TE20 Migrant Mosaics

Fleeing Father

I had no idea that it was a political decision to let me correspond with foreigners.

My other pen pal was fromFrance. The Party allowed theWestern enemy to have a glimpse into our reality. To get a “healthy” image of it. And everyone should do what they can do to contribute to this. I wasn’t aware of my responsibility. Our PCR Block was the first apartment building on the Mureș. We children were always told that the Marosch, the Mureș, is the river that separates Transylvania from the Banat. Our city was also divided by the Mureș. Perhaps that had a reason. Maybe everything must have had a reason. A political one. Our region used to belong to the multiethnic state of Kakania. And today it is marked by borders. An area that borders with Hungary. Onlyashortdistance fromVoivodina, theSerbianBanat. A multicultural area with many nationalitäti conlocuitoare . A lively region with mixed blood. Shortly after our house was modernized, the residential MFA Blockwas built nextdoor, the Ministerul ForţelorArmate . Anarmy settlement. A great rivalry existed between us children from the PCRBlock and those from the MFA-Block. Power struggles. We waged wars. Who’s stronger, the Party or the army. Brotherhood was seldom possible. Only later did I understand that the Communists had come to power during the war with the help of the King and had replaced a military dictatorship. The military dictatorship of Marshall Antonescu. The King had called upon the patriotic duty of the 237