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We used to listen to music

while keeping on chatting for hours on end until 4am.

At 5:30am it would be time for us to get up and go to work.

Oh! That early?

It was not tiring at all.

And the kids were sleeping anyway.

Then we would take them to school.

Oh God, it was so great!

You asked me how I got this nickname of Licu.

My first name is Liviu.

Mom had a sister

named Valeria.

We used to call her Lica.

No one has ever called me Liviu.

We used to visit with them

and would call my mother's sister Lica

and they would call me Licu in return

as it was so much easier.

This is how I was nicknamed Licu.

This nickname would be quickly adopted by everyone.

In primary or high-school,

no girls would ever call me

Liviu but Licu.

My brother Viorel was born one year before me.

He was a premature baby born at 7 months.

He was skinny…

And frail…

Bit by bit he managed to grow up normally.

At that time, X-ray exams were not routinely performed.

Health issues were not detected at early stages.

He was born with one kidney.

No one knew about it.

It was my mother who loved me most.

It was her who had desired me.

Dad not that much.

He would rather prefer Viorel.

But Mom really did love me.

I was a boisterous kid.

I was healthy.

I was a strong kid.

I would jump, run, and climb the trees.

I was unbeatable at all games.

My brother is here.

The first child.

- How old were you at that time?

- About 10-11 years old.

In the hospital, I having been...

It did happen once when

I felt this chest discomfort and didn't know what it could be.

I was admitted for 3 days.

I was diagnosed and discharged.

The other time was when I broke

my arm at 92.

I fell on my right arm.

I was in the hospital for 2 weeks.

Other than that I really don't know much about hospitals.

I have outlived all events.

When I was born, Romania was being governed

by king Carol II and later by Michel 1st.

I had a wonderful and peaceful childhood.

A sweet harmony surrounded us.

Life was enjoyable.

It was superb.

And suddenly, the hell fell upon us.

The course of life changes without notice.

And our life would be drastically changed.

Before the Communism, we had no problems.

I was free.

I was fully enjoying life. Every bit of it.

I could talk freely about anything, and meet with whom I wanted to.

I was free of any concerns.

I could not imagine that anyone could ever survey

or control me.

That absolute freedom would make you feel so happy.

You could feel free and independent

in interacting with the others.

Those times were dramatic.

The 1940-45s

during the World War II

were extremely complicated for us.

I was on vacation.

We were as happy as could be

as it was a beautiful summer

and we, the kids, were going to enjoy ourselves and have fun.

One day, the radio

aired worrying news:

the signing of the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact.

The Germans were going to yield to the Russians

Romanian, Hungarian, Polish and Czech territories.

The news about the pact

triggered an extreme panic.

We were bound to leave the North Bukovina within 3 days

because it would be occupied by the Soviet troops.

Dad started the departure preparations.

We began gathering our things.

We put them in boxes.

And we would wait for long hours

hoping that during the 2 or 3 days-allotted delay,

carriages to help us evacuate would be assigned to us.

That is not what happened.

After the news had been broadcast,

we knew for a fact that the Soviet troops had already invaded

the North-Bukovina.

They were getting closer and closer.

They had occupied the town of Cernauti

and were heading to

our town, Storojynets.

We were in panic.

We had no choice.

In the morning, I went by bicycle to the nearby village

attempting to find a horse-driven cart

to put our belongings on

and leave on.

I did get this cart from a peasant.

On my way back to Storojynets,

a Romanian soldiers patrol

stopped me and requisitioned the cart.

Our last hope of departing

in decent conditions had vanished.

Upon arriving back home,

Dad decided

we were going to walk away without delay,

leaving everything behind.

We left at 5pm

and arrived the next day at 10am to Radauti,

having walked for 80 km… in the forest…

We had taken a minor road known only by the locals

to avoid the Soviet troops.

It was not a main road, but a country path in poor condition.

All would have been a lot easier hadn't it been for the rain.

We were walking and we were in pain…

Walking all night long…

Dad's hair started turning white during that night.

His hair went white.

He had normal hair

and within one month he would be completely white.

From 1940 to 1941 we lived in a shelter.

It was in Craiova where we had been finally assigned a home.

Of course, it was empty, without furniture.

We had arrived at our destination

with only the clothes we were wearing.

All our belongings had remained behind.

Furniture, tableware, garments…

We had departed with the clothes we were wearing.

That's all we could save.

It's our life that we saved.

In 1941, the Romanian troops occupied Bukovina.

By governmental decree Dad was forced to go back to Bukovina.

Thus, we returned and stayed in Bukovina until 1944.

In 1944, the Russian front came closer to Bukovina

and we had to leave once more.

This time, we were assigned carriages

and could take with us some of our belongings.

We set off again to the Apuseni mountains, in Câmpeni.

Dad had been assigned a position as a judge there.

We lived in Câmpeni since 1944 to 1950.

In 1950 my parents were still living

there while I was a student at the Polytechnic Institute

in Iasi, 500 km away.

I would often have to make back and forth round trips.

Isn't it too salty?

So it's as it should be.

Let's taste it.

It's not salty at all!

Because we had to leave already twice,

after the graduation,

I had looked for work

in a city located in the center of the country.

It would be safe and I would certainly avoid another evacuation.

If Sibiu would cease to exist,

the entire Romania would cease to exist.

This is how I've landed here.

I was hired at the electric plant.

I met my wife at a party.

She was so cute.

She was admired and courted.

Her family situation was very hard, though.

They were 3 children.

Their dad passed away in 1947.

Their mom's pension as a widow

was half of their dad's wages.

The pension was barely enough to make a living.

Her brother and sister were students at the university.

Liliana had just graduated from high-school

and could not afford going to college.

I told her that it did not matter.

My mother didn't go to college either after high-school.

And thus, we got married.

For having a religious wedding,

we had to do it secretly

in Rasinari, the neighboring village.

Being a believer was perceived as a sin.

We had to be communist, that is to say atheists.

I simply couldn't accept it.

Agents of the secret police had infiltrated the church.

They had become priests in order to survey the population better.

Thus they could survey from the inside

both the real priests and the believers.

They were writing reports.

Those who stood out were investigated.

Life was insecure; it was a tough life.

We constantly felt the sword of Damocles

over our heads.

You had to carefully watch your steps.

As a pupil,

before the Communist era,

in primary and high-school,

we used to start the classes with a prayer.

Each morning, we used to enter the classroom,

stand up

and recite the Lord's Prayer.

After, we would sit down.

We used to have classes of religious education.

Yep, that's it.

With all my friendship.

To your happiness!

To your good health!

And may you outlive me!

We walk in parallel.

That's just my opinion.

I have to live 100 years old.

The contract is made for 100!

There is no one left.

I've remained all alone.

Absolutely alone.

No more men, no more women. No more friends.

I'm too old.

They haven't lived that long.

I'm the only one to have passed 90 years

and keep going on all alone

with my memories.

These beatings have a lovely tone.

This pendulum clock has melodious beatings.

In summer, when the heat sets in,

this pendulum clock is going a little faster.

From time to time, it needs to be adjusted.

I need to hear it at all times.

It's a presence, even at night…

Especially at night, when I wake up

I hear its beatings and I know the hour.

- Is it like a beating heart?

- Yes, it's like a heart.

Ceaucescu had taken over the power.

The Communist regime had been instated in the country.

This house with five bedrooms

was occupied by several families.

The Government had decreed

the housing nationalization

and the district committees were allotting

the lodgment to the population.

All lodgments were managed and rented by the municipality.

It was the city hall that had become the owner

via their lodgment-rental offices.

A family with 3 kids was assigned in this house.

They lived and cooked in one room.

They raised a pig in the bathtub.

Cohabitation with this family was extremely difficult.

He was a heavy drinker.

He would scream and yell.

He was disrespectful to my mother-in-law and her daughters.

He was humiliating them.

We had to put up with this for years…

Of course, after the wedding,

Loulou, my wife, continued living here

while I was living with one of my mother's sisters,

who had sheltered me upon my coming to Sibiu.

After the wedding, we lived like that for 3 years.

Separated.

Can you realize it?

After a while, the family who lived here

obtained a rental elsewhere and left.

That's why

my son, Dan, was born 5 years after

the marriage.

During the communism, you had to keep your mouth shut,

do as they said

and live your private life aside.

If you were protesting against the communism

you would be immediately placed

under surveillance and investigation.

I knew students

who didn't want to let it go;

they were shot on the street.

One evening we learned that one of us, a student,

had been shot, in Iasi.

Of course, thousands of students

did attend his funeral.

The feeling of solidarity did exist.

But we couldn't do more.

It was very sad.

The rumor spread quickly

about the student having been shot

that night, at midnight.

He was being followed.

A gunshot and… Bang.

They left his body on the pavement.

He was finished.

Without judgment, without discussion.

They would simply terminate you.

One of my mother's brothers, a professor,

had been arrested

and sent to a gulag in Siberia.

He was to be executed 3 months later.

We were informed about his death.

Her other brother

was imprisoned at the Aiud penitentiary.

He was imprisoned for only 7 years

as a law in 1964 would grant pardon to the political prisoners.

Loulou's brother, my brother-in-law,

this boy,

was a Doctor of Law,

working at the archives in Sibiu,

attached to the Securitate (secret police).

In 1952 he was sent to Medias, 60 km away from Sibiu

and has disappeared ever since!

No one knows what happened to him since 1952 to this day.

It's true, massive arrests were ongoing at that time.

In 1952, wagons with prisoners and deportees were heading

to Ukraine in Soviet Union via Copsa Mica and Medias

on daily basis.

Was he arrested on the road

and put on one of those deportation trains?

We still don't know…

This is the Radu's family tree,

of my parents-in-law.

- You did it?

- Me? No! It starts since 1700...

It was done by them.

What beautiful children they were!

I enlarged these photos

to put them in an album.

Photography has been my passion forever.

That's why I built this photo enlarger.

I had my own photo lab where I could develop,

copy and enlarge.

I could do any size-enlargements.

This photo was taken with Loulou, and the others at the seaside…

Here's what we did and how we had fun.

Family vacation time

every year we used to go to the Black Sea.

What could be more beautiful

than those vacations at the beach?

We would swim against the waves…

It was so good.

I had bought a beach tent.

A tent with 2 rooms.

One room had a table and chairs.

It was our dining room.

We used to sleep in the other

on mattresses.

A beautiful tent; I still have it.

Such unforgettable vacations…

With the tent on the beach.

And the sea nearby.

We could go swimming whenever we felt like.

Those were the good times.

We met other people.

Some were Germans, others Swedish.

They also had tents.

We befriended them.

There were quite a few Germans

and Swedish.

It suited them to come here.

With their wages, they could live like in a paradise.

Prices were…

Exceptionally good.

Life was so enjoyable at the seaside.

Over there, we escaped the burden of communism.

We were free.

Completely free.

The food was galore.

The stores were well supplied.

You could find anything you needed.

We were living those days like in a bubble

far away from the everyday life.

We had our own universe.

With our thoughts, and our pleasures…

We enjoyed going to the sea

because there were no restrictions.

Once the vacation time was over

and upon returning home,

the hell would start all over again.

I lived my profession with passion.

This allowed me to improve myself day by day.

Work had to be done

and resolved

within a schedule framed by State plans

with strict deadlines.

If it did not start

and end on scheduled dates,

investigations were ordered without delay.

The project on a worksite for a 400 km high-voltage electric line

requiring up to 1 year and a half

or even 2 years to accomplish

cannot be done overnight;

the weather changes,

cold, rain, frost…

I was working with my team outside

and not inside.

We couldn't work on high voltage lines

by rainy weather.

There were tools placed in the field.

The field was battered by rain…

You must halt the worksite.

And the project stagnates.

This means that the entire team was halted.

Tools had to be stored.

We had to wait for the weather to change.

As soon as the weather had improved,

we needed to recover the wasted time.

I used to double the teams.

I used to have extra teams and tools sent over.

We were working at turbo speed.

The teams had to supply sustained hard work

but they had good wages.

I had a team leader

who had a higher wage than the plant manager

because he worked from 6am to 7-8pm.

Non-stop.

And I had to acknowledge his work.

You worked that much you deserve a proportional pay-check.

They had the warranty of a good pay.

Most of them came from Maramures.

They were robust guys.

When Liviu Canter said « we must do it »

and I would have given the order to start the worksite,

they would be all there.

Look there at those men.

It's half as big as the Eiffel Tower.

The biggest pylon in Europe.

I was rewarded for it.

I received the Order of Work Merit.

With the benefit of becoming tax-exempt.

That's about it.

I was informed that this line would be dismantled

and the pylon sent to scrap iron…

To make some money for those

who have a business in steel resale.

How come you don't know it?

- Are you warming the tea with that? - Yes!

- Showing it to me?

Are you making tea? - Yes.

- When I go to the construction sites,

I take it with me and make the tea at the hotel.

It's so practical.

As a child, I loved

making my own toys.

In Storojynets, there was a furniture factory

and I used to go there often as a child.

This is how I learnt all about wood carving.

These could serve as

napkin rings

or candle holders…

I can't tell you all the details…

I found this mirror pattern

that I really liked a lot,

in a German magazine.

I said to myself: I am going to make it one day.

The years went by.

I got married.

Ho! I said to myself:

this is a good opportunity to make a surprise to my wife.

I gathered the supplies,

drew the pattern on the wood,

and prepared the set.

I only had to cut it into the wood.

But I didn't have time.

I was an engineer at the electric plant

and was spending my time on the construction sites.

So I kept procrastinating.

I carefully stored it on a shelf in my workshop

and as the years were passing by,

I forgot all about it.

It's only 60 years later,

that one day, I found it.

When I saw it I said to myself: Oh, wow,

what a pity!

Loulou had passed away.

And I haven't made her mirror.

It was meant for her to have it.

Now it's our grand-daughter who will inherit it.

I applied myself

and it took me only 3 weeks to get it done.

I made it in May of this year.

I managed to finish it after 3 weeks of work.

It's a beautiful mirror.

There's only old stuff here.

My brother Viorel

used to work in Hunedoara.

In Hunedoara, the metallurgical plant

and its furnaces manufacturing cast iron and steel

were causing an extreme pollution.

The iron ore

as well as the furnaces

were releasing red smoke.

In the morning, red ashes were covering the entire town.

Breathed air was unhealthy.

Everyone was inhaling poisonous air…

Mortality rates were high.

People died around 55-60 years old.

He was employed at the plant

and 2 years after his kidney was damaged.

He was a premature baby born at 7 months

with only one kidney.

The other was atrophied from birth.

He developed kidney sclerosis,

followed by uremia.

He held an important position because he was extremely competent.

The Government sent him by special plane to France

to Dr Richet's Parisian clinic.

Dear Licu,

I've arrived ok in Paris on August 20th in the evening.

I've not been admitted yet.

All the best to you and Loulou.

Love. Viorel

They kept him for one month at the Government's expense

but they couldn't save him.

- How come during the cold war one could go to France so easily?

- It was in 1955.

Deportations and arrests were still ongoing.

His professional expertise was highly praised.

He managed to restructure the plant within 1 year and a half.

The government used to treat well and protect

those whose expertise was deemed useful.

They were valuable assets.

The government couldn't afford ignoring their expertise.

They were immediately helped.

Ceausescu made huge investments

and consequently spent a lot of money.

Money collected from taxes and other charges

was invested.

He did achieve a lot.

He industrialized the country to an extent never attained before.

Thousands of new businesses,

factories, power plants, hydro-power stations

were built.

This involved a lot of money.

Consequently he would export all Romanian manufactured goods.

Everything was for exporting.

There were no goods left in the country.

Livestock, farming products, all gone…

The population could barely survive on rationed-food.

Surviving…

Those in the countryside lived better

as they had chickens.

They raised chickens or pigs

But if they had 3 pigs, the government would take one.

Everyday, at 6 am

I would wake up to go

to the store and wait in line

for 2 liters of milk.

Everyday…

Otherwise, you couldn't get it.

No more milk, whatever!

There was no other way to buy it.

There was no other way to buy it.

It was the same for the meat, and butter, and all.

No processed meat either.

It was…

Very hard… indeed.

Now there's food abundance.

This is the past.

Nowadays, the stores are full.

Time has avenged our prior suffering and privations.

When I married Loulou,

I found on the left side of the garden

these Golden apples, cherries, Morello cherries, plums,

Mirabelle plums,

grapevine, etc.

I said to myself: It's a pity to waste them.

- Is it homemade brandy? - Yes.

- For how long have you been making it?

- For many years…

I have to go fill it up.

Shall I tell you the brandy story?

I had a friend who had lived nearby.

He managed to get a 30L stainless steel water alcohol distiller.

In the fall we would handpick all the fruits that could be picked.

We would place them in capped glass-barrels

for fermentation.

The fermentation would take about 3 months.

The fruits would be at the bottom

and the liquid above.

This is when you can start making the brandy.

When the fermentation process is complete.

I used to borrow his distiller

and heat it on the gas cooker.

It was boiling.

I was making brandy...

super!

This is real brandy!

They shot at me.

I was nearly shot.

At the time of the Revolution,

the army was

in the opposite building where the law school is located now.

The nearby building was still under construction.

Without walls.

In that building's foundations,

the Securitate guys were hiding with their machine guns.

They were shooting at the army.

After a dogged fight

the Securitate guys had to take refuge.

The building was emptied.

After 2 or 3 hours,

I exited through the house side-door

heading to the front-door entrance

to see what was going on.

When getting near it,

I heard gunshots fired from the law school building.

They were shooting at our house door.

We can still see the bullets holes.

I threw myself to the ground.

I wouldn't move for at least half an hour.

They thought they had killed me.

They must have taken me for a terrorist.

After, I stood up quickly,

leaped,

and went in through that door.

Look up there.

The impact of bullets.

I barricaded all the doors.

I secured them with

mattresses and sprung bed bases.

I barricaded both entrances

to stop the bullets from reaching inside

inside the house in case of shooting.

We could not go out

for some days.

We were completely blocked.

Fortunately, we had water.

We ate whatever was leftover.

After, the things had calmed down.

I went to see

what the city looked like after the Revolution.

The building of Securitate

had been completely demolished.

The entire building located in front of a barracks

had been riddled with bullets and burned down.

Sadly for my missing brother-in-law,

the paper archives had been completely destroyed, burned.

No records could be found as to what had happened to him.

We couldn't find out whether he had been followed,

how he disappeared…

Many records were destroyed at that time.

After the Revolution, Law 18 was promulgated

allowing the expropriated owners

to recover their expropriated lands.

Of course, I had kept all the ownership documents.

They had been hidden.

Thus we could reconstitute the expropriated properties.

A restitution request was filed in 1999.

Law 18 stipulated that the maximum surface of land

to be restituted per owner was 10 hectares.

After 3 months,

we were informed that our request had been accepted.

In 2002, the Land Act was to be amended

allowing us to recover up to 50 ha.

To former owners.

Another request was filed.

The required legal documents were supplied once more.

This request was acknowledged as well.

It was legally validated.

However, the municipality where the lands are located

was supposed to release a copy of the validation deed

and failed to do so.

They said it had been granted

and that we had to wait.

2,3,4,5 years have passed...

And we have received nothing...

In 2005,

the Law 18 was amended once more

allowing us to recover up to 50 additional hectares.

We refiled.

After some time

the municipality informed us

that this request has also been granted.

So, at present, we are expecting the restitution

of a total of 90 hectares.

We haven't received yet the validation deed

from the municipality for the last request.

They keep telling us we must wait and wait again.

In fact they don't give a damn about us.

After 3 years of ongoing lawsuits

we got a final and irrevocable decision

for the restitution of 90 hectares of lands.

It was in 2011.

In 2013, a new Law was promulgated

ordering the restitution of the confiscated lands.

Especially for those having a definitive decision.

15 years have passed.

I have unrelentingly travelled back-and-forth fighting

for these lands inherited from our ancestors.

To this day, we still have nothing.

We have promises though.

I don't know how long this will ever take.

25 years after the Revolution,

if you were to assess the events

you realize that

those who have been in power ever since, both in the Parliament,

and in the government institutions

are in fact the businessmen who seized the power

protected by our institutions.

They sold the country.

They put it in a horrible situation.

They destroyed everything they could destroy.

They sold everything.

And now, gradually,

we have to make up for it.

I don't know how this will ever happen.

Assessing the last 10 years,

makes you realize

the economic coups

that the businessmen have afflicted the country with.

What was stolen…

And squandered...

It's horrifying.

Billions and billions of Lei.

The population is suffering in silent expectation.

He is a parliamentarian candidate for mayor.

A clown.

It seems like Romania has ceased existing.

As a territory, or as anything else.

Most of the industrial complexes

are being built and exploited by foreigners.

Foreigners are purchasing and administering our lands.

The agriculture and the industry…

The natural resources of the country

such as mining, coal, steel, mineral, copper,

aluminum, gold,

have been seized and exploited by foreign companies.

They are fighting over.

That's why Europe keeps us in this state.

When you see how much a Romanian is making…

He shouldn't have an income too high.

Otherwise he may have higher claims.

You can dominate more easily with smaller claims.

We have become a colony of the European Union.

I have a decent retirement

because I have a supplemental financial help

thanks to this law

which acknowledges the losses incurred by the cessation of Bukovina.

My family lost everything we had owned there.

In Bukovina, at present a Ukrainian territory.

That's why my retirement was increased by 300 Lei (70€).

I have some other benefits.

And my retirement as an engineer.

I ended up as an engineer-manager.

I make about 2,700 lei

How much is it? 600 or 700€?

- With your increase? - Yes!

It's not that much...

Compared to a parliamentary without any education degree…

Who spends his time sleeping instead of making laws…

A Parliamentarian is worth 14,000€

Can you realize it?

What a difference!

That's enough for me.

I am spending only on food and nothing else.

Loulou used to have this corset

which was completely ripped.

Without her knowledge

I searched the house

and found 4 abandoned corsets

having belonged to my mother-in-law.

It was the elastic part that I needed

and I did find one in a very good shape.

I bought what else was missing,

such as the lace and other stuff like that.

I remade the whole corset like brand new.

She would wear it for 20 years.

Can you believe it?

I remade it that strong.

She was so happy!

I also learned how to use the sewing machine.

My wife and her mother were in awe.

I also made all the linens.

The seamstress would no longer set foot in the house!

She was in the small room watching TV by herself

and I went to ask her to come to bed.

She didn't want to disturb me.

She got up and tuned off the TV.

She stood up and was unable to walk.

She started laughing.

What's happening?

She started walking, made a few steps and fell down.

This is when her nightmare began.

She was obsessed with cancer.

She used to say that Chernobyl had touched her.

She felt that Chernobyl had touched her.

It's true that after Chernobyl,

she started having ongoing headaches.

She did go to the doctor, though.

She was given no treatment.

Had they done a brain MRI

they would have detected the tumor.

On this side.

They did tests.

They operated on her.

She had a hemorrhage.

The surgery had to be interrupted.

They stopped the hemorrhage, and stripped her head with bandages.

They discharged her.

From there, she survived until December 2nd.

She could neither speak

nor move anymore.

She was living in bed, on a drip.

She could neither eat,

nor swallow.

In the beginning, I used to feed her with a spoon

with mashed boiled eggs.

That worked for a couple of weeks.

After, she had to be fed by drip only.

She wasn't able to talk at all.

I was looking at her, she was looking at me.

I knew she was sad.

Her life was painful.

She was expecting the end.

On December 2nd,

at night at about 3am,

since her surgery she had not been able to utter a word

I felt she was moving and I woke up.

She said to me:

"Adios Muchachos!"

And she died.

You know what that means, don't you?

"Adios Muchachos!"

She did speak.

Her last words.

Farewell Licu…

You may fly out.

- Is he hanging around with you?

- Yes,

he is coming to eat here.

- Are you feeding him? - Yep!

He has his own family, you know.

I'm making croissants stuffed with feta cheese.

Sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Come I'll show you.

Here they are.

Come on, help yourself and taste them.

You don't turn the light on?

- It works without.

- You can film without light?

- I will show you.

Watching my life in a movie?

I could see myself,

but the others would have no idea who I am, would they?

If they only knew me, but there…

I'm a soul lost in nothingness.

- So, you have outlived all these times?

- I certainly have.

- Wait, I am setting up this tripod.

- I have not lived under the Communism

until I was 19, though.

- What has changed?

In your life?

Wait.

This must be a Romanian tripod.

One can see it.

- Why don't you fasten it at the base?

Secure the tilting!

- It won't work! - How come?

- Because it's Romanian…

- Just tighten the screw. That's it!

Okay, let me do it!