Scînteia Tineretului ("Youth Spark"; originally spelled Scânteia Tineretului) was a central organ of the Union of Communist Youth (UTC), which was itself a youth branch of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR). Appearing daily between November 1944 and December 1989, it served as a companion to the main PCR newspaper, Scînteia. It was founded during the last stages of World War II, in what was then still a Kingdom of Romania. Its publication was facilitated by the August 1944 Coup, which ended Romania's alliance with the Axis powers, brought her under the influence of the Soviet Union, and legalized communist organizations. Scînteia Tineretului was founded by journalist Mihnea Gheorghiu, and, during its first months, hosted numerous political articles by the future PCR leader, Nicolae Ceaușescu. The newspaper played a part in the country's re-foundation as a people's (later socialist) republic, becoming a vehicle for diffusing the tenets of Marxism-Leninism and socialist patriotism into the masses. Into the 1950s, it mounted campaigns against real or perceived "class enemies" among the youth, and openly celebrated victories against the anti-communist resistance.
Around the scheduled onset of de-Stalinization, Scînteia Tineretuluis staff was populated by liberals or generic nonconformists—examples include Teodor Mazilu, Fănuș Neagu, Iosif Sava, and Radu Cosașu. The latter pushed the boundaries by openly questioning the role of communist censorship. The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was received with alarm by the regime, including at Scînteia Tineretului; in its wake, Cosașu was sacked, and the editorial line was more strictly reinforced by a new editor, Dumitru Popescu-Dumnezeu. While censorship was overall reaffirmed, the PCR renounced the dogmas of Socialist Realism. This move gave young writers more creative freedom, which the newspaper proceeded to explore during the early 1960s. Ceaușescu's arrival to power in 1965 further enhanced this liberalization, which went as far as to formally renounce censorship (though editors were still expected to police content for any ideological transgressions). Embracing market socialism, the regime tried but largely failed to make Scînteia Tineretului genuinely popular with the youth, especially in rural areas; the lasting result of such policies was that the newspaper diversified its content and earned respect inside the writers' community.
The early 1980s brought Scînteia Tineretului under the influence of deputy editor Ion Cristoiu and reporter Cornel Nistorescu. While the latter established new criteria for authenticity in journalism, Cristoiu focused on encouraging young literature, setting up a literary salon. At this stage, Scînteia Tineretului acquired its own cultural supplement, the SLAST, which alternated between honoring the regime's new national-communist ideology and hosting outsiders from the Optzeciști generation. The PCR and UTC intervened more directly to ensure that Scînteia Tineretului was taking part in Ceaușescu's personality cult, thus pushing contributors to adopt a standardized wooden language for much of the content. During the Romanian Revolution in December 1989, the newspaper hosted a cryptic message that fueled conspiracy theories; it did not survive the fall of the regime, but was immediately replaced by a non-communist newspaper, Tineretul Liber (itself closed down in 1995).
History Early communism Scînteia Tineretului appeared on 5 November 1944Betea et al., p. 288; Wächter & I. T., p. 117 in Bucharest, the Romanian Kingdom's capital city. Its founder and inaugural manager was communist writer Mihnea Gheorghiu, who structured the editorial staff around his former colleagues at Cadran magazine (which had appeared in 1939 as a front for the then-illegal PCR).Matei Alexandrescu, "Un interviu cu scriitorul Mihnea Gheorghiu", in Ramuri, Vol. VII, Issue 3, March 1970, p. 15 Scînteia Tineretuluis inauguration came just weeks after the August Coup, which had toppled the repressive dictatorship of Ion Antonescu and had restored multiparty democracy; it had also legalized the PCR and the UTC, and had opened the country to a Soviet occupation. As argued by literary historian Ana Selejan, its appearance was integrated with an unusual climate of "journalistic effervescence", which saw at least seven "literary magazines and newspapers", of various political hues, competing for the same readership.Selejan, p. 61 Scînteia Tineretuluis public stance during the first weeks and months of its existence was set by Nicolae Ceaușescu, who would emerge 20 years later as the PCR's General Secretary. In November 1944, he was writing that: "there should be no measure taken in respect to the youth without a prior consultation of its democratic organizations".Adrian Vasilescu, "Tinerii în forumurile democrației socialiste", in Scînteia Tineretului, 29 December 1979, p. 3
The paper's initial focus, aired by editorial pieces, was on uncovering alleged fascist sleeper cells, comprising former members of the Iron Guard. Many of these articles were authored by Ceaușescu.Betea et al., pp. 288–289, 299–300 Another UTC activist who took up this task was G. Brătescu, the future medical historian, who in December 1944 contributed an article denouncing the radicalization of Romanian nationalism since the 1920s. As Brătescu recalled, he was asked to remove all references to class conflict, since the PCR was toning down its Marxism for public consumption.G. Brătescu, "Ginerele Anei Pauker vorbește. Ce-a fost să fie (asta e părerea lui Ghiță Brătescu)", in Minimum, Vol. XVIII, Issue 205, April 2004, p. 44 For the remainder of World War II, Romania fought against Nazi Germany, alongside the Allied Powers. Scînteia Tineretului supported the national effort, breaking stories about workers who took extra shifts so that they could complete production for the front.P. Nicoară, "Din cronica victoriei. La chemarea P.C.R.: 'Totul pentru front, totul pentru victorie!' tineretul a răspuns prin fapte pline de eroism", in Scînteia Tineretului, 9 May 1965, p. 3
The newspaper also hosted articles and poetry celebrating iconic events in the history of socialism, as well as news about communism abroad. On 24 December 1944, it featured Gheorghiu's own coverage of proletarian literature in the United States, with translated samples from Alfred Hayes, Joe Hill, Langston Hughes, Alfred Kreymbourg, and Kenneth Patchen."Revista revistelor. Poezia americană tânără", in Revista Fundațiilor Regale, Vol. XII, Issue 1, January 1945, p. 222 On May Day 1945, its special issue included a ballad by Ion Caraion, as well as poetry and prose by Gheorghiu, Lucian Boz, Vladimir Cavarnali, Virgil Ierunca, Miron Radu Paraschivescu, and Ion Sofia Manolescu."Revista Revistelor. 1 Mai 1945", in Revista Fundațiilor Regale, Vol. XII, Issue 5, May 1945, p. 458
At exactly the same time, Scînteia Tineretului hosted a series of literary-themed lampoons that announced the main vectors of communist censorship. These constituted attacks on the Romanian Surrealist underground, as well as on the liberal-minded Sibiu Literary Circle.Wächter & I. T., p. 119. See also Selejan, p. 64 Gheorghiu tolerated especially harsh mockery of the latter, denouncing it as a venue for escapism; the circle's own publication, Revista Cercului Literar, responded by an article by Ștefan Augustin Doinaș, who declared himself bemused by Scînteia Tineretuluis take on literature.Selejan, p. 64 The newspaper soon lost Caraion, who handed in his resignation and became a noted anti-communist. According to Caraion's own account, he was disgusted into the opposition movement when, as a Scînteia Tineretului correspondent, he attended a New Year's Eve party hosted by the PCR Secretary, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej; the latter humiliated his guests by urinating over their buffet while they stood applauding.Mircea Handoca, "Istorie literară. Mircea Eliade și Cenzura", in România Literară, Issue 29/2007, p. 19
Conventional Stalinism Scînteia Tineretului soon became highly politicized, described in a 2007 dictionary of Romanian literature as of an "obvious propaganda-focused [and] normative orientation"; according to this overview, it was especially "aggressive" in the late 1940s, when it was mainly dedicated to imposing the ideological monopoly of Marxism-Leninism (and, implicitly, also of Stalinism).Wächter & I. T., p. 118 One of over fifty periodicals directly supervised by the PCR's Agitprop Section,Șercan, p. 83 it gave enthusiastic coverage to events such as PCR's takeover of government in 1945, the proclamation of a Romanian People's Republic on the last day of 1947, and the creation of a communized Writers' Union in March 1949. In May 1949, it hosted a pseudonymous article denouncing several university students, including Nicolae Tzone and Dinu Zamfirescu, of "sabotaging" the UTC's efforts. They were consequently expelled, and in some cases prosecuted and imprisoned.Liana Cojocaru, "Comuniștii l-au condamnat la moarte, Dumnezeu l-a salvat", in Cotidianul, 13 June 1996, p. 4
Scînteia Tineretuluis calls for containing "class enemies" became explicit, as for instance in January 1951, just ahead of the Winter Universiade in Poiana Stalin.Alina Ilinca, "Politica de control a regimului comunist asupra spațiului public. Studiu de caz: Jocurile Mondiale Universitare de Iarnă de la Poiana Stalin (28 ianuarie–8 februarie 1951)", in Caietele CNSAS, Vol. I, Issue 2, 2008, p. 245 The following year, the regime captured Oana Orlea, a young member of the anti-communist underground. The news was welcomed by Scînteia Tineretului with an unsigned piece that maligned Orlea for her aristocratic origins; in 2006, Orlea herself controversially suggested that the author of the piece was Radu Cosașu.Mirela Corlățan, "Mihăieș cere excluderea lui Cosașu din USR", in Cotidianul, 5 December 2006, p. 4 In 1953, the newspaper similarly celebrated the capture and sentencing of a National Committee of Worker and Student Youth, which had circulated anti-communist leaflets during the Bucharest Festival of Youth and Students. It emphasized the links that existed between this opposition group and the Iron Guard, and commended Securitate agents for handling the criminal pursuit with "competence and devotion".Silviu Dragomir, "Spărgătorii cortinei de fier", in Cotidianul, 25 September 1992, p. 2
Throughout the 1950s and into the early '60s, Scînteia Tineretului continued to put out official communiques by the PCR (which was styled "Romanian Workers' Party", or PMR), while also hosting conformist opinion pieces and works in the reportage genre, meant to illustrate the success of communist policies. In early 1952, its editorial staff, alongside those of Scînteia and Romániai Magyar Szó, had to take study sessions in the Soviet Union, and worked directly with the Soviet print media institutions.Șercan, p. 68 Romániai Magyar Szó, which was put out for the Hungarian Romanian community (and was soon after rebranded as Előre) shared office space in Scînteia Palace, northern Bucharest. Their staffs bonded with each other in November 1953, upon listening to the "Match of the Century"—in which a "Golden Team" representing Socialist Hungary in football soundly defeated England.Radu Cosașu, "Din vieața unui extremist de centru. Expirată sau nu, amintirea unui fotbalist", in Dilema Veche, Vol. III, Issue 150, December 2006, p. 16