The most shocking reality of Ceausescu’s regime in Romania was discovery of thousands of children who were found locked away in some 600 notorious institutions. Who were these children? They were victims of Ceausescu’s policy against contraception. Romanian couples were forced to have more children and when they could not afford to raise them, they left infants in state care.

A whole generation was born and raised in appalling and shocking condition till they were rescued after fall of Ceausescu regime. Many international agencies stepped in to take care of these children. But there were thousands of them. In 1990 some 86,000 children were discovered in these institutions and figures went up to 96,000 later and shockingly even in 2005 there were some 80,000 of them. In between some 10,000 children were adopted worldwide.

At present officially there are no big orphanages in Romania. One of the conditions for joining EU was to put an end to these inhuman institutions. But where did these thousands of orphans go? Officials say some have found foster homes, some have left and become independent and some (most of them disabled) have been shifted to smaller better modern institutions. There are more than 2,000 street children in Bucharest alone according to Unicef figures. And these children are exposed to physical and sexual abuse. Infant mortality rate is also high in Romania.

Ceausescu’s regime has ended and Romania is officially a member of EU but future of Romanian abandoned children and orphans remains uncertain.

Via Vivid

Eastern Europe has many hidden gems that most people are not aware of. One such is the city of Bucharest that people have associated with homeless children and gypsies. Bucharest is an elegant and chic city that is modeled after Paris and was in fact known as the Paris of the East. This Romanian capital is as beautiful as a medieval European city can get and is choc-a block with restaurants, cafes and dormitories.

The city boasts of an amazing nightlife and beautiful architecture. It is blessed with a great climate year round, though temperatures can soar to 40 degrees Celsius during the summer. Bucharest is known for its beautiful people and its botanical garden is where the most pretty temperate flowers can be found.

Bucharest is well connected by air, train and road with other major European cities and you would never regret having visited this enchanting city. When you visit Bucharest, make sure you head off to the mountains in Transylvania where the legend of Dracula still is alive. In fact, Romania is where all vampires would love to live. If you are one, you should be in Romania!

For more Information: Visit Bucharest

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Jews all around Europe have been shocked at the vandalization of Jewish graves in Bucharest. Up to 200 graves in the Jewish cemetery have been vandalized and ruined and authorities speculate that many valuable monuments have been damaged in the cemetery. About 40,000 Jews are buried in this particular graveyard and many of them are holocaust victims too.

However, none of the graves that were vandalized belonged to the holocaust victims. The police have launched a thorough investigation and have tried to curb Anti-Semitic feelings among the Romanian youth who could be blamed for the recent anti social behavior. Presently, Romania has a very small Jewish population most of which is elderly.

The police are baffled as to why the Jewish graves were targeted and the authorities have been largely embarrassed and shocked. Jewish organizations worldwide have condemned and accused the Romanian authorities of not safeguarding Jewish interests in the country.

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Via: BBC