Balcony from where Ceausescu delivered his speech, his office, Securitate cells toured by thousands

Thousands of people toured the former building of the Central Committee (CC) of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR) on Sunday, the current headquarters of the Interior Ministry (MAI), with people having access to spaces that were never open to the public - such as the arrest of the former Securitate, located in the basement of the CC, or the balcony from the first floor, where Nicolae Ceausescu delivered his last speech to the Romanians. Within the MAI also showcased were two exhibitions with reference documents and photos: "Documentary exhibition dedicated to the Revolution of December 1989" organised under the aegis of the National Archives and "The Revolution of December 1989 - 30 years" with images of the Photo Archive of AGERPRES National News Agency. "The road toward democracy and freedom on 22 December 1989," the name under which the open doors day at the MAI unfolded, took the visitors from the corridor of the entrance in the former CC, where documents of the communist period were showcased, to upstairs, where the photo exhibition could be seen, as well as the office of the former dictator. The people, many of them accompanied by children, could also tour the balcony from where Ceausescu delivered Romanians a speech 30 years ago, being then guided toward the inner courtyard, where there are several cars which the Militia used, as well as the limousine which Ceausescu used in his foreign visits. At the end, also toured were the cells in the basement of the former CC, which functioned as an arrest of the Securitate between 1950 and 1958. Visitors could also see the solitary confinement cells, in which, at that time, a person had only room to stand and face the solid metal door, no other position of the body being possible. The visitors also noticed, some of them with emotions, the bullets traces in several places, both within the building and the inner courtyard, where intense gunfight took place between the Securitate units that were faithful to Ceausescu and revolutionaries and the Army - which turned over to people's side. According to the MAI data, the flow of visitors was almost 600 persons per hour, with the doors of the institution being opened between 12:00hrs and 16:00hrs. Among the first to enter the MAI headquarters were several revolutionaries who relived the events which happened 30 years ago. "We will never forget, until we die, what happened here. Many truths are unknown, many are not said, perhaps some people are afraid. And we are very, very nervous, you cannot imagine, especially us, who stood in the front row, at the balcony and in 1 and 2 cabinets. When we entered there were only gold doilies, there were only exotic plants, an extraordinary luxury, a luxury we could only see in movies. And after the Ceausescu spouses fled, the second and third day we were afraid because we basically didn't know how we got here, in our madness. We entered just like that, out of inertia, no one was prepared to participate in such an event," said Ioan Andries, one of the revolutionaries who entered the CC 30 years ago. Together with Romania's Government, the Greeks for Democracy Association and the 21 December Association, at 18:00hrs, an event of light and color will be organised in front of the former CC headquarters, where some unique images of the 1945-1989 period will be projected, as well as images from the Romanian Revolution of December 1989. Furthermore, a solemn call will be made by uttering the names of the Martyr Heroes fallen in December 1989. AGERPRES (RO - author: Daniel Alexandru Florea, editor: Catalina Matei; EN - editor: Rodica State)