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Craiova Prison is a prison located in 
The prison was originally located outside the city, but was later included within its boundaries. When it was built of stone and brick in 1894–1897, it was a modern, horseshoe-shaped structure on three levels. Each of these had 30 cells; initially, the number of inmates did not exceed 300, but the total swelled to over 850 following the 1907 peasants’ revolt. Until 1944, it housed both common criminal and political prisoners, especially members of the banned
Craiova
Craiova (, also , ) is the largest city in southwestern Romania, List of Romanian cities, the seventh largest city in the country and the capital of Dolj County, situated near the east bank of the river Jiu River, Jiu in central Oltenia.
It i ...
, Romania.
The prison was originally located outside the city, but was later included within its boundaries. When it was built of stone and brick in 1894–1897, it was a modern, horseshoe-shaped structure on three levels. Each of these had 30 cells; initially, the number of inmates did not exceed 300, but the total swelled to over 850 following the 1907 peasants’ revolt. Until 1944, it housed both common criminal and political prisoners, especially members of the banned Romanian Communist Party
The Romanian Communist Party ( ; PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave an ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that would replace the social system ...
. These included Gheorghe Vasilichi, Constantin Doncea, and Dumitru Popescu, who managed to escape.
Following the establishment of a communist regime in 1947, the number of political prisoners grew constantly; at first, these were mainly National Peasants' Party affiliates. While conditions were relatively mild during the first wave of arrests in 1945–1947, when the communists had not yet fully consolidated power, they worsened sharply in the following years. Underfeeding led to endemic hunger and advanced anemia; this was exacerbated by those who cooked and served the food, common criminals who would take part of the political prisoners’ portions for themselves. Punishment for political detainees was harsher, and included an isolation cell. They were interrogated by teams of Securitate secret police agents inside the prison, as the basements in their building had become overcrowded with detainees. Some died following beatings by Securitate and Militia
A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...
personnel, their general state of health already weakened by conditions behind bars.Muraru, pp. 276-81
In the early 1950s, many peasants from the surrounding Oltenia
Oltenia (), also called Lesser Wallachia in antiquated versions – with the alternative Latin names , , and between 1718 and 1739 – is a historical province and geographical region of Romania in western Wallachia. It is situated between the Da ...
region were sent to Craiova. They were accused of sabotaging collectivization
Collective farming and communal farming are various types of "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member- ...
or of abetting the anti-communist resistance movement. The prison served as a transit center before they were sent on to the Danube–Black Sea Canal or other labor camps. A relaxation followed the death of Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
in 1953; this was reversed amidst the wave of arrests that occurred when the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was crushed, so that the number of detainees grew from a capacity of 1,100 to some 1,800. Notable inmates include , Nicolae Penescu, , Radu Câmpeanu, Corneliu Coposu, , Ioan Carlaonț, Ioan Hudiță, and Richard Wurmbrand, most of whom were transferred to other prisons in due time.
Detainees during the 2000s included , Omar Hayssam, and Miron Cozma.
Notes
References
* {{coord, 44.3217, 23.8123, type:landmark_region:RO, display=title Prisons in Romania Buildings and structures in Craiova