Spiru Blănaru’s message to the Romanian people
On 16 January 1949, a law was passed that provided for the death penalty for anyone found to be fighting against the state and causing deaths in the ranks of the Security Service forces. All we had left was to fight to the death.
On 23 January 1949 I went to Spiru Blănaru to discuss what we should do. We were expecting a major attack by the Security Service forces. We arrived there, led by Tudor Ruset, my courier. The group was based on the Tomnacica hill, north-east of Teregova.
It’s about 7km there. Slatina-Timiș is 15 km away. The atmosphere in all the surrounding villages was heavy.
A sense of unease had gripped all of us who had fought in the battle. There was great hope and unshakable faith that we would win. We were all praying and hoping for the best. There was no going back. The fight against communism had to be fought even at the cost of our lives. We all felt that death was circling around us. We were few. They were many. Stalin was behind them with his army. We, the few, had faith in God and in our mission to defend our faith, our nation and our country. After long discussions, we agreed with the whole group, led by Spiru Blănaru and Petru Domășneanu, not to make a frontal attack. If they are surprised, they will fight back.
I would also like to entrust Spiru’s message to the Romanian people. While I was talking to him up there, in the middle of the forest, which was trembling with fear, he confided in me at length many things that had been on his mind. It was a winter’s day, not too cold, although the blue of the sky was a sign of frost, the sun bathed the sky with an unimaginable picturesqueness, the snow did not melt. Myriads of little white stars reflected the glistening white of the snow. It was an enchantment. As the turmoil in our souls grew, so did the enchantment of nature, with the whiteness of the snow sparkling in the sun. The striking contrast of the hills wrapped in white cloaks was a wake-up call. As I said, they were many, backed by Russian tanks, and we were few and unarmed. In this battle with evil, we had only God with us. Hunted from all sides, in a harsh winter, we struggled to find a way out. It was in this atmosphere of spiritual turmoil that Spiru began his confession.
His heart opened and he said:
– Brother Tase Berzescu, we are caught in a vice. I don’t know which of us will come out alive. But I think you will. It’s good to know some of my thoughts.
Sitting like this, side by side, in the middle of the snow, listening to what Spiru was telling me. The law on the death penalty had already been passed. This is what Spiru tells me:
a) – Since I have been sitting here in a group with these men, determined to fight to the death, I have noticed something very important in their behaviour. Although we are politically different, we get along like brothers. We make no distinction between ourselves. Here, as you know, there are many legionaries, peasants, liberals and soldiers. We’ve been together for so long that I’ve never heard them make any political distinction. We are all Romanians and we must be united in the face of the enemy. Although the greatest sin of the Romanians is the lack of unity, here we have managed, in spite of this sin, to achieve unity among ourselves.
b) – In the face of danger, we remembered God. We all pray to escape the evil clash between good and evil. Friendship was achieved, the bond without which there will never be victory.
c) – I want my family at home to know, when the time comes, what I went through, what the conditions of life were and what the chances of victory over communism were. We have come to terms with the fact that we will eventually have to die. I, Brother Tase, am certain that I will die, and I entrust these thoughts of mine to you, not as a message, but as some of my fears as a man. My son, if he should escape with his life, as well as my wife, I would like her to know what I have gone through.
d) – I love our country, our Romanian people. I want it to be free, great and united. May God be with it. May the division of parties disappear. The Romanian people are born Christians. We have a moral obligation to our children to bequeath to them the true faith of our ancestors and the responsibility to our great-grandparents, who were raised in Christian law. Do this, my brother, and it will be enough for me. Let those who come after us know what we did and what we thought in the “deep darkness”.
This confession of thoughts and desires was followed by a moment of silence, of stillness, of inner life for both of us. We knew that we were in a struggle with death. As if awakened from a dream, we looked into each other’s eyes, united in thoughts and hopes, we embraced and kissed and said goodbye. We have not seen each other since. These were Spiru Blănaru’s thoughts, entrusted to me. He was not expecting a message. But I see it as a message to all Romanians, to the country, especially about unity, which is still lacking.
After saying goodbye to Spiru, I spoke with Petru Domășneanu for almost an hour. The Commander told me the same things, the same wishes, and entrusted me with his words for the future.
They both loved their country and the Christian law, for which they sacrificed themselves.
(Athanasius Berzescu, Tears and Blood. Armed Anti-Communist Resistance in the Banat Mountains, Marineasa Publishing House, Timișoara, 1999, pp. 53-56)