Down and Out in Bucharest

Always a saucy devil, Romania’s former Stalinist autocrat Nicolae Ceaușescu was a noisy advocate of boning. He figured that more Romanians meant more power and respect for the nation, so in 1966 he launched his anti-abortion and contraception campaign. He even forbade sex education, classifying textbooks on the subject as state secrets. Anyone with a brain (or who’s read Freakonomics) will tell you that this is a shitty plan. Infant mortality soared, huge families lived in excruciating poverty and thousands of unwanted kids were sent to orphanages.

Once Communism opted out of Eastern Europe a lot of these abandoned kids ended up on the streets. Today, 20,000 people are living outside of Romanian society, many of them the children or grandchildren of Ceaușescu’s forgotten kids.

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Foto: George Popescu (Poqe.com)

1 thought on “Down and Out in Bucharest”

  1. “Always a saucy devil, Romania’s former Stalinist autocrat Nicolae Ceaușescu was a noisy advocate of boning.” =))) I luv vice.com. They’re the real deal. Azi am vazut Guide to Belfast si Guide to Congo. Must watch!

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