a Romanian diplomat born in Ploiești. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania from 1961 to 1972 and as President of the United Nations General Assembly from 19 September 19 ...

, and

Constantin Pîrvulescu Constantin Pîrvulescu (November 10, 1895, Olănești, Vâlcea County – July 11, 1992, Roman) was a Romanian communist politician, one of the founders of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR), who, as time went on, became an active opponent ...

), who signed a letter ("The

Letter of the Six The Letter of the Six (Romanian: ''Scrisoarea celor șase'') was an open letter signed in March 1989 by six former high-ranking Romanian Communist Party dignitaries: Gheorghe Apostol, Alexandru Bârlădeanu, Silviu Brucan, Corneliu Mănescu, C ...

") that criticized Ceaușescu's policies and was made public by

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...

, and

Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...

. As a result of this letter, Răceanu was declared a traitor and put under house arrest, being freed after the

Romanian Revolution The Romanian Revolution ( ro, Revoluția Română), also known as the Christmas Revolution ( ro, Revoluția de Crăciun), was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred i ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raceanu, Grigore 1906 births 1996 deaths People from Cluj County Romanian communists Romanian dissidents Romanian trade unionists Train drivers Căile Ferate Române people Romanian prisoners and detainees