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Returning from Tehran, Ceausescu found that demonstrations had flared throughout the country and into Bucharest, where he came face to face with rebellion in Palace Square, outside his office. At a rally called to prove his popularity, he was silenced by students shouting "Ceausescu, assassin!" Visibly shocked, he froze, and television transmission was cut off for three minutes. He ordered the Securitate to shoot, but at that point the army switched allegiance -- and that was the beginning of the end for Ceausescu, who fled with his wife. TV newsreaders in Bucharest claimed last week that 80,000 people or more were killed in the struggle that began with the slaughter in Timisoara; Western diplomats thought the death toll was far smaller -- perhaps thousands, but not tens of thousands. Bernard Kouchner, France's Secretary of State for Humanitarian Affairs, who visited Bucharest last week, said the Rumanian Ministry of Health could confirm only 746 deaths and some 1,800 wounded. An exact figure may never be learned.
The nepotism of the house of Ceausescu had put more than 30 of the dictator's family into high offices. By the time he was executed, many of them, including his two sons, his daughter, his sister and two of his brothers, had been arrested and would probably be put on trial. Ceausescu's son Nicu, who directed security troops in a bloody battle in the city of Sibiu, was expected to be executed. A brother, Marin Ceausescu, 74, was found hanged in the Rumanian embassy in Vienna, where he had headed the trade delegation and was widely believed to have been the conduit through whom Nicolae allegedly transferred millions of dollars into Swiss bank accounts. The provisional government notified Switzerland that it would request the assistance of the courts there to try to recover the funds.
Governments East and West cheered the overthrow of Ceausescu, but there were murmurs of distaste at the secret trial and execution of the 71-year-old dictator and his wife. "We would have preferred it if there had been a public trial," said White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater. Nevertheless, like other Western countries, the U.S. speedily recognized "the new legitimate government" and offered its support. Said the British Foreign Office: "Although one may regret a secret trial, at the time it was not really surprising." Gorbachev congratulated Iliescu on taking charge "at a difficult moment when Rumanian patriots resolutely came out to save the nation from forces of despotism and terror." Beijing, a Ceausescu supporter to the end, fretted privately but said only that "we respect the choice made by the Rumanian people."
Prime Minister Roman defended the swift execution, claiming that Ceausescu loyalists were about to attack the military base where the dictator was being held in an attempt to free him. "We were in a situation that did not allow us to wait," Roman said. "Perhaps it was a mistake. But it is too early to judge." At least as real as an impending rescue attempt was the Salvation Front's fear that Ceausescu as a prisoner would give the Securitate a reason for fighting on. Some members of the Front may have thought it a good idea to offer the Rumanian people some blood quickly in order to head off wider vengeance directed against communists in general. "A long trial," said Deputy Foreign Minister Bogdan, "would only have led to more useless carnage."