Grigore Ion Răceanu (1906–1996) was a

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

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 ...

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 w ...

. Born in Cojocna,

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. 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 (s ...

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 wou ...

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 po ...

, where he worked for Industria Aeronautică Română. 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 o ...

.''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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, 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 ...

, where his views conflicted with those of

Ștefan Foriș Ștefan Foriș (born István Fóris, also known as Marius; May 9, 1892 – summer of 1946) was a Romanian communist activist and journalist who served as general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR or PCdR) between 1940 and 1944 ...

, 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 List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, 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 for his opinions, being freed from prison in 1960. Grigore Răceanu married Ileana Pop and became the stepfather of Mircea Răceanu, who later became a noted diplomat. In March 1989, he was one of the six old-time Communists (together with Gheorghe Apostol,

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. Ea ...

, Corneliu Mănescu, and Constantin Pîrvulescu), who signed a letter ("The Letter of the Six") 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 th ...

. 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 ...

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