Enemy of the People, Unmasked

The newsreel story included here presents – similarly to the one selected from newsreel 28/1952 – the process of so-called ‘unmasking’ a chiabur (Romanian for ‘kulak’), namely Vasile Bourceanu from the Berezeni commune (Bârlad region), who sabotaged the quota collection process by handing over only part of the quota he owed the state. The quota system, by which the peasants were obliged to hand in part of the produce of their households, had been introduced to compensate for the lack of food in urban areas and to diminish the wealth of the richer peasants). The goods hidden by Bourceanu are filmed as they are discovered in his yard; the entire process of uncovering them takes place in the presence of a soldier who later accompanies the cart with confiscated goods and a group of villagers who head to the place of the ‘unmasking’. A short segment follows with the public trial of the chiabur, accused by several villagers for aggressions committed against them. In the spirit of the era, the monologues of those filmed (and presented with their full names, possibly to increase the credibility of the testimonies), are incorporated into the film’s commentary.

The difference between this case and the one of the two chiaburi exposed in newsreel 28/1952 is that here there has been a more recent effort to follow up on the case presented here. In 2014, broadcaster Digi24 published a report which included interviews with several of Bourceanu’s children and with villagers from Berezeni, suggesting that the denunciation of Bourceanu, a wealthy peasant, as a chiabur was a consequence of his refusal to join the collective agricultural holding that had recently been established in the village. Moreover, the so-called “chiaburization” of wealthy peasants – that is, their listing in official documents as chiaburi – was a frequent practice in the era to put a stop to their resistance to collectivization.

According to the testimonies of those interviewed, the trial held at the village hall was put together with the help of several villagers. It resulted in a sentence at the Poarta-Albă Prison  for Bourceanu and, later on, in two years and a half of forced labor at the Danube-Black Sea Canal. His repeated refusal to sign-up to the GAC ultimately brought him a prosecution by the Securitate and the confiscation of his wealth. Vasile Bourceanu died in 1995 at the age of 92, having seen both the rise and fall of the communist regime; his son still owns the wooden barrel that appears in the film.

Here is a story that reminds us of the need to contextualize these newsreel stories through oral history interviews and archival documents, and to avoid prioritizing one source at the expense of others. When it comes to sensitive historical contexts such as this one, in many cases, the documents and interviews, respectively, may support dramatically different narratives. (AB)