Ștefan Plavăț (April 24, 1913 – June 18, 1944) was a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

activist, leader of a

resistance group A resistance movement is an organized group of people that tries to resist or try to overthrow a government or an occupying power, causing disruption and unrest in civil order and stability. Such a movement may seek to achieve its goals through ei ...

active in South-Western Romania during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Plavăț was born in Eșelnița, in South-Eastern

Banat Banat ( , ; ; ; ) is a geographical and Historical regions of Central Europe, historical region located in the Pannonian Basin that straddles Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It is divided among three countries: the eastern part lie ...

, to a family of poor peasants. Due to material difficulties, in 1927 he was forced to leave high school, and in autumn he enrolled in the Apprentices' School of the Romanian Railways (CFR) in

Timișoara Timișoara (, , ; , also or ; ; ; see #Etymology, other names) is the capital city of Timiș County, Banat, and the main economic, social and cultural center in Western Romania. Located on the Bega (Tisza), Bega River, Timișoara is consider ...

. Here he came into contact with communist ideas and became an active member of the local worker movement. After finishing school, he was hired as a carpenter in the Timișoara CFR Workshops, and soon afterwards was elected a member in the committee of the local

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

. His political activism was seen as dangerous by the Workshops' management, and led to his reassignment to a marginal branch of the enterprise. Plavăț returned to Timișoara in the first years of World War II, rejoining the Workshops, and becoming a leading member of the local clandestine organisation of the

Romanian Communist Party The Romanian Communist Party ( ; PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave an ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that would replace the social system ...

(PCR). As Romania's dictator

Ion Antonescu Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and Mareșal (Romania), marshal who presided over two successive Romania during World War II, wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister of Romania, Prime Minister and ''Conduc� ...

had joined

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...

against the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, Plavăț and others participated in the sabotage of the war production of the

Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

. Arrested along other workers of the Workshops in autumn 1942, he was ultimately released due to lack of evidence. In May 1944, as the tide of war had turned against the Axis, the Communist Party's Banat chapter, led by

Leontin Sălăjan Leontin Sălăjan (; 19 June 1913 – 28 August 1966) was a Romanian communist military and political leader. Born in Santău Commune, Satu Mare County (then in Szilágy County, Austria-Hungary),Caraș Mountains, in the area of his native village. The headquarters was established on the Semenic Mountain, and the main actions of the partisan detachment involved sabotaging of the rail line linking Timișoara with

Reșița Reșița (; ; ; ; ; ; ) is a city in western Romania and the capital of Caraș-Severin County. It is located in the Banat region. The city had a population of 58,393 in 2021. It administers six villages: Câlnic (''Kölnök''), Cuptoare (''Kupt ...

, an important industrial centre controlled by the Germans, and

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, Romania's capital. On the morning of June 13, 1944, due to a betrayal of a captured partisan,

Siguranța ''Siguranța'' was the generic name for the successive secret police services in the Kingdom of Romania. The official title of the organization changed throughout its history, with names including Directorate of the Police and General Safety () ...

, the Romanian secret police, and the

Gendarmerie A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (). In France and so ...

surrounded the detachment. As the partisans refused to surrender, a gunfight ensued between them and the government troops. Although most of the partisans succeeded in escaping in the thick forest, Plavăț was mortally wounded. After the dictatorship of

was overthrown in the August 1944 coup d'état, and especially after the Communist Party gained power in Romania, Plavăț was one of the several anti-fascist fighters acclaimed as heroes by the official propaganda. Several streets, parks, and schools were thus named after him in the area of Banat.

References

* Covaci, Maria (1969). "Ștefan Plavăț" in ''Anale de Istorie'', Vol. XV, Nr. 4. Institutul de Studii Istorice și Social-Politice de pe lîngă C.C. al P.C.R, Bucharest. pp. 143–145. * Lazăr, Virgil (July 11, 2004). ''Eșecul primului detașament de partizani antihitleriști''.

Evenimentul Zilei ''Evenimentul Zilei'' is a formerly physical and now exclusively online newspaper in Romania. Its name translates to "The event of the day" or "Today's event". History and profile ''Evenimentul Zilei'' was founded by Ion Cristoiu, Cornel Nisto ...

- Ediția de Transilvania,

Cluj-Napoca Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Plavat, Stefan 1913 births 1944 deaths People from Mehedinți County Căile Ferate Române people Romanian Communist Party politicians Romanian World War II resistance members Romanian guerrillas Romanian civilians killed in World War II People shot dead by law enforcement officers in Romania

See also

References