Dead Run: A Memoir of Escape from Communist Romania to Freedom

Radu Olimpiu Gherghel was born in the city of Timisoara, Romania, in 1943 during a difficult time in his native country’s history. Once a free and sovereign nation, Romania then found itself in the grips of a foe far stronger, more able to destroy the country of his birth-Communism. As the social, economic, political, and governmental structures of Eastern European countries encountered whirlwind changes, free sovereign states were dominated and forced into the Soviet Bloc of nations.

During this time, in the summer of 1955, a twelve-year-old boy sat on the stone wall at the entrance to a park in downtown Timisoara, Romania. He glanced up at the clear, blue sky watching the birds flying into the beautiful skies and knowing that he was witnessing a freedom few creatures in this world could ever experience-let alone a child from Communist Romania. How he yearned to be free to go where he wanted, to be what he wanted, to fly like the birds, and to be free. His dreams and hopes take hold of his imagination; his adventures are real, his experiences unforgettable, and his story true as his quest for freedom begins.

Dead Run is the inspiring story of a child who knew the difference between being controlled and being truly free.