The Târgu Jiu internment camp was a detention facility in

Târgu Jiu Târgu Jiu (, is the capital city, capital of Gorj County in the Oltenia region of Romania. It is situated on the Southern Sub-Carpathian Mountains, Carpathians, on the banks of the river Jiu (river), Jiu. Eight localities are administered by the ...

, Romania. It was a regular prison from 1895 to 1939 and again after 1945, but is best known for its role as an internment camp for various categories of individuals 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 ...

. The prison was built between 1888 and 1895 in the northeastern part of the city. Initially used for pre-trial detention, it had a capacity of 87 to 139 people, depending on how much space each was allocated. Eventually, prisoners with sentences of up to six months were also sent there. The brick walls were 70–80 centimeters thick. Running water was installed in 1957–1960. In 1939, the prison became an internment camp for Polish refugees. Later, it housed up to 414 Jews, mostly from

Bessarabia Bessarabia () is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Bessarabia lies within modern-day Moldova, with the Budjak region covering the southern coa ...

, suspected of communist activity. In September 1942, all but seven were deported to the

Vapniarka concentration camp The Vapniarka concentration camp was a Romania, Romanian-administered concentration camp established in occupied Transnistria Governorate in Vapniarka, Ukraine during the Second World War. History Soon after Romania, under the leadership of I ...

. Under the

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� ...

regime,

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 ...

members were interned at Târgu Jiu during World War II. Their conditions improved after the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad ; see . rus, links=on, Сталинградская битва, r=Stalingradskaya bitva, p=stəlʲɪnˈɡratskəjə ˈbʲitvə. (17 July 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, ...

, and most of them were sent to work outside the camp.

International Red Aid International Red Aid (also commonly known by its Russian acronym MOPR) was an international social-service organization. MOPR was founded in 1922 by the Communist International to function as an "international political Red Cross", providing ma ...

sent food and money. Internees in 1943–1944 included

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

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

Mișu Dulgheru Mișu Dulgheru (born Mihai Dulberger; January 16, 1909 – April 11, 2002) was a Romanian communist activist and spy. A clerk by trade, he rose through the secret police as the Romanian Communist Party consolidated its hold on power between 1944 ...

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( ; ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian politician who was the second and last Communism, communist leader of Socialist Romania, Romania, serving as the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 u ...

, and

Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu (; 4 November 1900 – 17 April 1954) was a Romanian communist politician and leading member of the Communist Party of Romania (PCR), also noted for his activities as a lawyer, sociologist and economist. For a while, he ...

. Gheorghiu-Dej arrived in late June 1943, was hospitalized with a stomach ailment from July to October and escaped with the help of a

Soviet 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 ...

spy on the night of August 13–14, 1944.

Tudor Arghezi Ion Nae Theodorescu (21 May 1880 – 14 July 1967) was a Romanian writer who wrote under the pen name Tudor Arghezi (. He is best known for his unique contribution to poetry and children's literature. Biography Early life He graduated from Sai ...

was detained there in 1943, having been arrested by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

for writing a pamphlet critical of

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

ambassador

Manfred Freiherr von Killinger Manfred Freiherr von Killinger (14 July 1886 – 2 September 1944) was a German naval officer, ''Freikorps'' leader, military writer and Nazi politician. A veteran of World War I and member of the '' Marinebrigade Ehrhardt'' during the German ...

. After the 1944 coup, the camp, with a capacity of some 5,200, was used for interning accused war criminals and

ethnic Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The constitution of Germany, implemented in 1949 following the end of World War ...

. Conditions were miserable and many died. In December 1945, the prison was reserved for criminals with short sentences. They were joined by political prisoners, both

Securitate The Department of State Security (), commonly known as the Securitate (, ), was the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. It was founded on 30 August 1948 from the '' Siguranța'' with help and direction from the Soviet MG ...

detainees held without trial and those sentenced for sabotage. There were 111 prisoners in 1948 and 89 in 1953, mostly political. Part of them had to work nine hours a day on poor rations. Worksites included the Soviet cemetery, the stadium, and roads under construction. After 1953, the prison held only common criminals.Muraru, pp. 485-87

Notes

References

* {{Communist Romania prisons Defunct prisons in Romania Târgu Jiu Romania in World War II