The people who rise to the top in times of violent upheaval aren't the thoughtful, considerate individuals who thought carefully about policies and who care about others. They're the ones who have the most confidence, charisma, and willingness to bring down their opponents quickly and often permanently; they have a general direction, and little subtlety.
The "enemy" becomes anyone who opposes the new order, even if the new order is objectively dumb.
After WWII, Romania went through its own "eat the rich" phase, bringing down the monarchy, the former aristocrats, and the bourgeoisie. I won't lie; as far as I can tell, while the urban middle class seemed to be doing fine, the poor rural classes were probably doing absolutely not fine.
It's a long story and I don't want to get into post-WWII politics, but Romania and the surrounding countries fell under Russian influence (in no small part thanks to other great powers), and became communist. Supposedly, the communists were for the lower classes and against the upper ones.
So, in the first years, there was violent repression - I'd urge you to read this section on the history of the Danube-Black Sea Canal from Wikipedia, which describes the labor camps. But let me quote bits:
By 1950 the forced labor camps set up along the length of the planned canal were filled to capacity; that year alone, up to 15,000 prisoners were held in those camps. In 1952, more than 80% of the workforce at the canal consisted of detainees. [...] estimates put the number at 40,000 or 100,000 for the entire period. British historian and New York University professor Tony Judt assessed in his book, Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945, that, overall, one million Romanians had been imprisoned in various prisons and labor camps, including those on the path of the canal
For context, Romania had a population of about 17-18 million at the time.
The prisoners were dispossessed farmers who had attempted to resist collectivization, former activists of the National Peasants' Party, the National Liberal Party, the Romanian Social Democratic Party, and the fascistIron Guard, ZionistJews, as well as Orthodox and Catholic priests. The canal was referred to as the "graveyard of the Romanian bourgeoisie" by the Communist authorities, and the physical elimination of undesirable social classes was one of its most significant goals.
Dispossessed farmers, priests, as well as people from opposing political factions. Dispossessed farmers - not aristocrats owning vast tracts of land, but farmers. Whether richer or poorer, these were still lower class individuals who opposed the new regime that was actively confiscating their lands and crops.
Political violence was especially strong during the first years, but once most people settled into line, it loosened. It never went away, however, until the regime fell in 1989. I think it's only now, in the 2020's, that Romania's starting to recover from the damage that's been done to it in 40 years.
On the one hand, as many defenders of communism pointed out, communism came with rapid industrialization, much-needed urban development, an emphasis on education and more opportunities to study, even for lower classes.
On the other hand, the constant threat of violence, the lack of free speech, the wide-spread spying on citizens, the censorship of anything (knowledge to art) that didn't fit with the official politics, the lying-lying-lying to pretend everything's going well did so much damage. What good is rapid industrialization, if your products are sub-par and keep breaking down constantly? What good is urban development, if your people are freezing in their homes? And how good is it that you bring education for all, if you fill it with propaganda and are suspicious of any learning that doesn't confirm the official ideology?
People try to win violent revolutions - and the winners of violence must be tyrants. They can't be benevolent democrats, or their enemies will have them for breakfast.
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