Romania opens exhibition honoring women persecuted under communism

The landmark exhibition “Enemies of the People”, dedicated to the women who were victims of communist repression in Romania, will open on Thursday at 1:00 PM at the National Museum of Romanian History.

According to a statement released Wednesday by the museum, the exhibition presents the portraits of 71 women who were detained during the communist period for political reasons and were labeled by the regime as “enemies of the people” for a wide range of motives: for having ties to the West and being accused of “high treason,” for being part of the anti-communist resistance in the mountains, or for opposing the confiscation of their land during the collectivization process. Some became victims simply because they were the mothers, wives, daughters, or sisters of individuals considered dangerous by the regime, CE Report quotes AGERPRES.

In addition to the 71 female victims, a special section titled “The Youngest Prisoners” presents several cases of little girls who experienced political detention during the communist era because they were born in prison—their mothers having been pregnant at the time of their arrest. The exhibition also highlights aspects of the prison system in women’s penitentiaries, using fragments from detention memoirs and objects made in prison.

Speakers at the event will include: Ovidiu Țentea, interim manager of the National Museum of Romanian History; Ana Blandiana, president of the Civic Academy Foundation – Memorial of the Victims of Communism and of the Resistance; Cornel Ilie, deputy director of the museum; Virginia Ion, curator of the exhibition; and Niculina Moica, president of the Association of Former Political Prisoners in Romania.

The exhibition “Enemies of the People”, a project of the Memorial of the Victims of Communism and of the Resistance, will be open for visits until February 2026, from Wednesday to Sunday, between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM.