“I waited 17 years for the release of my future husband”
Veronica Motolea met Dumitru Uță at her uncle’s house, where she was staying on holiday. The war was over and people hoped that life would return to normal. Although he was still in the labour camp, Dumitru also hoped to finish his studies and have a life of his own. Who could have known that the prison would be the beginning of the extermination of those for whom life without God was unthinkable? Their love had to wait twenty years until Dumitru was released and, after recovering from the physical and spiritual suffering of prison, was able to marry the woman who shared his faith:
“I was only 17 years old. I was a student at Titu Maiorescu High School. On St. John’s Day, 1947, I went to visit my uncle Raica, who was an accountant in the Aiud prison. My uncle had two children, Luci and Meli, who were ill. The uncle called Dumitru Uță, whom he had heard of, to treat his children. That’s when I met Dumitru. My uncle had talked about him around the house. I was nervous and afraid of the unknown. From the first words I exchanged with him, I realised that he was a good and faithful man. Dumitru came to my uncle’s house every day to treat his sick children. Once, when I was preparing my lessons, he looked at my French and German books and offered to help me. The lessons continued after the children had recovered.
During the Easter holidays we went to Gârbova again, where my uncle came with Dumitru to see Paraschiva, my uncle’s mother, who had fallen ill. When he left, he visited me at my parents’ house. After that he made other visits. I also met him at school, where he taught ‘hygiene’. He was my teacher and replaced the teacher who was ill for a while. This gave us the opportunity to get to know each other better.
On 5 January 1948, Dumitru Uță paid me an unexpected visit in Gârbova. He had come to see my aunt Paraschiva for treatment, and then he came to see me. He was with uncle Raica. On the 8th of January of the same year, we started school and Dumitru started to help me again. After about two weeks, Dumitru came to uncle Raica and told him that he could no longer visit him, because the prison warden, Gutan, had given him a warning. Something special was born in my heart for him. I think in his, too. When he left, he asked me to write to him. I didn’t agree. My mind and heart were in turmoil; how many times I would not have written to him, but I thought lest the letter should go somewhere else and cause us trouble. Before he left, Dumitru confessed to me: “I am very fond of you. If God helps us to be together, I would ask you to be a good girl,” and I replied: “I promise I will wait for you until you are released”. This promise to wait for her gave her great joy and extraordinary peace of mind.
During his 23 years in prison, Dumitru contracted TB and cirrhosis of the liver. After his release in 1964, Dumitru was hospitalised in Cluj and Borșa for two years to recover his health. All the time I visited him in Cluj and Borșa. We had come to make plans for the future. We had agreed to meet in Bucharest. After leaving the hospital, Dumitru went to Bucharest to see his brother, Prof. Constantin Uță.
After his release, Dumitru was deprived of several rights:
(a) He was not allowed to take the final exams for his medical degree. His applications were rejected by the Ministry of Education;
b) He was not allowed to attend the Theological Institute in Bucharest, where his applications were rejected several times;
c) He was summoned to the militia on several occasions and forbidden to communicate with former political prisoners;
d) He was employed at Hospital No. 9 in Bucharest, Department of Neurology II, as a medical assistant and was denied promotion.
As headmaster of a school in Gârbova, I took part in competitions between schools in the district and won first place several times. As a result, I was transferred to Bucharest, to the Ministry of Education.
I was called to the militia to persuade me not to marry a political prisoner. They locked me in a room for several hours to think it over. In the late evening they let me go, with threats. Nevertheless, I married Dumitru, convinced that I had made the right choice.
Working in the Ministry of Education was not without its problems. I suffered and was deprived by many rights. At the 1973 staff review, because I was married to a former political prisoner, I was dismissed from all posts and transferred to the design department.
Our peace of mind and the joy of being together were shattered by an event that radically changed our lives: the earthquake of 1977 caught Dumitru on guard duty. Doctors were mobilised for the next 24 hours. Our child Mircea and I went to the hospital to check on Dumitru. We found him in full activity, tired and not hungry. I was very impressed by the crisis situation at the Central Hospital. The corridors were full of people sitting on the floor. I had never seen such a tragedy. As a result of the efforts, Dumitru’s cirrhosis and TB reactivated. This time the cirrhosis was autoimmune. The doctors gave him only 3-4 months to live. With the help of colleagues from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health, the drugs were quickly procured. Treatment at the city hospital extended his life by another 4 years. Dumitru had retired for health reasons and on 5 February 1980 he entrusted his soul into the hands of the Right Judge, leaving a great pain in my heart. It was a farewell to a pure, just and good soul, a humble, patient, very faithful man, with love for God and for the sick”.
(Veronica Uță – Rost Magazine, Year X, issue 106 of February 2012, p. 32-33, material prepared by Ioana Alina Dida)