Romanian Communists in the French Resistance. Vladimir Tismăneanu in dialogue with Adrian Cioroianu (Event 04.06.2014)

Vladimir Tismăneanu in conversation with Adrian Cioroianu

On 4th of July 2014, the conference Romanian Communists in the French Resistance. Vladimir Tismăneanu in dialogue with Adrian Cioroianu, the second public event of Project &CO, was held at the Faculty of History, University of Bucharest.

Prof. Vladimir Tismăneanu (University of Maryland), himself the son of two underground Communists and Spanish Civil War fighters, led us through the complicated and fascinating world of the European anti-fascist resistance and of its Communist dimensions.

On this occasion, several topics critical to a better understanding of the history of Romanian and International Communism from the interwar period and the years of World War II were discussed: anti-fascism and Paris, the International dimension of Stalinism in the context of the 30s, the presence of Communists from Romania in France and in the International Brigades from the Spanish Civil War, year 1939 and the shock of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

The dialogue also addressed topics such as: the connections the French Communist Party (FCP) had with the refugees from across Europe, the connections FCP had with Moscow, the organization of the proto-resistance, the formation of the Manouchian Group, the the spontaneous anti-fascism and the attempts Communists made to control it.

Some prominent characters of the French Resistance (Olga Bancic, Cristina Luca, Mihail Florescu, Gheorghe Gaston Marin) were also recalled, together with their dreams, fears and disappointments, the romantic fever and Stalinist manipulations that fed their hopes.

Louis Aragon wrote the poem Strophes pour se souvenir, in the memory of the Manouchian Group, which inspired the song of Léo Ferré, L’Affiche rouge:

 

We also recommend Vladimir Tismăneanu’s Lumea secretă a nomenclaturii. Amintiri, dezvăluiri, portrete/ The secret world of nemenklatura: memories, revelations, portraits (Bucharest, Humanitas, 2012), comprising author’s thoughts on the world of  the underground Communist fighters of Romania.

 

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