Doina Cornea

"What else happened between 1983 and 1987? Doina Cornea: I kept sending letters. What I forgot to tell you is that, after every single letter I sent, I had to pay a fine of 5.000 lei.... compared to the salary, you can imagine!... A fine for what? Doina Cornea: For the letter I sent to Radio Free Europe. Is that what it said: because of the letter? Doina Cornea: Yes, because I had addressed a radio station with a hostile attitude towards our country and order of things; this was the wording back then. But if I paid the fine on the spot, it was reduced to... Leontin Iuhas: 500 lei, if I remember correctly? Doina Cornea: Yes, I paid 500 lei. A quarter of my salary. And how many letters were there in total? Doina Cornea: There were... Ariadna Combes: Wait a minute, I think there were 13-14 before 1987, am I right?!!! Doina Cornea: Yes. Ariadna Combes: To be honest, I can't remember exactly. I knew them by heart, but I forgot them. So you received them? Ariadna Combes: Yes, I received them. And since they were manuscripts, I had to typewrite them for Radio Free Europe. After the situation increasingly deteriorated, my mother started using a magnifying glass, writing on sheets of paper that looked just like rolling paper for tobacco, which I would then have to decipher and typewrite, using a magnifying glass as well. I even received a note in a toothpaste, a small sheet of paper rolled together and wrapped in plastic, then tucked into the toothpaste. I had reached an agreement with the people working for Radio Free Europe, to warn me about the exact date when the letter would be read, so I could check what was going on with my mother after publication. But from 1986 on, it was basically very difficult for me to talk to my mother and Tin-Tin. Why? Ariadna Combes: Because the phone was mostly disconnected, the phone lines interrupted. They started interrupting them in November 1986. Definitely, practically in the summer of 1987; I remember talking to my mother-in-law, she kept asking me if I wasn't worried and urged me to call my mother back. I explained her I was already used to the situation, that calls were often interrupted and that I didn't worry, I knew they just wanted to harass us this way. This is how it happened that I didn't know anything about their arrest, the phone was disconnected, all communication interrupted. Back in November 1987 I couldn't even call our neighbor anymore, Miss Marioara Boilă, her phone was also disconnected."

"Doina Cornea: There were quite a lot of instances of harassment, but there was a really serious one. Not during the investigation, but... Doina Cornea: One yes, during an investigation I didn't mention anything about. At home? Usually, when foreigners came to Cluj, when there were visitors who wanted to see me, the regime would be more strict. Immediately, I didn't know why, how could I have known that... And all this while the police officer was standing at the gate. Doina Cornea: Yes. They kept a close watch on us, for several days. They wouldn't allow us to leave the house. Once, we weren't allowed outside for three days, we had no bread left. I pushed the gate and the police officer grabbed my hair, in the middle of the street, I was already out on the street, he forced and pushed me into the courtyard, I fell on my back, there, on the cement.... lying flat on the ground. When did this happen? Ariadna Combes: In Mai 1989, I remember I was in Brussels at that time. Doina Cornea: Stubborn as I was, I got up, lying in wait, because I would hear bus no. 46 passing by, going up the hill towards Observatorului Street: I had noticed that people on the bus would automatically turn their heads when passing by our house; you would see their heads turning in our direction. Ariadna Combes: One man even shouted: „Murder on the right”... (laughter). Doina Cornea: Then, when I thought the bus was going up the hill, I tried to re-open the gate. This time, the police officer grabbed my hand, forced me into the yard and knocked me down on the grass. He realized that knocking me down on the cement ground was too much! So he knocked me down on the grass and started kicking me with his booths, in the thighs. Then, I got up again and tried to get out, he pushed me once again, yelling: „I'll kill you!" I no longer felt any pain and told him: „Kill me, I don't care, you'll pay for this!” And this happened four times over all, with the police officer."