Cavnic – The slaves from the depths (en)

The Cavnic Colony

Through this colony, made up of 6 barracks in the middle of the village, so isolated that you didn’t know where you were, with a capacity of 500 – 600 people, several thousand prisoners with long sentences and punishments sent from the Canal passed. The work was done in Orizont St. George, because in St. Theresa it was impossible to work because of the 42 degrees heat. The commander was a gypsy, nicknamed Danciu, a brute like all those who led forced labour. Conditions were harsh, not only at work, but also in life after the mine. There were countless […]

The escape of some prisoners in 1953

6 June 1953. I have been on sick leave for three days. I was getting into a lift when a stone rolled over me. I made an instinctive defensive gesture with my left hand. The stone hit the root of my index finger and cut into the bone. I was bandaged at the sanitary station. I felt a sharp pain with every movement. These three days of rest were very welcome. This morning, before going into the mine, I was called to the doctor’s office. Dr Miltiade Ionescu told me: – Mr Brânzaș, you have to go to the mine! […]

The reprisals of the camp management against the inmates after the escape was discovered

Immediately after the escape, some drastic measures were taken. Barbed wire was put up between the barracks. We were not allowed to visit other huts. Goodbye, free life in the camp! When we left the mine, we were always searched and maltreated. All the guards took part in these brutal searches. But no, not all of them! One guard, Hegheduș, does not take part in the searches. He carries out the searches formally and non-violently. This Hungarian, a former violinist by profession, shows surprising humanity. Probably in the depths of his soul, he could not bear the brutality to which […]

Passion Week at the Cavnic mines with Liviu Brânzaș, 1953

Passion Week has a different echo in prison than in freedom. Where there is no suffering, the world is overwhelmed by the material preparations for the feast. Here, in the kingdom of pain, everything is focused on living the religious meaning. The journey through the gallery to the depths is accompanied by the singing of religious hymns. The hymns “God is with us”, “Holy God” and others resound in the underground vaults. The pilgrims walking in line, carrying lamps that flicker in a play of light and shadow along the darkened galleries, look like pilgrims on their way to a […]

Resurrection Night in the catacombs of the Cavnic mine, 1953

Resurrection of the Lord Night of the Resurrection! We scattered to the galleries, to the workplaces, but hardly anyone was working. Eisenhower’s coming to power in America gave us the courage to speak more freely. Only the timid tried to realise their norm. Towards the end of the working day, all the workers went to the elevator. There, in the cathedral-sized square in front of the elevator, was a sea of people. On this night, in the ocn, the impression of a catacomb is more real than ever. At the edges, people hold sphinxes of various sizes. In the middle, […]

Christmas in the Cavnic mine camp, 1953

Christmas time Christmas is coming. It is snowing over the Gutin Mountains like in a fairy tale. A blanket of snow the likes of which we’d never seen before. From this point of view, the winter of 1953/54 will go down in history as the snowiest winter on record. The huts were connected by snow-covered roads. The huts were dressed in white and the smoke rose from the chimneys like a column of infinity. The landscape is like a poem by Coșbuc. Everything recalls the Christmas of my childhood. In the cottages, in the gallery, everywhere carols are sung. A […]