Every Internet surfer will eventually go to www.romanianyellowpages.com, especially if the surfer is a businessman.
At first sight, this online service is not different from any other hundreds of similar sites, as at the above mentioned address Romanian or foreign companies are invited to make their offer known through the latest discovery of the 20th century: the Internet.
The surprise comes when the surfer who has browsed the home page reads the page’s bottom part, usually dedicated to the copyright company.
In this case, www.romanianyellowpages.com is signed “Valentin Verzeanu Company.” The next step is a question: who is Valentin Verzeanu?
He is a Romanian who managed to overcome difficult times in his life, although circumstances were not always favourable.
He was born in 1942 at Braila, graduated from the Economic Studies Academy (ASE) in 1966 and worked as a journalist with Romanian Television and Radio until 1985.
His most famous show was “Reflectorul”, an investigative TV programme of which Romanians were very fond back then.
But 1985 was the year of the first major change. “I fled to Germany in ’85 and I applied for a political refugee status both in Germany and in the US. The Americans were faster in processing my request, so I crossed the ocean in 1986,” Verzeanu says, recollecting his adventure from socialism to capitalism.
“I arrived in Germany with 100 dollars, but the Germans, nice people, paid the hotel accommodation for us, namely DM 1,500/month and the food we needed and gave us about DM 600 every month. Additionally, we benefited from free medical care and clothes four times a year,” Varzaru recollects.
A refugee in Germany was not allowed to work during the first six months after arrival.
Afterwards, a political refugee could even sweep the streets and get about DM 350 every month, which was “very little as compared to German standards.” Verzeanu and his wife managed to save some money, which was very useful when they travelled over the ocean.
On the 5th day after his arrival in America, Verzeanu already had a job and a minimal wage of 5 dollars/hour. Paradoxically, their run from Romania had milder than expected effects on Verzeanu family.
“We were already in Germany, but my son was still in Romania and the only problem he had to face was the dismissal from the former Communist Youth Union (UTC). They actually allowed both of them to follow us two years after our run,” Valentin Verzeanu recollects.
“I started out from the lowest work in the US, where my first job was with a company selling chemicals. I became the manager of a department founded at my suggestion after one year, and, after another three years, I was promoted to warehouse manager, being responsible for the activity of 50 employees and eight departments. I hired ten more Romanians, as the owner was also a Jewish Romanian who had established this company and turned into a millionaire.”