Doftana was a Romanian prison, sometimes referred to as "the Romanian Bastille". Built in 1895 in connection with the nearby salt mines, from 1921 it began to be used to detain political prisoners, among them Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, who was the Prime Minister of Romania (1952–1955), and the Chairman of the State Council of Romania (1961–1965), and Nicolae Ceaușescu, who was General Secretary of Romanian Communist Party (1965–1989), and the first President of Romania (1974–1989).[1]
The prison is situated close to the village with the same name, in the Telega commune of Prahova County.
Newspapers & Museums
edit
From 1924 it is noted that the inmates began to write and edit a newspaper by hand using paper slips and smuggled pencils. It went by various names such as Doftana Red and Bolsheviks Handcuffed.[2]
During the communist period of Romania just after World War II, it was transformed into a museum, which has since been deserted due to lack of funds.[citation needed]. The composer Alfred Mendelssohn wrote The Destruction of Doftanas, a symphonic poem about it.
Not only Romanian communists were imprisoned here, also captured German and Soviet soldiers and Hungarian civilians.
Notable inmates
edit- Gheorghe Apostol
- Iosif Ardeleanu
- Max Auschnitt
- Emil Bodnăraș
- Mihail Gheorghiu Bujor
- Nicolae Ceaușescu
- Corneliu Zelea Codreanu
- Petre Constantinescu-Iași
- Alexandru Drăghici
- Ștefan Foriș
- Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej
- Max Goldstein
- Șmil Marcovici
- Alexandru Moghioroș
- Serghei Nicolau
- Ion Niculi
- Dumitru Petrescu
- Gheorghe Pintilie
- Grigore Preoteasa
- Leonte Răutu
- Horia Sima
- Chivu Stoica
- Richard Wurmbrand
- Belu Zilber
References
edit- ^ "Doftana Prison". communistroad.com. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
- ^ "Doftana Prison – "The Romanian Bastille"". whatafy.com. Retrieved 30 November 2012.