Re-education in Communist Romania

Philosopher Mircea Stănescu claimed that the theoretical foundation for the communist version of the reeducation process was provided by the principles defined by Anton Semioniovici Makarenko, a Russian educator born in Ukraine in 1888.

Demetriade further indicated that the claim is mainly associated with the groups around the fascist Iron Guard, and had been publicly promoted by anti-communist activist Virgil Ierunca.

A notable case was the group of Iron Guard members interned in Rostock after the failed rebellion: a suspected traitor was severely tortured by its colleagues, the process being very similar to the one applied later in Pitești and Suceava.

Up to 1947, the detention regime was rather light, as the political prisoners were entitled to receive home packages, books, were granted access to discuss with family and even organize cultural events.

[9] The main detention centers dedicated to the re-education of political prisoners in Communist Romania were at Suceava, Pitești, Gherla, Târgu Ocna, Târgșor, Brașov, Ocnele Mari, and Peninsula.

[10] Suceava prison was a detention place for Iron Guard members located in northern and central Moldavia, many of whom arrived here following the massive arrests from the night of 14–15 May 1948.

[13] Although at this time the inquiries of the Siguranța (acting as political police[14] and soon to be reorganized into the Department of State Security after the NKVD model) were already violent in nature, the Suceava reeducation process itself began as non-violent.

Aside from Bogdanovici and Țurcanu, of those that initiated the action at Suceava and became more involved in other prisons, several stood out: Constantin Bogoș, Virgil Bordeianu, Alexandru Popa, Mihai Livinschi, Maximilian Sobolevski, Vasile Pușcașu, Dan Dumitrescu, and Nicolae Cobâlaș.

The motivations behind these ex-legionnaires switching sides were varied, but generally included the hope of getting a lesser punishment after the initial "generous" retribution and obtaining several amenities while incarcerated (packages from home, mail, etc.)

[18] Beatings from the guardians were common and the most severe penalties included the solitary ("casimca"), a small isolation cell, without light of ventilation, extremely cold in winter, while the floor was flooded with water and urine.

[32] Tortures were varied; if initially the sole purpose was to humiliate the prisoners, who were forced to wear the toilet bucket on their head, crawl on the floor or eat without using their hands,[33] later it followed to reach an extensive physical wear, which made them more susceptible to crack: they went for days without water, were forced to stay in uneasy positions such as lying down with the head raised and a needle pointing back of the neck[34] or to remove and put back their shoe laces for hours on end; for the resistant ones, a total mental breakdown was attempted, as they were made to eat feces,[35][36] behave as pigs when food was provided (eat without cutlery and grunt),[37][38] walk on all fours in circle, each licking the anus of the one in front[39] or behave in obscene and perverted ways during mock religious services.

The second phase represented the internal unmasking, where an autobiography was requested from the inmates; the degree of defamation it contained was considered directly proportional to the mental shift of the prisoner towards the reeducation program.

Alexandru Bogdanovici, one of the initiators of the reeducation process at Suceava, was continuously tortured until his death on 15 April 1950, mainly because he was considered to be an opportunist, only seeking a way to get out of detention.

The negative publicity surrounding this activity, the official inquiry of July 1951, led by colonel Ludovic Czeller, head of the Administrative Control Body of the DGP, following which most of the Pitești prison staff was dismissed or transferred (warden Alexandru Dumitrescu was replaced by Anton Kovacs) and the relocation of all the Pitești political prisoners to Gherla on 29 August 1951, led to the termination of violent reeducation in this location.

Initially, the detention conditions were rather light, as they were allowed to receive packages (including books) and money, while once per month a guard was responsible for setting up a shopping list based on the prisoners demands.

In July–August 1950, following an inspection from officers of the Securitate and Minister of Internal Affairs, warden Dumitrescu is replaced by captain Valeriu Negulescu, characterized as a "savage beast".

Such a behavior is displayed after the escape of Ion Lupeș – November 1950 – when the warden aggressed the inmates: He pulled out the pistol from his pocket, and, with the gun in one hand and a club in the other, he hit like a madman.

[81] After the reeducation initial success at Pitești, the regime intended to spread the practice to other prisons as well, and due to ideological reasons – as workers and peasant were the forefront of the communist propaganda – Gherla was amongst the first detention places to implement it.

The inmates present on the list were gathered and escorted in the prison yard, where Mr. Lazăr Tiberiu arranged them in a circle, and ordered them to speed up the pace, placing himself in the middle.

When Mr. Lazăr Tiberiu dropped the club, Mr. Fulop Martin would present him with the other one, as it was prepared for this.The most important informants used by the administration – prisoners who would play a key role in the reeducation process at Gherla, but who did not undergo the full Pitești ordeal – were Alexandru Matei, Octavian Grama, Constantin P. Ionescu, and Cristian Paul Șerbănescu.

Before triggering the events, several changes were made following Securitate directives: Iacob was replaced by Gheorghe Sucigan as head of the prison Operational Bureau (OB), and Constantin Pruteanu was appointed as his deputy.

[89] Although brutal in his relations with the prisoners, Lazăr was a straightforward opponent of violent reeducation, and asked Tudor Sepeanu a written directive regarding this initiative, which led to his dismissal.

This is a laboratory meant to provide – during the four-five years planned project – qualified personnel, disciplined, with elevated consciousness level, politically trained, experienced designers and site managers.

This wagon back and forth fast-paced spectacle seamed to take place in a eerie underworld, where walking dead, in colorful dressing, were driving – driven themselves by unseen demons – ghostly mine carts.In parallel, work was undergone to level the terrain where the rail road and roadway would flank the Canal.

[139] Those who were not able to fulfill the quota were persecuted, starting with the reduction of food quantity, assignment to additional labor after program, denial of family contact of any kind, and even solitary.

The 67-year-old prisoner was repeatedly tortured by the reeducation team, beaten up, starved as assigneded to the most exhausting tasks until – under the claim that he had to go to the toilet – he headed towards the camp fence, where he was shot by the security guards.

[147] Following this, prisoners Cicerone Ionițoiu [ro] and Constantin Ionașcu wrote and managed to sneak out of the camp and the country a series of papers that originally reached Radio Ankara, via Constanța.

Arrested for presumed frontier crossing felony, he was in fact victim of a personal scuffle with Marin Jianu, the Interior Minister deputy, about whom he had compromising information.

[100] Under torture, Vais made a series of compromising reports on high-ranking people from the Party, such as Teohari Georgescu, Petru Groza, Alexandru Nicolschi, Tudor Sepeanu, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, and others.

[155] The inquiry was done in parallel at both Ploiești and Râmnicu Sărat, and the investigators sought to present the Pitești and Gherla actions as planned by the Iron Guard leader, Horia Sima (at the time in exile in Austria), in order to compromise the Communist Party.