Biography Mihail Roller

1 biography

1.1 life, education , underground activity
1.2 rise power
1.3 program
1.4 istoria r.p.r.
1.5 documentary, writing , enforcement activities
1.6 impact on archaeology
1.7 fall grace
1.8 death , legacy

biography
early life, education , underground activity

roller born in buhuși, commune in neamț county, jewish family; father functionary. boy completed secondary education in bacău, , became sympathizer of far left cause. date of affiliation banned romanian communist party (pcdr), later workers party (pmr), remains disputed. formerly communist writer mihai stoian gives 1926, noting coincided strike action in buhuși. other sources suggest joined in 1931. historian lucian boia writes roller, other communist men of generation, not have been card-carrying member @ stage, since have formed material proof of conspiratorial activity. more likely, roller inducted through verbal statement.

a student @ berlin institute of technology , paristech between 1925 , 1931, roller joined communist party of germany in 1926 , french communist party in 1928, working on publications. professionally, qualified road , highway superintendent.

after returning country in 1931, made editor of pcdr s main gazette, scînteia. later noted researcher victor frunză, pcdr s clandestine nature , inner struggles make impossible know sure in charge of scînteia moment in time. frunză believes roller 1 of young men working under senior activist ana pauker; others răutu, chișinevschi, vasile luca, gheorghe stoica, sorin toma, gheorghe vasilichi , Ștefan voicu. fellow communist, belu zilber, later noted roller designated pcdr historian, , promised official post in event of communist takeover. such historiographic ambitions prompt historian adrian cioroianu call roller fantasizer in field. according political scientist vladimir tismăneanu, roller 1 of jewish , bessarabian déclassés gained top pcdr positions in chișinevschi–răutu faction, , in fact staunch anti-intellectual.

roller instructor central committee , served secretary lower danube committee in galați area. arrested in 1933, 1934 , 1938, although never sentenced due lack of evidence. known engineer roller or rolea in files of kingdom of romania s siguranța secret police, first attracted authorities attention following discovery of secret printing press in national capital bucharest. according pcdr documents, between arrests roller negotiated popular front alliances other socialist groups: in 1934, 1 of several antifascist committee members carried out fusion talks unitary socialist party (psu) of constantin popovici. roller, supervised creation of workers antifascist sections in bucharest in september 1934, mentioned 1 of pcdr , psu activists signed formal protest against numerous abusive , illegal acts perpetrated organs of repression . works of time included political articles such fascismul și baza sa socială ( fascism , social basis ).

a siguranța note of may 1937 mentions publication of first standalone brochure, titled din istoria drepturilor omului ( history of rights of man ) , prefaced philosopher constantin rădulescu-motru. largely posthumous homage activist constantin costa-foru. police mentioned being sold in bookstores , distributors of communist publications, , believed partly financed city s baptist community, whom chapter dedicated. brochure, found police contain extremist passages, in view being purchased persons suspected of communism . once found had not been approved state censorship apparatus, banned , copies on sale ordered confiscated. note october indicates roller planning new work 1920 general strike, financed party. same year, issued concise tract, contribuție la istoria socială româniei ( contribution social history of romania ).

in 1938, roller spent brief term @ jilava prison. in autobiography, sorin toma notes conditions there not bad @ doftana, 26 prisoners given 2 buckets per day of drinking water , 2 use chamber pots. roller, suffering chronic disease, drain 1 of buckets himself , fill other. in 1940, roller left bessarabia after former province of romania had been occupied soviets. drawn pcdr group in moscow, worked under ana pauker. during world war ii, attended history faculty of moscow state university.

little known roller s activity in 1944, when change of fortunes on eastern front signaled soviet victory on axis powers. reputedly, stopped paying pcdr membership fee, may indicate busy party work, , prepared career in communized romania.

rise power

back in bucharest in autumn 1944 following king michael coup, roller, using soviet ideological training advantage, joined party s propaganda structures, in 1945 becoming deputy head of science , education @ central committee s agitprop directorate, led leonte răutu, , remaining in post until 1955. team comprising roller, răutu, chișinevschi, toma, nicolae moraru , ofelia manole in control of entire directorate until 1953, , helped reconfigure romanian culture in conformity zhdanov doctrine. according tismăneanu, roller had become scribe of romanian communism, 1 of several fanatics , dilettantes pushed through pcdr promotions.

mihail roller signaled return romanian historiography 1945 essay pagini ignorate din istoria româniei moderne ( pages ignored history of modern romania ). announced communist effort reinterpret history had gained momentum: outlook of dialectical , historical materialism arms basic principles of scientific historical research. roller went on state capitalist historians had turned history occult science, since in interest of imperialism abroad, , of exploiting classes within, history of people , struggles become public. process, proposed, reversible.

however, political propaganda still roller s main task @ stage; instance, authored series of articles in scînteia meant combat national peasants party prior 1946 election. editorials in communist press made successive returns realm of marxist-leninist historiography. @ contemporanul, outlined suggestions changing chronology of romanian history, , reinterpreted seminal events, such 1859 union of romania, through marxist lens. other such texts helped enshrine myth of illegalists (clandestine communists of 1930s , 40s) freedom fighters.

also then, frunză notes, roller took part in semi-compulsory russification campaign, launching agitprop slogan să învățăm limba lui lenin și stalin! ( let s learn language of lenin , stalin! ). pro-soviet enterprise editura cartea rusă published tract pedagogia în urss ( pedagogy in ussr ), recommending imitation of soviet schooling.

by summer of 1947, roller s other party work involved exercising direct communist control on left-wing student movement (the democratic university front) , instigating purge of reactionary professors. reputedly, roller responsible refusal accept gift of constantin brâncuși s modernist sculptures, depriving romanian state of major art collection. made controversial contribution field of communist censorship, joining chișinevschi in task of supervising romanian cinema.

in november 1948, following establishment of communist regime, elected romanian academy subsequent purge of large number of members. roller part of wave of new academicians, of whom of peripheral importance in fields staunch adherents of communism , ready act ideological enforcers. elected academy s vice president (seconding traian săvulescu), headed section history, philosophy, economics , law 1949 1955. roller believed academy should shift former position of feudal caste, closed circle, isolated masses , people s needs living , active factor in development of our science , culture . moreover, exhorted members, regardless of specialty, apply marxist-leninist teaching on society , development, proletarian revolutions, building of socialism , victory of communism. when săvulescu suggested academy publications should go uncensored, roller intervened , reimposed control , noting: here supervise , cut out bits catch eye. more traditionalist members of communist academic establishment irritated roller s interventions. scholar mihai ralea allegedly called him incompetent, evil rube .

early program

reviewing impact of such directives, lucian boia calls roller little dictator of romanian historiography, unchallenged after earthquake of 1948 had invented romanian marxist tradition. 1948 1955, roller professor chairman of romanian history department @ political military academy. in 1948, published own synthesis on revolutions of 1848 among romanians: anul revoluționar 1848 ( 1848, revolutionary year ). historical period main focus of articles , exposes, 1950s. roller historical reviewer propaganda film retelling 1848 events, geo bogza screenwriter.

following 1948 election, roller became member of great national assembly. in april 1949, , răutu delegates congress of advocates of peace under mihail sadoveanu (who reputedly eclipsed them both). year, roller rose head agitprop section s education committee. body charged writing school textbooks use throughout educational system, of them translated russian. under direct tutelage, primary school pupils began learning new teachers of working class (marx, engels, lenin , stalin), while russian-language education began in 4th grade , continued through third year of university.

as means of solidifying control on romanian historiography, roller promoted supporters @ academy s history institutes, bucharest branch, headed 1953 victor cheresteșiu , deputy aurel roman. himself supported number of young researchers whom had promoted , sent study in soviet union. focused keenly on introducing ideology higher education , party control on universities, , general duties included supervision on science whole, not history. functions , execution of party orders meant roller controlled historiography produced between 1948 , 1955. words indicated limits within historians practice craft. in view of historian liviu pleșa, roller s activities sought uproot traditional values romanian mindset , replace them new regime s propagandistic themes.

the roller directives infamous emphasizing supposed grandeur of soviet union under stalin, praising tsarist russia , slavic peoples. other ideas emphasized included condemnation of other foreigners, particularly westerners, starting ancient rome—the french, italian , american libraries shut down, patrons arrested; condemnation of formerly dominant boyars ( traitors ottomans) , bourgeoisie ( cosmopolitan , serving imperialist capitalists ); , minimization of role played historic romanian figures. described traditionalist historians romania s war of national unity, world war treated roller , other marxist-leninists imperialist war . romania s participation therefore imperialist action , occupation of bessarabia , intervention in hungary.

the official view of romanian history these ideas represented developed agitprop activists , pmr s own history institute, later becoming dogma when approved party plenaries , congresses. authoritative texts included writings of stalin, short course history of soviet communist party, decisions of pmr s central committee , writings , speeches of gheorghiu-dej. in years of regime, scholars imbued work ideological tint quoting stalin or, lesser degree, lenin. taking cue 1946 speech andrei zhdanov, răutu , roller sought replace bourgeois-reactionary , anti-romanian old historiography dialectical materialism; latter warned failure write new history have left in hands of class enemy ideological weapon against working class .

istoria r.p.r.

his history textbook, first marxist synthesis of romanian history, appeared in 1947, in 1 edition advanced pupils , younger ones. portrayed country s history through lens of marxist stages of history: primitive communism, slavery, feudalism, capitalism , socialism, advancing while through class struggle. called istoria româniei ( history of romania ) later istoria r.p.r. ( history of r[omanian] p[eople s] r[epublic] ), appeared between 1947 , 1956 , used until 1961–1962 school year. appearing ( in record time , according mihai stoian), not written scratch roller , collaborators, rather used documents pcr s period of illegality, theses adopted fifth party congress held near moscow in 1931, criticized 1859 union, 1918 union, constitutional government, democratic reforms, monarchy, parliamentarism, activity of historic parties leaders , foreign policy, these criticisms entering textbook.

istoria r.p.r. earned author romanian state prize 1949, while agitprop presented huge success. claims (instantly sold-out editions, millions of copies in circulation) in fact irrelevant, there no actual competition in field. history textbook allowed in schools, has been described Șerban papacostea vastest work of political mystification of romania s past , making roller symbol of effort adapt romanian past imperatives of soviet occupation , internationalist regime imposed on country. boia notes that, after adopting acronym in title, istoria... overturned logic of previous historiographic discourse, national idea internationalist spirit . stoian additionally suggests istoria... failure literary point of view. written in wooden tongue , phrases have taste of sud .

the textbook s political ideas became historiographic theses , turned requirements official history writing of period. class struggle presented driving force of history, social conflicts taken out of context , exaggerated in importance. special case ancient history chapter, on roman dacia. there, commentators note, roller veers pseudohistory, creating narrative social revolts among dacians, none of occurred. historic figures relegated exploitative classes, suppression of these classes dictatorship of proletariat being justified centuries of misdeeds. soviet union lavished praise, contributions of slavs in romanian history being highlighted, migratory period medieval period, war of independence , present. origin of romanians narrated differently before: roller himself concluded influence of slavic polities—danube bulgaria, kievan rus , halych—was fundamental in shaping lives of romanians. classical western values attacked, more violently in later editions cold war deepened.

the iconography of national awakening consciously modified. michael brave, depicted national unifier, presented tool of holy roman emperor rudolf ii. transylvanian school renamed latinist school , leaders accused of hiding slavic , russian influence on romanians , of promoting chauvinism. 1848 rebellions, , in particular successful wallachian revolution, described precursors of marxism-leninism. of leaders, nicolae bălcescu appreciated combating feudalism , siding tsarist russia; @ other end, avram iancu chided collaborating austrian empire. roller s views of bălcescu entirely positive, , developed communist personality cult: counterfactually, roller described bălcescu s left-liberalism highly advanced form of utopian socialism , proto-marxism. 1859 union of principalities benefited bourgeoisie expanding market products, , favored class only, rather masses , nation whole. alexandru ioan cuza, ruled on unified state, criticized hesitant reformer.

the creation of greater romania in 1918 viewed, regards absorption of bessarabia, imperialist intervention against socialist revolution in russia . likewise, union of transylvania, intervention against revolution in hungary . modern era considered have begun not union of 1918 great october socialist revolution of 1917; paleolithic became wild man , neolithic, barbarism . communist strikes , demonstrations during interwar period detailed , blown out of proportion, 1917–1948 period viewed through lens of pcdr history. official history laicized de-emphasizing role of romanian orthodox church. recent history presented in negative light political parties, monarchy (according roller, reactionary exemplar of political class , greatest owner of latifundia ), democratic regime , institutions. interwar chapter headlined increase in romania s enslavement american, english , french imperialism .

in way, class struggle , repression against upper classes legitimized: if latter had stood against masses centuries, taking away properties through nationalization , incarcerating them seemed just. events near end of world war ii depicted follows: king michael coup liberation soviet army defending country imperialists; northern transylvania restored soviets; sovroms aided in country s economic recovery; clauses favorable romania in paris peace treaties due soviets, while punitive ones originated imperialists. largely reliant on fabricated , backdated documents, political history sections justified pcdr/pmr repression of enemies, including right-wing social democrats , zionists.

criticism romanian , soviet historians, acting on instructions kremlin, found text insufficiently marxist-leninist. in 1950, 1 soviet took issue way transylvanian school presented, considering latinist orientation made vassal of papacy , charging chauvinism against slavs , hungarians. soviet delegation visited romania in 1949 ended criticizing number of elements in roller s text.

documentary, writing , enforcement activities

at roller s initiative, vast number of historic documents published. however, these selected conform party s vision, particularly in volumes on war of independence , on 1907 romanian peasants revolt. first, documents casting russia in unfavorable light removed, while second, documents not advancing regime s desire show savage repression of bourgeois-landowning governments not published. other collections doctored. work on volume dealing peasants revolt, roller again awarded state prize, first class, in 1951. pleșa give credit roller ordering publication of documents country s medieval period, missing print in entirety, , of index hurmuzachi collection had become virtually unusable. although professional historians worked on these projects, notes roller did not consent have documents published in original form, due exigencies of working @ stakhanovite pace, , finished products did not reach high standard.

he helped plan romanian-russian museum in bucharest , maxim gorky institute of higher education, devoted training teachers of russian language , literature. magazine of editor-in-chief, studii ( studies ), first appeared in 1948. quarterly until 1955, bimonthly until 1974, when became monthly , name changed revista de istorie. @ same time, magazines on similar theme shuttered: revista istorică, founded nicolae iorga, constantin c. giurescu s revista istorică română, victor papacostea s balcanica , revue des Études sud-est européennes.

a frequent target of roller s many articles in scînteia, lupta de clasă , studii pre-communist historiography, accused of falsifying role of working class , of masses more broadly. reiterated pre-communist historians served bourgeois-landowning regimes dominated foreign imperialists , wished romanian people remain ignorant of history more exploited. rise of roller coincided concerted effort new regime wipe away traces of previous writers, works historians including giurescu, papacostea , nicolae benescu eliminated curriculum, while historians, such gheorghe brătianu , ion nistor died in prison, works hidden public view.

roller saw enemies among ranks of older teachers believed blocked cultural revolution , , promoted re-education of teaching staff . sought imbue educational system class character , make serve interests of workers, peasants , progressive intellectuals , including had rushed new regime s side. in 1947, students encouraged form marxist cells , verifying dogmatic purity of history lessons, , holding teachers accountable. in 1 instance, roller explained that, long old teaching staff include war criminal such ion petrovici, own colleagues, răutu , chișinevschi, fit lecture in marxism-leninism @ university of bucharest. continued have plenary take on education, , insisted music should form part of schooling. unintentionally, position on subject allowed educators , students evade politicization @ least part of school week.

at times, roller intervened on behalf of historians regime considered undesirable, including medievalist p. p. panaitescu. when securitate secret police, charging past membership in iron guard, arrested archaeologist vladimir dumitrescu while excavating @ hăbășești, roller intervened several times police leadership, in particular alexandru drăghici , gheorghe pintilie, until release obtained. other historians, after release prison, asked roller start working again.

impact on archaeology

one particular area roller injected communist ideology romanian archaeology. shifted emphasis roman dacia pre- , post-roman periods, reflecting marx , engels view of roman empire supremely exploitative. adapted stalin s remarks on unscientific position of old bourgeois historians study of russia reportedly began kievan rus , ignored came before. in romanian context, meant reversing denial of development of human society prior dacia s conquest previous historians. emphasized gheorghiu-dej s position romanian territory had on millennium been robbed romans , barbarians, had been french, british or german imperialists.

in 1950, in article on excavations made previous year, criticized emil condurachi, had explored histria, not studying native population before exploitative romans, urging focus on battles between dacians , unconquered peoples against romans. took issue ion nestor refusing claim presence of slaves @ monteoru: afraid place on proletariat s class position . along radu vulpe, berating issuing field reports purely technical rather ideologically shaded, concluding not seek shed light, using scientific concepts, on problems of ancient history of romanian people s republic . condurachi singled out not using report attack scarlat lambrino, previous head excavator @ histria, exile in west sellout anglo-american imperialism . roller s ideas on class struggle in roman dacia imposed term free dacians archaeological nomenclature. name implicitly distinguished between dacians in roman territory, unfree , , roaming further east.

roller instructed must mercilessly unmask enemies of science , lackeys of former bourgeois-landowning regime . nevertheless, archaeology did become more ordered field, in contrast individual , sporadic efforts came before. team of specialists excavate site thoroughly, , regime lavished funds on such studies. emphasis laid on finding traces of slavic settlement, people shown have had important role in development of romanian society.

fall grace

roller (second row, in glasses) @ băneasa airport in march 1953, greeting gheorghiu-dej upon return stalin s funeral

in mid-1950s, roller s position started losing ground. death of stalin , khrushchev thaw had echoes within romania: country s leader, gheorghe gheorghiu-dej, eye united nations membership, relaxed repressive measures. collectivization , industrialization slowed down, political prisoners freed, , new climate had effect on cultural realm well. among prisoners released intellectuals gradually brought universities , research institutes. in 1955, party science , culture section established, headed pavel Țugui , meant counteract grip on culture held răutu–roller agitprop section. gheorghiu-dej spoke out against monopoly , dictate of roller , on history on culture in general, , blamed 2 crisis in field , party s poor relationship intellectuals.

Țugui, explaining roller s errors, managed attract gheorghe apostol , nicolae ceaușescu supporters. drew side romanian academy members constantin daicoviciu, david prodan , andrei oțetea, education minister ilie murgulescu, , later of roller s former collaborators, including vasile maciu, victor cheresteșiu , barbu câmpina. in 1956, oțetea, daicoviciu , câmpina sent gheorghiu-dej document accusing roller , close collaborators of plagiarism , unscientific scholarship. 1 effect of moves against roller 1955 firing of aurel roman editor of studii , replacement oțetea (who following year replaced cheresteșiu head of bucharest history institute), articles started appear without roller s approval. in 1955, lost position @ agitprop section , transferred become deputy director of pmr history institute, wielding more power titular head, constantin pîrvulescu.

by then, roller directing effort preserve samples of oral history, interviewing former illegalists , building large collection of magnetic tape recordings. reputedly, roller s experiment in oral history had unwittingly managed embarrass communist leader: presented gheorghiu-dej more secondary figure illegalist leader fashioned in official documents. in spring of 1958, party celebrated 25 years since grivița strike of 1933, pmr institute collection of recordings in focus. number of illegalists , did not receive posts expected after 1944, began question whether gheorghiu-dej had played leading role claimed himself during strike, criticizing country s direction. latter hastily called plenary session of central committee june 9–13, group of deviationists unmasked . group entirely composed of members had belonged party when banned , included prominent figures such constantin doncea , grigore răceanu. officially, sanctioned criticizing leadership , work methods attempting organize conference party activity discussed. underlying motive purge criticism of party s stifling atmosphere , of personality cult surrounding gheorghiu-dej.

the plenary session criticized roller, , afterwards, paul niculescu-mizil presented party leadership report recommending entire leadership of pmr institute save director removed. @ same time plenary, joint meeting of romanian , soviet historians took place @ oțetea sharply criticized roller unprofessionalism published documents , announced republished. soviets did not defend roller, latter interpreted loss of support former allies.

death , legacy

roller died on june 21, 1958, , pleșa believes committed suicide. tismăneanu credited rumor in radio free europe addresses, later noted suicide story unconfirmed . known roller had serious diabetes, or disease of digestive tract. according @ least 2 accounts, had suffered stroke or heart attack time during unmasking sessions. although sidelined time of death, roller received usual pmr honor, obituary piece in scînteia. urn containing ashes housed @ cenușa crematorium in bucharest.

after world war ii, roller had married sara zighelboim, brothers avram , Ștrul communist activists during 1930s. daughter sonela died in 1956 while father @ health resort: after diving pool, suffered fatal head trauma.

roller s death did not result in thorough change historiographical ideas had put forth. class struggle , dialectical materialism continued taught in schools. while history writing did alter after 1960, less emphasis placed on greatness of soviet union , on criticizing west, , greater attention paid neglected historical figures, due not roller s disappearance scene romania s changed international position , gradual alienation soviets. role of guiding communist historiography fell on marxists professional field, oțetea.

tismăneanu , historian cristian vasile note roller s downfall sacrificial offering leonte răutu, survived unmasking period , still culture boss under national communism of 1960s. gheorghiu-dej s successor ceaușescu allowed young authors—ileana vrancea, ion cristoiu—or senior figures—iorgu iordan—, publish works critical of zhdanov doctrine. although these mentioned roller name, răutu entirely exempt. iordan calls roller evil genie of romanian academy, , makes him responsible more fanatical decisions—such granting posthumous academy membership marxist poet dumitru theodor neculuță. bizarre exception rule official reference work, 1978 enciclopedia istoriografiei românești ( encyclopedia of romanian historiography ). has entry on roller, not feature negative commentary, while răutu entirely absent.

roller s contribution reevaluated again after romanian revolution of 1989 toppled communism. of first monographs dealing roller s career , impact on romania published romulus rusan, civic alliance foundation, , sighet memorial of victims of communism.

writing in 1999, mihai stoian described anomalous that, in process of restoring membership deposed regime, academy had not posthumously stripped roller of title. calls roller red specter , haunting bookcases dusted lies , servitude. senior historian florin constantiniu reflected on communist period, coining popular (but, according cristian vasile, melodramatic) image of roller gravedigger of authentic romanian culture . @ stage, authors described roller s influence criminal, , declared him anti-romanian conviction. books of antisemitic conspiracy theorist iosif constantin drăgan cited roller s case evidence jewish communism working against romanians.

despite such widespread condemnation of theories, roller s terminology not entirely expunged later romanian research works. noted in 1998 archaeologist petre diaconu, meaningless , pernicious concept of free dacians has been taken granted numerous scientists in field.