After Rovin died in 1864, the other monks abandoned the monastery, which was taken over by the Romanian Army and turned into an arsenal on orders from domnitor Alexandru Ioan Cuza.

Hundreds of recalcitrant minors (some as young as 12) were subjected to psychological experiments and beaten with the intention of being "re-educated" in the spirit of the "Communist new man".

[3] One batch consisted of students from Dragoș Vodă High School in Sighetu Marmației, who were accused of demonstrating against the regime.

[5] By September 1949, some 870 former Romanian Police cadres, including old prison guards and members of the Siguranța statului (such as Constantin Maimuca [ro], its deputy director in 1940–1941) had been rounded up and sent to Târgșor, where they maintained fervent (but unrealistic) beliefs about a coming American liberation of Romania.

[6] Another category of prisoners who were incarcerated at Târgșor were people detained by the Securitate after being accused of subversive revolutionary activities,[2] such as Sorin Bottez and Radu Ciuceanu.