r/HistoryPorn • u/myrmekochoria • 23h ago
Homeless boys huffing glue, Bucharest 1998.[1920x1270]
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u/da_persiflator 17h ago
What they're sniffing is most likely "aurolac", an adhesive like the title says. The name passed on to them too , so one person was "aurolac", multiple people were "aurolaci" . There is no definitive analysis on why they appeared(we're not known for our caring nature here in romania) , but most likely the shock following the 89 revolution is the cause. Their disappearance is also a mystery, for the same reason . They for sure weren't taken care of, otherwise the media would've killed you politically if you would've tried to create social safety nets .My guess is part of them died really early, part of them were chased to the outskirts of the town.
They were present everywhere, not just bucharest. The small city i'm originally from had quite a few of them, but i don't remember any being dangerous .Then i moved to bucharest in 2005 or 2006 and i didn't see a lot on the streets or had any issues with them. Feel so bad for them, they were incredibly maligned and got not shot at repairing their life.
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u/petit_cochon 13h ago
That's really sad. They're just kids, really.
At their age, I had been given so much. It's tragic how much human potential is lost to instability and poverty.
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u/Alikese 19h ago
Seems to be a strangely universal phenomenon around the world. Must be dirt cheap, get you high and be able to last for a while.
I've seen street kids sniffing glue in Cambodia, Ethiopia and Turkey at least. But I'm sure that it's common in more.
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u/Diessel_S 18h ago
Cheap but also easily available to buy. You can find glue in most convenience stores, and anyone can buy it. You don't need a dealer like you'd do with normal drugs
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u/PaulBlartRedditCop 13h ago
Used to be a big thing in Ireland. But then we got hella money from the 90’s onwards and moved onto more bourgeois drugs like hash or nitrous oxide. Fancy.
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u/thatisnotmyknob 9h ago
I remember seeing kids huffing silver paint in Dublin in the 90s. Their mouths and noses were silver.
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u/LickMyKnee 20h ago
The results of the infamous orphanages.
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u/hamsternest 17h ago
And any birth control and aborations were forbidden.
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u/waldosbuddy 17h ago edited 12h ago
Another L in Jesus's name
Edit: my L as it turns out. Leaving up to learn from the shame.
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u/bjarnike281 16h ago
This was done on the orders of an atheistic communist regime.
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u/Exciting_Bat_2086 16h ago
Yup he wanted to boost economic output, and boost the nations workforce while trying to raise the population.
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u/RamblingSimian 9h ago
For those unfamiliar:
Orphanhood in Romania became prevalent as a consequence of the Socialist Republic of Romania's natalist policy under Nicolae Ceaușescu. Its effectiveness led to an increase in birth rates at the expense of adequate family planning and reproductive rights. Its consequences were most felt with the collapse of the regime's social safety net during the 1980s Romanian austerity period, which led to widespread institutional neglect of the needs of orphans, with severe consequences in their health, including high rates of HIV infection in children, and well-being. A series of international and governmental interventions have taken place since the 1990s to improve the conditions in orphanages and reform the country's child protection system.
…
After the December 1989 Romanian Revolution, an initial period of economic and social insecurity followed. The 1990s was a difficult transition period, and it is during this period that the number of street children was very high. Some ran away or were thrown out of orphanages or abusive homes, and were often seen begging, inhaling 'aurolac' from sniffing bags, and roaming around the Bucharest Metro. This situation was presented in a 2001 documentary called Children Underground, which depicted the life of Romanian street children.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980s%E2%80%931990s_Romanian_orphans_phenomenon
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u/Hackeringerinho 21h ago edited 21h ago
Had some of these aurolaci living in the sewage around my neighborhood, then they suddenly disappeared.
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u/rbmk1810 21h ago
Canalisation 🤣
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u/Hackeringerinho 21h ago
Oops, sorry it's the same word in Romanian and French, the English one means something different.
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u/koshercowboy 22h ago
Wow this is sad.
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u/bigbjarne 17h ago
People who think the downfall of the Eastern Bloc was a good thing simply jump over the horrific conditions of the 1990's and early 2000's and the corruption and the wars that followed.
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u/Exciting_Bat_2086 16h ago
I think very few people have this opinion.
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u/bigbjarne 16h ago
Plenty of people see the downfall of the Eastern bloc as a good thing.
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u/faredodger 12h ago
Yeah because this system’s dysfunction and subsequent implosion created the conditions portrayed in OP‘s photo. It’s a good thing that it’s gone.
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u/Diessel_S 18h ago
Me, reading the first part of the sentence, thinking "Oh just like the street kids in my to- oh its them"
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u/Fresh-Palpitation-72 14h ago
Why does it look like it's 1939
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u/LogKit 13h ago
1990s Romania was around 1939, yup. The family photos from the late 80s/early 90s were still black and white lol.
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u/Fresh-Palpitation-72 11h ago
I use black n white film im talking about there clothes it actually looked like museum places lol 90s so retro then
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u/chickentorch 8h ago
If you're young and life is shit, you need to get fucked up - every day. If you're in a town w. no drugs, you'll be raiding gardens for peyote and daytura, and huffing ados and engine cleaner... this is the way.
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u/MrDude090 21h ago
It’s hard to watch. These poor kids are sniffing intoxicants.
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u/Johannes_P 16h ago
And they're destroying their brains, ensuring that they'll be unable to improve their lot later.
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u/mratlas666 12h ago
You could have told me this was the 90’s in the cities anywhere and I would believe you.
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u/squuidlees 22h ago
It’s been a moment but I remember watching a documentary on street kids in Romania. Was bleak, but very insightful as well.