“The crime of treason” – the free thought of an intellectual

“15 years hard labour for the crime of treason against the Fatherland”: Prisoner no. 344/1962 

In the file P/336 “Constantin Noica and others”, volume I, we read from the “indictment” on page 271 (14 April 1959) “Pillat C. received from abroad and smuggled into the country materials of a highly counter-revolutionary nature, in which he incited action against the regime and propagated the restoration of the old capitalist regime in the country, etc. …ț distributed them among elements hostile to the regime, with whom he held highly hostile discussions, and …ț in which he praised the Western way of life and advocated the outbreak of war. Out of his hatred for the democratic and popular order in the P.R.R., Pillat Constantin conceived and wrote several counter-revolutionary materials, which he distributed”.

Dinu Pillat’s replies to the interrogation of 26 February 1960 will enlighten those who do not know what lies behind these accusations, which would have been laughable had they not caused tragedy and destroyed lives. Let’s go back:

– The “materials he had distributed” with so-called counter-revolutionary content were… only one, namely the preface to the anthology “Romanian Poetry in Exile”, written by Vintilă Horia;

– Believing in the autonomy of art, he “commented on the development of literature in the P.R.R. in the sense that there was no real freedom of writing and that this literature was, according to the norm, false, inauthentic and therefore invalid”.

– Dinu Pillat admitted that he appreciated “the writings of Cioran Em. and Eliade M.” and that he attended the cenacles of Barbu Slătineanu, where he met V. Voiculescu, Vladimir Streinu, Șerban Cioculescu, Alice Voinescu;

– Together with Paleologu Alexandru he demonstrated against the communist terror;

– Together with Arșavir Acterian he discussed the counter-revolution in Hungary as a legitimate revolt of the Hungarian people.

*

The famous trial of the intellectuals against the “Noica-Pillat lot” was a frame-up. The Securitate was the director. People who didn’t know each other were lumped together. A lesson had to be learnt, the Communist Party and the “People’s Democratic” regime had found a way to give the coup de grace to the most enlightened minds, the most promising personalities in Romania, whose universal structure could bear fruit anywhere in the world. The “heads” of the lot were Constantin Noica and Dinu Pillat. Nicolae Steinhardt, Alexandru Pelologu, Vladimir Streinu and many other intellectuals of different backgrounds also belonged to the group.

In fact, in the conclusions of the indictment against Dinu Pillat, we read: “He combines his instigating activity with the counter-revolutionary activity of Noica Constantin and his accomplices. They are considered to be the leaders of the group”. And it goes on: “The continuous consolidation of our regime, the achievements on the road to the construction of socialism, have increased the hatred of the accused Noica C. and Pillat C. and their accomplices, and as a result they have intensified their counter-revolutionary activity and … they are enemies of the struggle and the achievements of the working people, alien to the interests of the fatherland”.

On 1 March 1960, the Military Tribunal “deliberated in secret on the guilt and the application of the punishment in the case of Pillat C., who was tried for the crime of treason against the fatherland, punishable under article 194 of the Penal Code, and for the crime of conspiracy against the social order”. “In the name of the people”, the court “sentences Pillat C. to:

– 25 years of hard labour, 10 years of civil disgrace and confiscation of all his private property for the crime of incitement against the social order.

– 15 years’ imprisonment for the crime of treason against the fatherland, including the offences referred to in Article 194/2 of the Penal Code. On the basis of Article 191, the convicted person shall serve the heaviest sentence, i.e. 25 years of hard labour, 10 years of civic degradation, and shall have all his personal property confiscated”. 

*

Dinu Pillat, arrested on the night of 25-26 March 1959 and imprisoned in Malmaison, served his sentence in Jilava and Gherla. But let’s return to file P/336 “Constantin Noica and others” – A.C.N.S.A.S., first to volume I where, on page 204, we find the detention order of 24 March 1959 (M.A.I. – Directorate of Criminal Investigations) issued by the Criminal Security Investigator, and on page 205 – arrest warrant no. 128/P of 26 March 1959, in which the Criminal Security Investigator of the M.A.I. Criminal Investigation Directorate, “in the name of the law and the people”, orders his arrest and detention at the M.A.I., “since his act qualifies as a crime”.

However, it seems to me that volume 14 of the same file, P/336, is more conclusive, more open to comment and more bitter. This volume contains some of the prison files of the “Noica-Pillat” group. It also contains Dinu Pillat’s prison file.

The first thing to note is the writer’s physical condition. The fifties were difficult years for intellectuals because they came from the “bourgeois-muslim regime”. Most of them lived a precarious existence. Poorly fed, poorly paid, most were plagued by chronic illnesses, serious illnesses (often fatal); tuberculosis – the disease of deprivation and poverty – was rampant. So those who were to be punished by the Communist authorities for the “crime” of thinking freely entered the dungeons of horror, sick and weakened by their precarious existence. Dinu Pillat was a victim even before his imprisonment. In his body, tuberculosis will make its deaf, deep and total way. In addition to the tortures and brutalities of prison life, he will carry his own diseased body like a burden. We will prove it with documents.

I return to the prison file of Pilat (sic!) I. Constantin in file P/336 volume 14 of the A.C.N.S.A.S.

The beginning, abrupt and rich in mind-boggling information: on cover I: the prisons he endured and the serial numbers he bore:

1. M.A.I. – prison “B”
2. Jilava 4/3.03.1962
3. Gherla 344/1962

File No: 281/1959

Name: Pilat (sic!) I.
Surname: Constantin
False names, nicknames: Dinu
Prevented since: 26 March 1959
Convicted on: 01.03.1960
Inside cover I of the file:
Prevented (preventive arrest – n.n.) 26.03.1959
– Bottom left – fingerprint and signature.
M.A.I. Penitentiary – Prison B –

In chronological order, on page 215 we find, on the reverse side, the fingerprint formula containing the fingerprints of both hands, taken at the M.A.I. prison B on 28.03.1959.

The file contains many medical references proving the advanced degree of Dinu Pillat’s illness. The first evidence of tuberculosis appears in the file on 16 January 1960, when he was admitted to Văcărești Hospital for radiological examination “on the basis of the diagnosis of T.B.C.”. Three months later, on April 3, 1960, on a medical report it is written at the bottom left “arrested c.r. (counter-revolutionary – n.n.), and on April 17 following a “pulmonary examination” it is noted: “Bilateral upper fibronodular T.B.C., suspected left subclavicular ulceration. Right broad radipleuritis”. The medical conclusions are serious, the patient – in an advanced state of helplessness and suffering. Yet the punishment continues unabated. Relentless. Like destiny.

The document on page 208 of file P/336, volume 14, issued by the Military Tribunal of Military Region II – Bucharest – File 102/1960 is the Warrant for the execution of sentence no. 138/60 of 14.04.1960 where “Pillat I. Constantin Ș…ț was sentenced to 25 years of hard labour and 15 years of imprisonment Ș…ț. According to art. 101 of the Criminal Code, he shall serve 25 years of hard labour because, together with others, in the period 1945-1958, he carried out propaganda and agitation activities for the change of the existing social order in the state, both in the discussions held during clandestinely organised meetings and in the counter-revolutionary writings written by him and Noica Constantin. He also sent tendentious and slanderous information about the situation in the P.R.R. to an imperialist intelligence service in the West.

His sentence began on 27.03.1959 and expired on 19.03.1984.” 

File 193 contains the medical sheet for prisoners issued by the Jilava Prison. Date of completion of the file: 9 March 1962. The content of this sheet tells everything about Dinu Pillat’s imprisonment, the hard labour, the investigations, the tortures, the cold, the hunger, the humiliation. The tragedy of it emerges from every medical line, without pathetic comments. We read:

“Contagious history: bilateral pulmonary T.B.C. since 1944. Denies infectious diseases. 

Diagnosis – bilateral pulmonary TB. 

Fitness for work – Unfit for work. 

Verso: Clinical examination: Progressive pulmonary T.B.C.” 

File 196: Another Radiological Bulletin no. 664 of 27 March 1962 issued by the Jilava – M.A.I. 

The Sanitary Service expresses the result of the radiological examination of that date: 

Right apical micronoduli 

Bilateral subclavicular fibronodular lesions with emphysema bubbles 

Right hilar and parahilar fibrous lesions.

The disease was advancing rapidly in all its possible forms, with nodules, fibrous lesions, emphysema, encompassing and crushing the lungs down to the clavicles…

*

On page 198 of the prisoner’s file, there is a characterisation certificate issued on 21 January 1964 by the commander of the Gherla formation (Captain Trocaru Petre). There was a glimmer of light. According to decree 511-1964.

Dinu Pillat should be “released by pardoning the remainder of his sentence”. But let’s have a look at this characterisation:

“He was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment (hard labour – n.n.) for having carried out, together with others, propaganda and agitation for the change of the existing social order in the state in the period 1945-1958, both in the discussions held at clandestinely organised meetings and through the counter-revolutionary writings written by him and Noica Constantin. He also wrote tendentious and slanderous information about the situation in the P.R.R. and sent it to an imperialist espionage service in the West.

He spent time in Jilava and Gherla prisons.

“The prisoner suffers from bilateral subclavian fibronodular pulmonary T.B.C., chronic duodenitis. He is unfit for work”.

Predictable end: on page 191.

The address of the Gherla prison (the writer’s last prison – n.n.) no. 0606 no. 3950 of 28 July 1964 states “the release of Pillat Constantin and his profession as a researcher. He was arrested on 26.03.1959 on the basis of arrest warrant no. 138/1960 issued by the T.M.R. II Buc (Bucharest Region II Military Tribunal – n.n.) and sentenced to 25 years hard labour by criminal judgment no. 24/1960 of the Tribunal – T.M.Reg. II M. Bucharest, for conspiracy, Article 209 of the Penal Code.

He was released by pardon for the remainder of his sentence under Decree 511-1964″.

It should be noted that 6 months elapsed between the issuance of the Adevertia certificate of 21 January 1964, which was required for release from prison, and 28 July 1964, “when the release of Pillat Constantin was announced”…

Dinu Pillat lived until 1975. According to his wife, Cornelia Pillat, he was a “great senior”. Born in a palace, he never showed his sadness by missing the charm of Miorcan or the beauty of the Balkans, places dear to him. I met him in the 1970s. I would never have guessed, knowing this distinguished and kind gentleman, that he had been through hell and had been rescued from it. He was alive, although he’d gone through sufferings that had shown him at least one side of death…

(Ioana Diaconescu – România Literară)