NATHANAEL KLEGSETH

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The video footage you are about to see is of the Romanian Revolution in DECEMBER OF 1989.

Viewers discretion is advised.

The historic events that took place before I was born in Romania with the overthrow of the communist dictator Ceausescu in December of 1989 would have a dramatic influence on my future.

I was conceived the following month. When my dad found out Terezia was pregnant he demanded she get rid of me. This was the first year that abortion was legal in Romania. That year there was one live birth for every three abortions in Romania. My mom Terezia was a Hungarian gypsy as was my dad. I am so thankful that despite threats from my dad my mom determined that I would live. I was born the following September Florine Kocz’e in the city of Arad near the Hungarian border. Right after I was born my mom took me and my brother Zoltan from place to place, finding shelter wherever she could in order for my dad not to take me and get rid of me, most likely by selling me on the black market. One of the places we stayed at every so often was in a room with nine other people.

My mom wanted the best for me and realized she could not provide me with a good life. By ten months I was badly malnourished. When my mom heard about a family in the United States that wanted to provide a good home for a baby from Romania she knew she had to let me go. My brother Zoltan had been placed with his grandparents by this time but he was heart broken when he was told he may never see his brother again.