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Adrian Paunescu
At a time when cultural events were rare and closely monitored by the communist party, Paunescu's Flacara served as a launch pad for many young folk singers and a magnet for music lovers.
The travelling shows he put on, featuring patriotic and nationalistic poems but also slightly "subversive" songs, used to draw large audiences thrilled to get away from the daily communist propaganda.
But in June 1985, a stampede broke out during one of his shows, killing five.
Following this deadly incident the Flacara shows were banned, while Paunescu fell in disgrace with the regime.
A few months later, he wrote a long letter, accompanied by a 14-stanza poem dedicated to the "beloved comrade" Nicolae Ceausescu, a "genius, sublime hero and the country's sole salvation", to complain about the "persecutions" he was subject to. But he nevertheless stressed he would remain Ceausescu's "loyal soldier to the end."
"I will not take back anything I wrote. He (Ceausescu) had a major contribution to the country's history," Paunescu said in an interview last year.
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The travelling shows he put on, featuring patriotic and nationalistic poems but also slightly "subversive" songs, used to draw large audiences thrilled to get away from the daily communist propaganda.
But in June 1985, a stampede broke out during one of his shows, killing five.
Following this deadly incident the Flacara shows were banned, while Paunescu fell in disgrace with the regime.
A few months later, he wrote a long letter, accompanied by a 14-stanza poem dedicated to the "beloved comrade" Nicolae Ceausescu, a "genius, sublime hero and the country's sole salvation", to complain about the "persecutions" he was subject to. But he nevertheless stressed he would remain Ceausescu's "loyal soldier to the end."
"I will not take back anything I wrote. He (Ceausescu) had a major contribution to the country's history," Paunescu said in an interview last year.
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