The Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes in Romania has organized the Summer Universit y of R âmnicu Sărat in the interval 24-31 August 2007. Râmnicu Sărat was chosen as location of this educational project, as the prison that functioned there was well-known for its extremely oppressive detainment regime. The former prison is to be turned into a Memorial of the victims of communism.
The target group of the project was represented by students attending the faculties of history, political science, sociology, journalism, letters and law from universities in Romania and Moldova.
The project aimed to help students acquire a better knowledge of the interval 1944-1989, and thus to make them reflect on the illegitimate and criminal nature of the communist regime in Romania. As the effects of this period are still present within Romanian society, a better knowledge of the recent past might determine a deeper understanding of present realities. The connection with the past was achieved, on one hand, by means of face-to-face dialogue with those who were victims and witnesses of the repressive communist system, and, on the other hand, by the presence of well-known lecturers, namely important public figures of post-communist Romania, foreign and Romanian historians specialized in studies on communism, among whom one may mention Dennis Deletant, Marius Oprea, Lucia Hossu-Longin, Dorin Dobrincu.
