Mircea Vulcănescu, “a man of great gentleness and angelic humanity”

One afternoon, Mircea Vulcănescu was among those waiting to collect their parcels. The prisoners had to be let out of their cells to get their packages. The guard on the cell cross asked another one, “Which Vulcănescu?”

– The murderer!

Once he’d taken his package, Mr. Mircea Vulcănescu called me to taste something from it. He said: 

– “Did you hear what he called me?” “The murderer.”

The man, who was so kind and gentle, was called a murderer, of course, because that’s what he was sentenced as: a war criminal. It was a pretty ungrateful situation, both for us and for most of the political prisoners in Aiud and elsewhere in the country. I also found out what happened to Mircea Vulcănescu, who was an exceptional and outstanding individual. He was a philosopher, writer, chemist, mathematician and sociologist. But he was also a very kind person, with a heart of gold. I forgot to mention that, after the big famine of 1949-1950, I only saw this great guy again when… He told me:

“I thought I’d give you a quick update on what happened to me after we parted.” I’ve been under investigation. They asked me to give some serious feedback on a few acquaintances who had important roles. I told them that. I’m afraid I can’t give you that information. I was a teacher, and I always encouraged my students to be honest and tell the truth. I’ve always been honest in my life. How could I act any differently now? They put me under a lot of pressure at the time, with hunger and lack of heat, and I ended up getting tuberculosis.

I came out of these experiences with a clean bill of health, but I was also unwell. I got better in the end. The legionnaires were kind enough to share their food with me. “I’m really happy we’re meeting again so I can tell you all this.”

And that was the end of our meeting. When we said our goodbyes, I was quite emotional and tearful. So this is what I found out happened to Mircea Vulcănescu afterwards. He and the university professor Nicolae Mărgineanu gave some lectures at Jilava. They were scientific, literary and historical conferences, but without any political character because they were forbidden. The prison director was a Turk called Maromet, who was a very cruel man. Mircea Vulcănescu was caught giving these lectures by Maromet, who was the director of the prison.

Maromet took them all out of the room, stripped them naked and took them to very cold rooms. They were left to freeze. One of the students couldn’t stand up straight and fell backwards onto the concrete floor. Then Mircea Vulcănescu said:

–  “No!” You don’t have to die, you’re still young. And he lay down on the cement and took the student on his chest until Maromet opened the door and took them back to get dressed.

Sadly, Mircea Vulcănescu passed away from tuberculosis. From what I understand, Mircea Vulcănescu was nearing the end of his sentence, or had just a year left. So, when the dawn of freedom was near, Mircea Vulcănescu made the ultimate sacrifice by accepting the student on his chest. Unfortunately, this led to his illness and death. I wonder how many people could make such a sacrifice for their brother? And Mircea Vulcănescu was born in 1903, so he wasn’t the type to say, “I’ve lived my life, I can die.”

I was shocked when I heard the news of his death. He was great in life; he was even greater in death. This was the death of a true philosopher.

The experience of imprisonment enriched Mircea Vulcănescu. I don’t know what he was thinking in his later years. He was a Christian philosopher. He pointed out to me that the Our Lady’s Akathist says, “Rejoice, laver that washes the conscience clean!” (in the eleventh ikos) and also, “Rejoice, laver that whases my defiled mind.” So we also need to cleanse our defiled minds. The washing is done through prayer and the Holy Mysteries. By getting rid of all the bad words, thoughts and images and filling your mind with the ideas, words and holy images of Christ, as well as the whole spirit of Christ and of the Blessed Mother. It would be great to track down the younger people who were with Mircea Vulcănescu in the last two or three years of his life to see if they have any insights into his final thoughts. We need to gather these and add them to what we already know to get a full picture of the man and philosopher Mircea Vulcănescu.

(Pr. Nicolae Grebenea – Memories from the darkness)