Gioga was one of the most beautiful characters

When I examined the hypothesis of an escape from the camp itself, I finally crossed it off the list of possibilities because the risks were enormous and the chances of success almost non-existent. (…)

What if, we thought, we could try to continue our escape by going south and crossing the border into Bulgaria? We wouldn’t even be wanted there! (…)

Since we were talking about Bulgaria, I thought of Gioga Parizianu. He was an Aromanian from Bulgaria. We met and became friends at the lead mine in Cavnic. Gioga was one of the most beautiful people I met in prison.

I did not hesitate to confide in him my intention to try another escape[1] and to ask his opinion and advice on the possibility of crossing the border into Bulgaria. Although he did not see the possibility of escaping from Salcia, he was excited by the idea of crossing the border to the south. Without further ado, he agreed to join us at any time if we could find a way to freedom. For him, the escape from Salcia was the main problem to be solved. Coming from the Dobrogea region, he found it relatively easy to cross the border clandestinely, and once in Bulgarian territory, the plan was ready. He was convinced that we would be able to cross the whole of Bulgaria, from north to south, on foot or using the various local means of transport, carts or lorries, to reach the mountainous area of the Greek-Bulgarian border. We’re mostly walking through rural areas, posing as seasonal workers on our way from one job to another. Speaking perfect Bulgarian, he will have no trouble getting along with the locals, and we will thus avoid talking. Of course, it was up to us to find something to eat, either by helping out in a farmer’s household or by gorging ourselves at night on the fruit from the orchards and vegetables from the gardens we came across along the way.

According to Gioga’s calculations, we would reach the region of the Aromanian settlements in the mountains on the Greek border in two weeks’ time. There, Gioga said, he felt at home. He had relatives and friends and could count on the Macedonians’ clan solidarity. For the Aromanian shepherds in their mountain villages, on both the Bulgarian and Greek sides, the border had never really been a dividing line. (…)

Gioga claimed that when we arrived in the region, we would be sheltered and hidden in the stables, and when the time was right, we would be taken across the border into Greece by a guide.[2]

(Ion Ioanid – Our Everyday Prison, Albatros Publishing House, 1996, Vol. V, pp. 93-94)

[1] The author had already escaped from the Cavnic camp in 1953, but was caught and imprisoned again after a few months in hiding.

[2] In the end, the protagonists of the escape plan had to abandon the attempt because their place of work was moved to the Danube bank, the only suitable place for an escape from the Balta Brăilei camp.