The Cavnic Colony

Through this colony, made up of 6 barracks in the middle of the village, so isolated that you didn’t know where you were, with a capacity of 500 – 600 people, several thousand prisoners with long sentences and punishments sent from the Canal passed. The work was done in Orizont St. George, because in St. Theresa it was impossible to work because of the 42 degrees heat.

The commander was a gypsy, nicknamed Danciu, a brute like all those who led forced labour.

Conditions were harsh, not only at work, but also in life after the mine. There were countless strikes and protests to improve the situation. On top of all this, some people risked their lives to escape and gain their freedom.

On the night of 7 June 1953, a group of 14 determined men escaped from the Cavnic mine:

Cavalry officer Ion Pantazi, son of General Constantin Pantazi; 

Officer Constantin Coșereanu, of the Armoured Corps; 

Paul Iovânescu, doctor from Poiana Mare, 

Ion Ioanid, from Mehedinți; 

Chiper Gheorghe, Moldavian farmer; 

Miltiade Ionescu, doctor, head of class at the “Mihai Viteazu” military high school, from Galați; 

Two brothers, Cojocarii, from Vrancea; 

Two brothers, Brânzaru, from Vrancea, 

Mircea Vueric, mechanic; 

Titi Spânu, tailor, 

Colea Ungureanu, sergeant; 

Ciocâlteu Alexandru, from Galiciuica commune, Dolj county, turned informer; 

In addition to those who sought freedom, many others passed through Cavnic, but we kept them: 

Doctor Tudose, who worked in the kitchen; 

Doctor Niculae Romanescu, from Craiova; 

Captain Lupu; 

Ionică Baurceanu; 

Dan Cernovodeanu; 

Bratu Alexandru; 

Ion Caraion; 

Colonel Ștefănescu, who executed the Ukrainian partisans who had attacked the leadership of a division in 1956 when the war criminals were released, was asked by the prosecutor to testify that he had received orders to execute the partisans. He refused and so could not benefit from the decree and had to stay on.

Badiu Virgil, theologian and teacher;

The Resurrection of 1954 took place in Orizontul St. George, and the service was conducted by the priest Mocanu Oancea, from Pecineaga. The following year, Easter was celebrated in the same uplifting atmosphere, with the participation of priests Rață, Paul Șefer, Dumitraș and Butnaru.

It is necessary to mention the attitude of one of the prisoners, who allowed himself to throw mud on some worthy people, true Romanians of their ancestors, who tried to earn their freedom by risking their lives. The escape on the night of 6-7 July 1953 was an act of great courage, and its success was due to the fact that those who carried it out were determined characters.

Marin Preda, in his novel “The Most Beloved of Earthlings”, deliberately distorts history and the account belongs to Victor Petrini, the fictitious name of one of those mentioned above, who said on p. 65 of Volume 2, said:

“One day something happens in the camp, and our situation now becomes, in memory, idyllic of the one to come. It was precisely these informers who, because of their privileged position in the camp, organised a successful escape. The escapees were caught the same night. The next day they were all loaded onto a truck and driven out of the camp. Where did he send them? The guards had spread the rumour that they had been shot; in fact, as we later learned, they had been scattered to other prisons and camps, where they became terrible torturers, promoted in rank under the real threat that if they did not do what was asked of them, they would be executed for the Baia Sprie escape.”

It is a disgrace that this former political prisoner allowed his colleague Marin Preda, distorting reality, to defend Nikolski, Cseller, Dulgheru, Teohari Georgescu, the executioners of the Romanian nation, who filled the camps with elements re-educated in Pitesti, the real torturers. These re-educated in the morals of the Communist Party were the spies, the murderers and thugs, and all those who terrorised the prisoners in the prisons.

(Cicerone Ionițoiu – Graves without crosses. Contributions to the Chronicle of the Romanian Resistance to Dictatorship. Volume II)