Doftana was a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

, 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 prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...

s, among them

Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (; 8 November 1901 – 19 March 1965) was a Romanian communist politician and electrician. He was the first Communist leader of Romania from 1947 to 1965, serving as first secretary of the Romanian Communist Party ( ...

, who was the Prime Minister of Romania (1952–1955), and the Chairman of the State Council of Romania (1961–1965), and

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( , ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He was ...

, who was General Secretary of Romanian Communist Party (1965–1989), and the first President of Romania (1968–1989). The prison is situated close to the village with the same name, in the

Telega Telega ( rus, теле́га, p=tʲɪˈlʲɛgə) is a type of four-wheel horse-drawn vehicle, whose primary purpose is to carry loads, similar to a wain, known in Russia and other countries. It has been defined as "a special type commonly used i ...

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

Prahova County Prahova County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in the historical region Muntenia, with the capital city at Ploiești. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 762,886 and the population density was 161/km². It is Romania's third mos ...

Newspapers & Museums

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''. 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.. The composer

Alfred Mendelssohn Alfred Mendelsohn (17 February 1910 – 9 May 1966) was a Romanian composer. Mendelsohn studied from 1927 to 1931 at the Music Academy in Vienna with Joseph Marx Joseph Rupert Rudolf Marx (11 May 1882 – 3 September 1964) was an Austrian comp ...

wrote The Destruction of Doftanas, a symphonic poem about it. Not only

Romanian communists Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language Romanian (obsolete spellings: Rumanian or Roumanian; autonym: ''limba română'' , or ''românește ...

were imprisoned here, also captured German and Soviet soldiers and Hungarian civilians.

Notable inmates

Gheorghe Apostol Gheorghe Apostol (16 May 1913 – 21 August 2010) was a Romanian politician, deputy Prime Minister of Romania and a former leader of the Communist Party (PCR), noted for his rivalry with Nicolae Ceaușescu. Early life Apostol was born near T ...

Max Auschnitt Max Carol Auschnitt,Cerasela Moldoveanu, "În căutarea lui Schwartz... Contribuția evreilor la Războiul de Întregire Națională a României (1916–1919)", in ''Revista de Istorie Militară'', Issues 5–6/2017, p. 90 also known as Ausschnitt ...

Emil Bodnăraș Emil Bodnăraș (10 February 1904 – 24 January 1976) was a Romanian communist politician, an army officer, and a Soviet agent, who had considerable influence in the Romanian People's Republic.''Final Report'', p. 646 Early life Bodnăraș was ...

Mihail Gheorghiu Bujor Mihail Gheorghiu Bujor (November 8, 1881 – June 17, 1964) was a Romanian lawyer, journalist and socialist militant. An important figure in the early Romanian labour movement, he embraced communism during World War I and organised Romanian armed ...

Corneliu Zelea Codreanu Corneliu Zelea Codreanu (; born Corneliu Codreanu, according to his birth certificate; 13 September 1899 – 30 November 1938) was a Romanian politician of the far right, the founder and charismatic leader of the Iron Guard or ''The Legion ...

Alexandru Drăghici Alexandru Drăghici (; September 27, 1913 – December 12, 1993) was a Romanian communist activist and politician. He was Interior Minister in 1952 and from 1957 to 1965, and State Security Minister from 1952 to 1957. In these capacities, he exerci ...

* Ștefan Foriș *

Max Goldstein Max Goldstein (1898–1924), also known as Coca, was a Romanian revolutionary, variously described as a communist and an anarchist. Born in Bârlad to a Jewish family, he worked as a clerk for two years. He later moved to Bucharest in 1916, w ...

* Alexandru Moghioroș *

Serghei Nicolau Serghei Nicolau (born Sergey Nikonov; 1905–1999) was a Romanian communist espionage chief and a Securitate general. Biography An ethnic Russian, Nicolau was born in Cacica, Suceava County in to an ethnic Russian family. He also called himsel ...

Gheorghe Pintilie Gheorghe Pintilie (born Panteley Timofiy Bodnarenko, ua, Пантелей Тимофій Боднаренко; also rendered as Pintilie Bodnarenco, nicknamed Pantiușa; November 9, 1902 – August 21, 1985) was a Soviet and Romanian intelligence ...

Grigore Preoteasa Grigore Preoteasa (August 25, 1915 – November 4, 1957) was a Romanian communist activist, journalist and politician, who served as Communist Romania's Minister of Foreign Affairs between October 4, 1955, and the time of his death. Biogra ...

Horia Sima Horia Sima (3 July 1906 – 25 May 1993) was a Romanian fascist politician, best known as the second and last leader of the fascist paramilitary movement known as the Iron Guard (also known as the Legion of the Archangel Michael). Sima was ...

Chivu Stoica Chivu Stoica (the family name being Chivu; 8 August 1908 – 18 February 1975) was a leading Romanian Communist politician, who served as 48th Prime Minister of Romania. Early life Stoica was born in Smeeni, Buzău County, the sixth child of a ...

Richard Wurmbrand Richard Wurmbrand, also known as Nicolai Ionescu (24 March 1909 – 17 February 2001) was a Romanian Evangelical Lutheran priest, and professor of Jewish descent. In 1948, having become a Christian ten years before, he publicly said Communism a ...

References

External links

"Puşcăria Doftana se mistuie in chinuri capitaliste"
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Cotidianul image:Cotidianul.png, The logo used between 2003 and 2007 ''Cotidianul'' (meaning ''The Daily'' in English) is a Romanian language newspaper published in Bucharest, Romania. History and profile Founded by Ion Raţiu, ''Cotidianul'' was first ...

'' {{coord, 45, 08, 12, N, 25, 46, 24, E, source:frwiki_region:RO, display=title Defunct prisons in Romania Buildings and structures in Prahova County 1895 establishments in Romania