“He went in and out of prison clean as a whistle”

I cannot write about this man, a titan of suffering, without a false excuse, but I will try to introduce him to you:

He joined the Legionaries, not when the tide turned against them, but before. I am not justified to write about his culture.

In the Legionary government, he was appointed Director of State Security. He was very much like the Captain, and when the latter was imprisoned in Jilava, he wanted to replace him, which the Captain refused. After the rebellion, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. I met him in 1948 when I heard that he was in Aiud. When I returned to Aiud in 1962-63, he was in Zarca. It was the hardest place for prisoners in Aiud. It had 312 cells. The Zarca came from the Hungarian period and had a great reputation; criminals were brought to Aiud in the Zarca. When re-education began, Prince Ghica was taken to the great hall. Colonel Crăciun, the director of the prison, told us that the re-education would begin the next day and that strong words would be spoken; those who did not agree could leave. I heard a voice, a hand raised and his word. It was Ghica. Colonel Crăciun, nervous, began to shout: “You can go! We don’t need princes!”.

That was my mistake: I didn’t follow this man into the Zarca. Remorse and shame hang over my conscience until I entrust my life to the Almighty. What made me do it? Fear of the pit? Certainly not! I can never forgive myself for this stain. Here is a pale justification for me: the Legionary leadership in Aiud decided to give in to re-education. Nicolae Petrașcu, Dr. Niculescu, who had been there for 24 years, and other leaders of the movement obeyed. I was isolated, alone in a cell for seven months, where I had to make myself dirty. In the middle of the re-education hall, under pressure from the so-called lecturers, I said I would accept nothing and my hands were not covered with blood. Colonel Christmas said he would bring Ghica into the room. He refused, both the threat and the lure. He was pictured on internal posters with a crown on his head, eating goodies from the parcels he had received, while his comrades looked on. A mountain of faith in the captain and the legion, he only cared about his line, his conscience. First of all, that no parcels were received; in any other order, a man like Prince Ghica, if he had received a parcel, would have given it to his comrades. Until his release, he refused to take part in re-education and came out clean, this remarkable man and legionnaire.

There were people who gave up after the first 24 hours, but to stay for 24 years, the last 18 in the conditions that the communist Asians put you in… …. And the insults, the hunger, the isolation and the chains; especially when you got to isolation, from there you either went to the hospital – that is, seriously, seriously ill – or to the prison cemetery.

Prince Ghica faced them all and came out the same way he went in.

(Dumitru Banea – Accused, witness, defender in the trial of my life, Puncte Cardinale Publishing House, Sibiu, 1995, pp. 163-164)