What I Saw in the Romanian Revolution — IX. The 1-B’s

Part 4 of a multi-part series on the 1989 Romanian Revolution in Bucharest and the aftermath, including my experiences.

IX.

THE 1-B’s

Dictators do not act alone.

They’re empowered by a legion of loyalists, hand-picked and carefully groomed to carry out every order, no matter how barbaric.

Not everyone living inside Ceausescu’s Romania endured daily hardships.  The regime had the enthusiastic support of a horde of loyalists.  The most rabid supporters included half a million Securitate agents (the secret police) and their informers, plus several thousand high-ranking government officials.  The upper crust of society lived and prospered on the backs of ordinary Romanians.  The elite received perks unavailable to average citizens in exchange for their unwavering dedication.

Ceausescu loyalists could be identified in one of two ways.  First, most elites owned cars.  Private automobile ownership was somewhat rare in Romania at the time.  Most common citizens couldn’t afford a car and for those who had enough money to purchase one, newer models were scarce.  So, most Romanians commuted by subway or relied on other forms of public transportation.  But Ceausescu loyalists were typically penciled in at the top of very long waiting lists for Romanian cars — which included the Dacia, the Oltcit, and the Aro (jeep).

Ceausescu’s loyalists were easy to spot in central Bucharest.  Their car license plates usually started with a “1-B.”  A license plate starting with “1-B” followed by a low three-digit number was the mark of someone very important.  The lower the number, the most important the driver.  Ceausescu himself owned a Romanian Aro jeep, with license plate supreme:  1-B-111

Indeed, a late-model car with a 1-B license plate accompanied by a low number was an indication of one’s high social status.  And the 1-B’s could pretty much do as they pleased no matter what the situation.  They parked freely on the sidewalks.  They ran red lights without getting stopped for tickets.  They drove faster than other cars.  One set of traffic laws existed for average Romanians.  There was quite another for the 1-B’s.

NOTE:  The license plate shown in the photo above is from the 1980s.  However, it shows an “8-B” followed by four numbers.  This is a typical license plate from an ordinary car.  Since 1-B’s (and also 2-B’s) were rare and many loyalists were eager to rid themselves of any evidence tying them to the old Ceausescu regime, few 1-B plates remain today.  Several years ago, the Romanian Government adopted a new system of numbering license places.  All cars based in Bucharest now begin with the letter B and a common number of digits.

The 1-B’s were also assigned to the best residences in and around central Bucharest.  The highly desirable luxury apartments overlooking Bulevardul Magheru, Bucharest’s most lively street, were packed full of Securitate agents and Ceausescu’s most dedicated henchmen.  Unlike the other 1.5 million citizens of the capital — those who lived lives of maddening hardship beneath 25-watt light bulbs inside cramped apartments restricted to perhaps six hours of heat per day — Ceausescu loyalists enjoyed the comfort of warm, well-lit, clean buildings kept in good repair.  Most of these apartments were located within short walking distance of the city’s key buildings which including powerful government offices such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the omnipresent Communist Party Central Committee Building.

B-1’s did not include the Romanian Army.  In fact, Ceausescu mistrusted the Army.  He constantly feared a military coup.  Most soldiers weren’t even issued live ammunition.  Bullets and shells were kept under the lock and key of military commanders with unquestionable loyal to Ceausescu.  In fact, a bitter rivalry existed between the Army and Securitate, which would eventually clash during the revolution.

Nonetheless, there were a few elites brave enough to speak out.

In 1979, Constantin Pirvulescu (one of the founders of the Romanian Communist Party) took center stage in front of the 12th PCR Congress and essentially sacrificed everything — his political career and a comfortable life with all the perks — to speak out against Ceausescu.  For these actions, he was stripped of all power and placed under house arrest for his public outburst.

This rare video below shows an incredible moment of bravery and personal sacrifice.  Dissatisfied with Ceausescu’s “cult of personality” which had come to dominate Romania by this time, Pirvulescu wielded the microphone in front of several thousand colleagues and voiced his protest at the manner in which the General Secretary had been re-elected.

Watch this five-minute clip of the video, with English subtitles, which shows Pirvulescu’s great courage, which gets completely drowned out by a sea of chanting party servants and sycophants.  These are the 1-B’s.  It’s a disgusting spectacle, but also serves to remind us how important one lone voice can be in the fight for justice and freedom.

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COMING NEXT:  The day before the revolution

PREVIOUS CHAPTERS: 

Part 1 — I. A Dark Place   /   II. “Punch”   /   III. Paranoia   /   IV. Before Ceausescu   /   V. Arrival — Bucharest Otopeni Airport

Part 2 — VI. Non-Fraternization   /   VII.  Island Station

Part 3 — VIII.  The Lines