Aurel Pandurescu – a “fakir” of the right faith

One day, when Zachariah returned from Turcanu, he began his ritual as usual with the musical hymn that announced the impending torture. This time he brought with him a new method that required both physical fitness and long training.

Here is the procedure. The tortured person was stripped naked and had his shoes taken off. Note that it was winter and the room was cold. Clothes, underwear and shoes were tied together in the shirt and the boot had to be made to fit on the head. The torturer had to climb onto the rack of necessaries. With the boot on his head and his hands raised, he had to stand on one leg. He was allowed to change legs if he couldn’t hold on.

The only relief came when someone had to go to the potty. The person on the tray would get off and then get back on. We also relaxed when food was served. (…)

One comrade, Aurel Pandurescu, endured this position for three days and three nights. In the morning we would get up and see Pandurescu in the same position as in the evening, and we would be horrified, wondering where he got the strength to endure this ordeal for so long.

But after three days and three nights, he too fell like a log from the tin. Fortunately, he fell between the tin and the bed, which cushioned the blow a little, because if he had fallen face first onto the cement, he might have died instantly. When Pandurescu fell, only Măgirescu was in the room, Zaharia was missing. And that’s when I noticed a change in Măgirescu’s face. He asked Tudose to examine the fallen man. He recommended rubbing his whole body; his legs, from the knees down, were cyanotic.

In the evening, after Pandurescu had recovered from his fainting spell, he picked up his boot and tried to climb back onto the tinette naked. As Zaharia was not in the room, Măgirescu had the courage to ask Pandurescu to get dressed and lie down on the bed in his place. Motionless, Pandurescu slept for a day and a night, without being beaten and without eating. And Zaharia, probably on Măgirescu’s advice, left him alone all the time.

Pandurescu’s case has remained for all of us a symbol of physical and moral resistance, and as a result of his torture he was nicknamed “the old fakir”.

This shows that people are very different, even if only physically. The trials in Pitești and Gherla, however, disproved many preconceived notions. Where does such strength and patience come from? From flesh and bone?

(Dumitru Bordeianu – Confessions from the Swamp of Despair)