Ghizela Vass (also Gisela or Gisella Vass; April 22, 1912 – 2004), a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

, was an activist and politician of the

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 ...

(PCR). In its 2007 report, the

Presidential Commission for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Romania The Presidential Commission for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Romania (), also known as the Tismăneanu Commission (''Comisia Tismăneanu''), was a commission started in Romania by Romanian President Traian Băsescu to investigate th ...

identified her as one of the two main agents of the

Communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

involved in policies pertaining to external affairs. Born in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

, Vass went through seven years of elementary school, later attending the

Ștefan Gheorghiu Academy The Ștefan Gheorghiu Academy (Romanian: ''Academia Ștefan Gheorghiu'', in full: ''Academia de învățămînt social-politic Ștefan Gheorghiu de pe lîngă CC al PCR'' — roughly, ''Ștefan Gheorghiu Academy for Socio-Political Education ...

. A seamstress by trade, she joined the textile workers’ union in 1930 and was part of

International Red Aid International Red Aid (also commonly known by its Russian acronym MOPR) was an international social-service organization. MOPR was founded in 1922 by the Communist International to function as an "international political Red Cross", providing ma ...

Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ; formerly known as Kishinev) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Moldova, largest city of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial centre, and is located in the middle of the coun ...

from 1931 to 1933. She joined the Romanian Communist Party, then illegal, in 1933. Arrested, she was imprisoned at Mislea and

Dumbrăveni Dumbrăveni (before 1945 ''Ibașfalău''; ; Saxon dialect: ''Eppeschdorf''; ) is a town in the north of Sibiu County, in the centre of Transylvania, central Romania. The town administers two villages, Ernea (''Ehrgang''; ''Argung''; ''Szászerny ...

prisons. A Jew, she was deported to the

Transnistria Governorate The Transnistria Governorate () was a Romanian-administered territory between the Dniester and Southern Bug, conquered by the Axis Powers from the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa. A Romanian civilian administration governed the territo ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Theodor Wexler, Mihaela Popov
"Viitorul poporului evreu, varianta comunistă"
''Memoria'', 2001 where she was held at the

Vapniarka concentration camp The Vapniarka concentration camp was a Romania, Romanian-administered concentration camp established in occupied Transnistria Governorate in Vapniarka, Ukraine during the Second World War. History Soon after Romania, under the leadership of I ...

together with ,

Simion Bughici Simion Bughici (b. Simon David, December 14, 1914 – February 1, 1997) was a Romanian communist politician who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania. Life and career Bughici was born in Iași to a Jewish family of klezmer mu ...

, , Andrei Bernat, , , and Emanuel Vinea. After the coup of August 23, 1944, she held a number of positions in the PCR (which soon after became the Romanian Workers' Party, PMR), starting as a member of the

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

county party committee bureau. In 1948 she joined the

Ilfov County Ilfov () is the Counties of Romania, county that surrounds Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It used to be largely rural, but, after the fall of communism, many of the county's villages and communes developed into high-income commuter towns, whi ...

party committee.Florica Dobre, Liviu Marius Bejenaru, Clara Cosmineanu-Mareș, Monica Grigore, Alina Ilinca, Oana Ionel, Nicoleta Ionescu-Gură, Elisabeta Neagoe-Pleșa, Liviu Pleșa
''Membrii C.C. al P.C.R. (1945–1989). Dicționar''
Bucharest: Editura Enciclopedică, 2004, p. 608. Vass served as adjunct to the chief of the Organizational Section of the Central Committee of the PMR; president of the county committee of party member verification from

Reșița Reșița (; ; ; ; ; ; ) is a city in western Romania and the capital of Caraș-Severin County. It is located in the Banat region. The city had a population of 58,393 in 2021. It administers six villages: Câlnic (''Kölnök''), Cuptoare (''Kupt ...

, secretary of the Bucharest city party committee (from January 1953); chief of the Women's Party Work Section of the Central Committee of the PMR (1955 – 24 January 1956); inspector for the Central Committee of the PMR and coordinator of the Foreign Cadres and Foreign Relations Sections of the Central Committee of the PMR (until January 1957); chief of the Foreign Relations Section of the Central Committee of the PMR (January 1957 – November 1965); chief of the International Section of the Central Committee of the PMR (from November 1965); and adjunct to the chief of the International Relations and International Economic Cooperation Section of the Central Committee of the PCR (1975 – February 1982). She retired in February 1982. Vass was an alternate member of the Central Committee of the PMR (23 February 1948 – 27 May 1952) and a member of the Central Committee of the Romanian PMR (later PCR) (27 May 1952 – 22 November 1984). She served in the Great National Assembly from 1952 to 1957, elected for the

Focșani Focșani (; ) is the capital city of Vrancea County in Romania on the banks the river Milcov, in the historical region of Moldavia. , it has a population of 66,719. Geography Focșani lies at the foot of the Curvature Carpathians, at a point of ...

district, Regiunea Bârlad. She was awarded membership in the following orders:

Order of the Star of the Romanian People's Republic The Order of the Star of the Socialist Republic of Romania (), from 1948 to 1965 the Order of the Star of the Romanian People's Republic (), was the second-highest honor bestowed by the Socialist Republic of Romania (known as the Socialist Republic ...

, class III (1948); class II (1964); , class II (1948); class I (1962); Order "Defense of the Fatherland", class II (1949); , class II (1959); and , class II (1966). Additionally, she was given the title "

Hero of Socialist Labour The Hero of Socialist Labour () was an Title of honor, honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It represented the highest degree of distinction in the USSR and was awarded for exceptional achievem ...

of the Romanian Socialist Republic" in 1971. She was married to Ladislau (László) Vass (1912–1977), himself a Central Committee member. The couple, who lived for many years on Zambaccian Street, nr. 1, in the Dorobanți neighborhood of Bucharest, had the children. One daughter, Ecaterina, became a professor at the

Politehnica University of Bucharest Politehnica University of Bucharest () is a technical university in Bucharest, Romania founded in 1818.Bogdan Olteanu Bogdan Olteanu (born 29 October 1971) is a Romanian politician and lawyer. He was the president of the Chamber of Deputies (the lower house of the Romanian Parliament) between 2006 and 2008. Olteanu had formerly been a member of the National Li ...

, the former

president of the Chamber of Deputies of Romania The President of the Chamber of Deputies of Romania is the deputy elected to preside over the meetings in the lower chamber of the Parliament of Romania. The President of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania), Chamber of Deputies is also the presiden ...

. The other daughter, Zoia, studied Law and left for the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1980, while the son, Gheorghe, died in his youth.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vass, Ghizela 1912 births 2004 deaths Politicians from Iași Romanian Communist Party politicians 20th-century Romanian women politicians Survivors of World War II deportations to Transnistria Romanian trade unionists Romanian Jews Recipients of the Order of the Star of the Romanian Socialist Republic