The quagmire… of humility

The five of us were kept in a corner of the room by the door. This part of the room was called the “Swamp” by Țurcanu.

We were considered pigs because we were not “honest” or “fair.” We were forced to grunt and squeal like pigs, responding to the command “grohogroho.”

We, the “swamp,” were compelled to receive our food while standing on one leg, one hand raised. The hot soup was poured onto our empty palms, which were already covered in painful sores.

The food was delivered by Țurcanu’s helpers—Stoian, Livinschi, and others like them—all re-educated from the front lines and some of the cruelest of the re-educated.

But this was not enough. Țurcanu devised another torment: the food bowl was placed before us. With our hands behind our backs and kneeling, we were forced to bend down like pigs to eat.

Even the slightest bend would upset my balance. My heavy torso would pitch me forward, and I would fall face-first into the hot soup, hitting my forehead and chin against the edges of the bowl simultaneously.

Every last drop had to be consumed, and any spilled on the floor had to be licked up.

This shock lasted more than two weeks, day and night, without rest or sleep.

Yet I survived. Once they judged that our physical and moral strength had been sufficiently broken, they began to ask the questions that were the true purpose of the Securitate, operating secretly, from the shadows.

(Testimony of Aurel Obreja – Testimonies from the Hell of the Communist Dungeons)