“I Must Betray You”
By Sepetys Ruta. Philomel Books, New York, 2022, 314 pages, Grades 7 and higher.
Communism was a deadly evil inflicted on the world. Beginning with the ruthless writings of Karl Marx, Communism attempts to establish a Godless state ruled by supposedly enlightened leaders such as Vladmir Lenin and Joseph Stalin. They are two of the most evil men to ever rule a country. By applying the deranged writings of Marx into a political system, Communist leaders are able to control a population by brainwashing, political tyranny and murder.
After World War II, the nation of Romania falls into the clutches of the diabolical Nicolae and Elena Ceauescu. This horrible couple will inflict a long reign of terror on their own people. Until they are finally overthrown in 1989, Romania will suffer a fate worse than Communist Russia.
Rita Sepetys tells the brutal tale of this time and the immense heroism of the people involved in the overthrow of the regime. The name of this moving, informative and inspiring novel is “I Must Betray You.”
Seventeen-year-old Cristian Florescu wants to write and read great literature. This is forbidden by the Romanian government, because it allows citizens to think censored thoughts – like freedom, for example. To impose this vicious order, the government turns neighbors into informers and families against each other. Not knowing who to trust is the key to control. This control is managed by a secret police that suppresses and murders anyone challenging the state. As a result, Romania becomes a prison where people live in fear of each other.
The Ceauescus have created this state apparatus and robbed the country of its wealth. Everywhere, Romanians are forced to look at the Ceauescus’ pictures and pledge their loyalty to them. Cristian’s grandfather is the boy’s only hope. The old man remembers the times when Romania enjoyed freedom. He shares these memories with Cristian and encourages him to think freely. This is dangerous advice. The secret police are everywhere and their spies are often neighbors or even family members.
Cristian is betrayed and forced to become an informer. Now he must feed the secret police information, or watch his grandfather die of leukemia. The young man hates the Ceauescus and decides to become a double agent and pass information to people he knows at the American embassy in Bucharest. It is a dangerous game. Not knowing if he can even trust his own family, Cristian makes a bold plan. He decides it is better to die standing up than live kneeling. What does he do?
What is Cristian’s plan? Who helps him? Who betrays him? Does Cristian help the secret police? What is right and what is wrong in an evil government gone sideways? To find the answers to these and other questions, go to the library and check out this outstanding novel, “I Must Betray You,” by Ruta Sepetys.
A number of European countries seem to be yearning for strong autocrats to rule them. This is an absolutely terrible idea. Nicolae Ceauescu began as a strongman saving Romania from internal division and foreign domination. He quickly took freedom away from Romania and placed all the power in his own hands. There were no political ideas, there were only the ideas of Ceauescu. For more than 20 years, Romania fell into a dark abyss of totalitarianism. Ruta Sepetys details the brutal price paid by normal Romanians for this evil. Europeans and others yearning for a strongman to solve complicated problems through the use of violence should read this book. It is a brilliantly written, harrowing account.
