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Article: A red's white elephant: in Ceausescu's palace, gigantism and heartache.(COMMUNISM)
- Article from:
- National Review
- Article date:
- June 6, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 National Review, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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THERE is no building in the world more philosophically instructive than the Palatul Parlamentului--formerly the Casa Poporului--in Bucharest. It is worth going all the way to Romania just to see it, for it has layers of meaning that provide an almost infinite scope for reflection. No one who has not seen it can grasp the full potential of human megalomania.
It is 15 years since the downfall and death of Ceausescu, the man who instigated the construction of this colossal edifice and its surrounding Centru Civic, destroying a wide swathe of old Bucharest in the process; and it is a testimony to the incompetence and venality of the local politicians ever since the ...