Mircea Carp. A life in the service of freedom

The exhibition ,,Mircea Carp. A life in the service of freedom’‘ is a project of the National History Museum of Romania, realized together with the Carp family, the designer and photographer Octavian Bâlea, the family of Colonel Gheorghe Cojocea, the family of Colonel Ioan Mexi, the RoMilitaria Association and the Union of Professional Journalists of Romania. The exhibition project is organized on the occasion of the one century anniversary of the birth of the officer and journalist, on the 28th of January 2023.

His family

Family history had a major influence on Mircea Carp and his development. Originally from Iași, he is a descendant of two families that gave the country important political leaders and military commanders, who through their decisions influenced the unfolding of important historical events.
His father, Constantin Carp, a cavalry Colonel and World War I veteran, was a role model. Devotion, will and selflessness, qualities that defined the character of a roșiori (cavalry) officer, were adopted and assumed by his son. His fatherly image and advices were to remain with him throughout his life as a future journalist. His mother, Ecaterina Carp, was the person who, through care, affection and dedication, contributed to the balance of the family and the home. Ecaterina Carp was a constant support, even during the long period of exile, when the Carp family was away from the country, to which she remained absolutely devoted.

His dream

Since childhood, Mircea Carp wanted to pursue a military career and become an officer. This goal motivated him to attend the ,,General George Macarovici’’ Military High School in Iași between 1936 and 1940 and the ,,Nicolae Filipescu’’ Military High School between 1940 and 1942. The young military pupil developed a special attachment to the institution founded at the initiative of the conservative minister and to the values that defined the ,,mănăstirean’’ spirit.

Military career

Between June 1942 and May 1944, as a scholarship student of the Romanian state, he attended various military schools in Germany to become a tank officer (6th Tank Regiment at Neuruppin bei Berlin in Brandenburg; Active Mechanized Officers School at Gross Gliencke). In the summer of 1943 he served his internship on the Eastern Front with the 10th Tank Regiment (20th Tank Division). From March to May 1944 he served as a Second Lieutenant instructor at the 18th Tank Regiment (Dresden). Returning to the country in June 1944 he was assigned as a Second Lieutenant instructor at the Tank Training Subcentre, part of the Motorized Training Centre in Târgoviște and joined a group of officers working on improving the design of the Marshal tank destroyer. After the change of alliance in August 1944, as an officer of the Armoured Detachment ,,Colonel Matei”, he took part in the military actions near Otopeni, Mediaș, Câmpia Turzii, Carei and on the territory of Hungary. For his military merits he was decorated with the National Order „Crown of Romania” in the rank of knight, with swords and „Military Virtue” ribbon.
Mircea Carp had the misfortune of many career officers who were excluded from the army, after the entry into force of Law No. 433 from the 9th of August 1946, for the transfer to the reserve. In August 1947 he was arrested, in the tense context in which the communist political regime was trying to consolidate its power. Thus Mircea Carp entered the category of anti-communist political detainees, having experienced imprisonment in the basements of the Ministry of the Interior, at the Prefecture of the Capital Police and at Văcărești Penitentiary. After his release, the cavalry officer decided to settle in the West to continue the fight against an illegitimate and oppressive regime. After his 25th birthday, at the end of January 1948, Mircea Carp went into exile, first to Hungary and then to Salzburg in Austria, where he began collaborating with the American authorities in the field of intelligence.

His career in SUA
In 1951 he went to the United States, working first for the Committee for a Free Europe and later for Radio Voice of America, as announcer, editor and later deputy head of the Romanian Service. Mircea Carp stood out for his commitment, objectivity, responsibility and qualitative work, as well as being the journalist who consecrated the words „Let’s hear only good things!” as a form of greeting that gave Romanians confidence during the difficult years of communism and the transition period. In 1969 he returned to Romania as part of the delegation that accompanied Richard Nixon, the first American president to make a state visit to Romania. His first return was part of a series of 14 visits he made as a special correspondent for Radio Voice of America, reporting with great professionalism on the realities of his homeland.

In 1978 he accepted to continue his activity at Radio Free Europe in Munich, as responsible for the „Political Program” and the program „Romania and Human Rights”, reaching his professional peak after 5 years, when he was appointed assistant director, with the attributions of deputy director of the Romanian section. During this period he had a close collaboration, based on mutual trust and respect, with leading names of the Romanian press in exile: Noël Bernard, Vlad Georgescu, Mihai Cismărescu, Emil Georgescu, Monica Lovinescu, Cornel Chiriac, etc. If for the Romanians, Europa Liberă represented the most important and reliable source of information, for the representatives of the communist regime in Romania, the radio station represented a feared adversary, an opposition organization, whose members had to be silenced.

His retorning in Romania

After 1989 he returned to the Romania frequently, participating in numerous events aimed at commemorating those who opposed the political regime imposed by the USSR, being a supporter of the Sighet Memorial of the Victims of Communism and Resistance. At the same time he collaborated with numerous publications, in particular with ,,Memory, the journal of arrested thought’’. A professional of the written word, not only of the spoken one, Mircea Carp has published 3 books of memoirs, the most recent in January 2023.

Awards
His merits were recognized by the awarding of the National Order „Star of Romania” in the rank of Commander on the 1st of December 2020 by President Emil Constantinescu and the Cross „The Royal House of Romania” on the 25th of March 2015 by King Mihai I. Through deeds, words, courageous actions, but especially through patriotism, Mircea Carp, also known as Dan Mircescu and Mihai Șoimu, has achieved the consecration and place he deserves, both in the history of Romania and in the hearts of Romanians.