Gruparea România Liberă — Free Romania Group, 1987–1989
The first Human-Rights and anti-communist group of Romanian refugees to flee from one country of the Eastern Bloc into another — and to publish the first Romanian-language samizdat behind the Iron Curtain.
„Speranța, credința, moralitatea, cultura și tradițiile unui popor nu au putut fi distruse niciodată.”
A group of Romanian refugees who turned exile into organised, peaceful resistance against the Ceaușescu dictatorship.
Founded in Timișoara and re-established in Budapest on 1 March 1988, Gruparea România Liberă helped tens of thousands of refugees, informed the world through Radio Free Europe and the Western press, and published the samizdat newspaper România Liberă. Its members acted with the calculated, collective discipline of the Polish, Czech and Hungarian oppositions of the time.
The full story →Timeline
Month by month, 1987–1990 — appeals, marches and press coverage.
Open → 02Photographs
Demonstrations, the Forum Hotel, the club and life in Romania.
Open → 03Samizdat
The România Liberă newspaper and the group's almanac.
Open → 04Documents
Open letters, petitions and human-rights correspondence.
Open →Chairmen of the group
Leadership passed between four men across the two most intense years.
