Vasile Paraschiv (1928-2011)
Vasile Paraschiv (1928-2011)
Author(s): Ana-Maria CătănuşSubject(s): History, Recent History (1900 till today), Special Historiographies:, WW II and following years (1939 - 1949), Post-War period (1950 - 1989), Present Times (2010 - today), History of Communism
Published by: Institutul National pentru Studiul Totalitarismului
Keywords: Vasile Paraschiv, Nicolae Ceaușescu; free trade unions; political abuse of psychiatry; political repression;
Summary/Abstract: Vasile Paraschiv was a symbol of the struggle for free trade unions in Romania. A member of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR) since 1946, Paraschiv resigned from the Party in 1968, disillusioned by the growing gap between its official rhetoric and its practical implementation. From that moment onward, he devoted himself to the fight for trade union freedom, producing thousands of pages of petitions, memoranda, and reports addressed to Party and state authorities, including President Nicolae Ceaușescu. Between 1969 and 1989, Paraschiv was repeatedly arrested, abducted, tortured, and forcibly confined to psychiatric hospitals. While in France in 1978, he testified about the communist regime's use of psychiatry as an instrument of political repression. Following the 1989 Revolution, he continued his efforts to preserve the memory of anti-communist resistance and to bring to justice those responsible for political abuses.
Journal: Arhivele Totalitarismului
- Issue Year: XXXIV/2026
- Issue No: 1-2
- Page Range: 261-269
- Page Count: 9
- Language: Romanian
- Content File-PDF
