Page "History of Romania" Paragraph 73

Seduced by Ceauşescu's " Independent " foreign policy, Western leaders were slow to turn against a regime that, by the late 1970s, had become increasingly arbitrary, capricious and harsh.

Rapid economic growth fueled by foreign credits gradually gave way to wrenching austerity and severe political repression, which became increasingly draconian through the 1980s.

During the 1947 – 1962 period, many people were arbitrarily killed or imprisoned for political, economic or unknown reasons: detainees in prisons or camps, deported persons, persons under house arrest, and administrative detainees.

There were hundreds of thousands of abuses, deaths and incidents of torture against a large range of people, from political opponents to ordinary citizens.

Between 60, 000 and 80, 000 political prisoners were detained as psychiatric patients and treated in some of the most sadistic ways by doctors.

It is estimated that, in total, two million people were direct victims of Communist repression in Romania.