After the fall of the Soviet Union, the world was shocked to learn that countless children were being held in unsanitary and hazardous conditions within Romanian orphanages. This video tells of Izidor Ruckel’s experience while growing up in a Romanian orphanage, along with his eventual immigration to the U.S. where he was adopted by a family from California.
In 1989 communism fell, and the media went to Romania to cover this event. It was at this time that children were discovered in delapidated orphanages. After viewing images of these orphanages, the world was left in shock. Izidor Ruckel lived in one of the most neglected Romanian orphanages.
When Ruckel was a child, he came down with polio. As a result, he was abandoned in a hospital. He was eventually transferred into a Romanian orphanage for disabled children. These children received what was considered the worst of care. Ruckel talks of how he and others in the orphanage were treated like animals because that’s how he and the other orphans were perceived.
When Ruckel was adopted, he had a difficult time blending into his new life in America. He could not adjust to a family environment. He was accustomed to living in institutions. He wanted to return to Romania. Eventually, he returned to Romania and met his birth parents. He says that he will never understand what his mother did. He believes that if he had not been adopted, he would have ended up on the streets or dead. As an adult, he says he still misses the institution. He closes by saying, “It’s what we’re used to. It’s where we grew up. It’s our home.”
This video tells of Izidor Ruckel’s experience while growing up in a Romanian orphanage, along with his eventual immigration to the U.S. where he was adopted by a family from California.