Conferences

On Sunday, February 2nd, 2020, from 11.00 am, at the NTB Black Box Hall, Marius Oprea will hold a conference on the topic In search of the lost people. The archeology of the victims of communism in Romania.

About the Conference
The conference presents, starting from the illustration of particular cases, the activity of searching and finding the remains of those killed without trial by the Securitate in brief executions, as well as of those who died after starvation and torture in the prisons and work camps of the communist regime. This pioneering activity, started by Marius Oprea and his team of archaeologists at the Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes in Romania, created by him in 2005, has led to the burial of over one hundred victims of the regime, some of whom have been returned to families, and others are still waiting for their identification, through DNA tests. Beyond the scientific character or the historical investigation, there is a profound human and Christian meaning, by finding the dead thrown into the common graves, where they were thrown unknowingly and without a cross, and their reburialaccording to ritual. In his lecture, Marius Oprea presents the most impressive moments of the 42 archaeological campaigns carried out during the last 14 years, to identify these people, our lost people, who rise from their graves to show us the true image of communism - the one of death. Marius Oprea

About Marius Oprea
Marius Oprea (b. 1964 in Târgoviște) studied history at the Bucharest University and is the author of a PhD thesis on the Role and Evolution of the Securitate (1948-1964). He was an advisor to Senator Constantin Ticu Dumitrescu, being involved in the elaboration of the SecuritateUncovering Law, and then he was part of the team of advisers of President Emil Constantinescu and Prime Minister Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, on political analysis issues, fighting against corruption and national security. He worked as a journalist for the Cuvântul magazine and was a correspondent for the Free Europe radio station in Bucharest. He created, in December 2005, the Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes, which he led until 2010 and where, at present, he works as the head of the Special Investigation Department.
He is the author of numerous articles on the history of the Securitate, but he began by publishing a history of the old Romanian books (Walking on Typography Street, 1996). His articles on the political police in Romania, published in the press, broadcast on the Free Europe radio station, included in the collections of studies and academic publications, were followed by the volume The Platitude of Evil. A History of the Securitate in Documents, 1949-1989 (Polirom, 2002), awarded by the Romanian Publishers Association as the best history book of the year. In the same year, at the same publishing house, he coordinated the volume of The Party's Securitate Members. The PCR Staff as Political Police and published (in collaboration with Stejărel Olaru) A Day That Cannot Be Forgotten. 15 November, Braşov. In 2006, he published at the Humanitas Publishing House the volume of essays Zorba and the Cathedral. 59 Stories from the Border, followed, in the same year, at Polirom Publishing House, by The Face of Death: a Dialogue with Vladimir Bukovsky about the Nature of Communism. In 2008, Humanitas Publishing House released under his signature Zahei's True Journey. V. Voiculescu and the Mystery of the Burning Pyre, and Polirom Publishing House, the monograph The Bastion of Cruelty. A History of Securitate(1948-1964). In 2009, the volume of stories Six Ways of Dying follows, and in 2012, in the National Journal, the True Face of Traian Basescu. He has written four poetry volumes, Trampoline Solo (1999, Paralela 45 Publishing House), America! America! (2008, the Cartea Românească Publishing House), Encounter with the Apostle and Recipe for Happiness (published in 2012 and 2015 at the Grinta Publishing House). He also published TheArab Mafia in Romania. From Ceaușescu to Iliescu (2016, Corint Publishing House), Heirs to the Securitate (2018, second editionrevised and enlarged, Polirom Publishing House) and the novels The Herd of the Silent Shepherd (2016, Polirom Publishing House) and TheUnmatched History of the Romanian Eastern Empire (2017, Polirom Publishing House).
He produced, together with Nicolae Mărgineanu, two documentary films, Execution and Four Ways of Dying, reflecting his concern for identifying the remains of those killed by the Security. He made himself known to the wide audience by the actions of unveiling the repressive communist apparatus and his work has been widely shown, the protagonist of the documentary Le chasseur from Securitate, directed by Mirel Bran and Jonas Mercier, and the book La tortura del silenzio. Storia di Marius Oprea, cacciatore dei criminali di regime, written by Guido Barella (2014, Edizioni San Paolo), published in translation in Spain and Romania (at Corint Publishing House).

Translated by Simona Nichiteanu