Dinel Staicu was a police officer during the communist regime; in the current one he climbed to very prominent positions in business, which allowed him to support a very rare hobby: that of preserving the memory - and also exploiting it - of the communist past, and in particular that of the former Romanian dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu.
Last January 26, which was Ceausescuâs birth date, the dwellers of Craiova city, in southeastern Romania, were treated on Staicuâs local television station to 10-hour broadcast of nonstop Ceausescu-only documentaries.
Staicu promised at the time that on January 1, 2007, upon Romaniaâs accession to the European Union, his fellow citizens would be able to visit the museums of communism he would open at Podari and Stejari.
Staicu, the former policeman, went after 1989 to become the head of the SIF Oltenia regional investment fund and owner of the Universitatea Craiova soccer club, with business deals which elevated him on the radar screens of the anticorruption prosecutorâs office.
At Podari, which is three kilometers away from Craiova, a large banner welcomes you with "Welcome comrades!", and various quotes of Ceausescu accompany you along the road to a five-star hotel, called The Museum of the Socialist Republic of Romania, which cost 15 million dollars to complete.
Stejari is a motel a few kilometers away from Scornicesti, the village Ceausescu was born in. Staicu opened there a second museum for communism-time memorabilia in the house Ceausescu was supposed to stay in, when visiting the region, However, he never did stay there.
A hammer and sickle are solidly placed at the gates of the property, behind which a wide courtyard opens, with a splendid villa, several other smaller houses and a summer garden behind it, in which wonderful peacocks wander around.
The hammer and sickle are place
