Fr. Gheorghe Calciu – “he was beaten to a pulp” until he was re-educated

As for Fr. Gheorghe Calciu-Dumitreasa, I know that he ended up in Țurcanu’s noose at the same time as I did. But in another room. There he was beaten to a pulp and subjected to other tortures until his mind was turned around and he formed the conditioned reflexes desired by the Security Service.

They turned Dumitreasa into a superior robot, for he was intelligent and beyond clever from birth.

The last students left Pitești and ended up in Gherla prison. Some of us were sent to work in the workshops. Another part, just as numerous, was distributed among the cells. A smaller number – considered more skilled – were taken as assistants to work as executioners for Țurcanu.

Gheorghe Calciu-Dumitreasa was chosen as one of Țurcanu’s assistants. His selection was made only after he had been put to the test, which turned him into a cruel executioner in room 99 of Gherla prison. In this way, Gheorghe Calciu-Dumitreasa became a particularly feared executioner among the torturers of Gherla prison.

The political officer Avădanei needed a reliable helper who could answer all questions promptly. He needed a man of good judgement. The best “re-educated” in this respect was Calciu-Dumitreasa. In this way, Calciu-Dumitreasa became the political officer’s right-hand man.

The political officer gave Calciu-Dumitreasa the task of centralising all the “debunkings” and information and presenting them to him in a centralised form. He gave him an office in one of the prison cells.

When a prisoner was released, he had to give a statement that he would not reveal anything he had seen or heard in prison and that he would collaborate with the Security Service after his release. All these statements were given in writing to Calciu-Dumitreasa, who presented them to the political officer. […]

When Calciu’s investigation began, he immediately realised the whole set-up. With a single shake of his head he got rid of the conditioning. He became the man he had been before his arrest.

(Octavian Voinea, The Massacre of Romanian Students in the Prisons of Pitești, Gherla and Aiud, edited by Gheorghe Andreica, Majadahonda Publishing House, Bucharest, 1996, pp. 125-126)