Talking with Valentina Gafencu about Ioan Ianolide and the drama of their love

Mrs. Valentina Gafencu, sister of the martyr Valeriu Gafencu (1921-1952) and fiancée of the Christian confessor Ioan Ianolide (1919-1986), still hopes for the rebirth of the Romanian nation.

In fact, all her life she has seen things only from the perspective of salvation… (Gheorghiță Ciocioi)

Did you live in the village of Ioan Ianolide?

Yes, I did. When I visited Valeriu, through all the prisons he went through, I met his best friend, Ioan. In Galda they were in a kind of semi-liberty for a while. After a while, knowing Ioan better, we decided to get engaged. The engagement took place in the church of the Galda colony, in front of the priest. My mother and John’s parents were there. My mother, poor thing, said as if to herself: “My God, another prisoner in our family! To protect us, Ioan sent us to Dobrotești. There we taught Romanian and lived in the house of John’s aunt. She actually had two houses.

How long did you live in Dobrotești?

Almost 5 years. In 1952, when I was at school, the mayor of the commune, Popa, came and said to me: “Good that I found you here! The police are after you. I think you’d better leave. I also want to tell you that your husband, Valeriu Gafencu, died in Târgu Ocna”. “He is my brother” – I said. And we had to leave Dobrotești. But we were not allowed to go to Valeriu’s funeral…

Where did you move to?

My mother and I moved to Ploiești. We stayed there for a few years. Around 1962, Ioan’s father and his sister Maria came to live with us. Ioan’s father was of Aromanian origin. A righteous man. He said to me, reproducing exactly: “Valentina, you have waited 18 years for Ioan. We don’t know if he’s still alive. We haven’t heard from him in so many years. We advise you, if you find a good soul, to get married. Those words hit me hard. I was nearly 39 at the time. I met my future husband through a relative. He had just returned from the Soviet Union after 16 years in prison. He did not want to return home with the “Tudor Vladimirescu” or “Horia, Cloșca and Crișan” divisions… Two years later, Ioan was also released from prison. Can you imagine?

I almost don’t know how to go on with the discussion…

I was married by then. Unknown to me, he told a friend to wait for him at the station. We lived near Bucharest, in Voluntari. I couldn’t go. He first went to an aunt’s house on 1 May Street. His clothes were torn. When he saw that I wasn’t waiting for him, he got scared and asked for everyone. He left me behind. My aunt told him that night that I was fine. But when he found out[1] the truth the next day, he started to tremble… We finally met… I still remember how, in hospital, John gave me a pen and paper to write on: Forgive me! I asked him, when he understood the situation better, after contacting his family, if I should divorce him. John told me, crushed, that the sacrament of marriage is greater than engagement. …. In 1986 he moved on. All the time he was carving little road side crosses, little crosses… and praying… My husband, who spent 16 years in Siberia… What else can I tell you about our life?

Mrs. Valentina Gafencu, what helped you to resist, to carry your cross until today?

Only God. The faith that He knows everything, sees everything. That’s how I saw things.

[1] John Ioanolide was to testify in his memoirs about the dramatic news: “I bowed my head and burst into a deep cry, which will never end in my soul. Everything was a disaster, a ruin, a wreck, and I was a nightmare, a spectacle`, a chimera.”