With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

Nicolae Ceausescu exhumed 'wearing his black winter coat'

The remains of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena were exhumed more than two decades after their execution in an attempt to quash conspiracy theories surrounding their death.

But relatives of the late and hated couple have repeatedly questioned whether the two bodies buried in the Ghencea cemetery in Bucharest, the capital of Romania, are really those of the Ceausescus, suspecting they were secretly buried elsewhere.

Die-hard supporters have also questioned whether the Stalinist dictator was really shot at all, floating vivid conspiracy theories that a doppelganger may have taken his place at the last minute allowing the couple to flee.

There is no proof for such theories but nostalgia for a man who ruled Romania with an iron fist for almost a quarter of a century from 1965 to 1989 is strong among older people, and many firmly believe he may have cheated death.

A DNA test should now settle the matter once and for all and is widely expected to confirm that the two bodies in the cemetery really are those of the Ceausescus. It could be weeks if not months, however, before the results are known....

Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)