Cluj Prison was a prison located in

Cluj Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

, Romania. Situated in the city center, the prison had three distinct sections: main, minors and courthouse. With 56 rooms of various sizes, it was located in the eastern part of the Palace of Justice, completed in 1902 under

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

. Prior to the establishment of a

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 ...

-led government in 1945, the prison housed common criminals such as thieves, forgers and vandals with sentences of up to one year. Prisoners who received longer sentences were then transferred to

Aiud Aiud (; , , Hungarian pronunciation: ; ) is a city located in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania. The city's population is 21,307 (2021). It has the status of municipiu. The city derives its name ultimately from Saint Giles (Aegidius), to whom t ...

and

Gherla Prison Gherla Prison is a penitentiary located in the Romanian city of Gherla (), in Cluj County. The prison dates from 1785; it is infamous for the treatment of its political inmates, especially during the Communist regime. In Romanian slang, the generi ...

s. The prison held about 130-170 people at any given time, of whom ten to twelve accused communists. In 1940, after the

Second Vienna Award The Second Vienna Award was the second of two territorial disputes that were arbitrated by Nazi Germany and the Kingdom of Italy. On 30 August 1940, they assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania, including all of Maramureș and part of Cri ...

temporarily awarded

Northern Transylvania Northern Transylvania (, ) was the region of the Kingdom of Romania that during World War II, as a consequence of the August 1940 territorial agreement known as the Second Vienna Award, became part of the Kingdom of Hungary (1920-1946), Kingdom ...

to Hungary, ethnic Romanian prisoners were sent to Romania, while Hungarian detainees remained there.Muraru, pp. 263-65 After 1945, prisoners were again held at Cluj in pre-trial custody and sent elsewhere once their cases were over. In 1945–1950, the prison population numbered 800–1000, of whom 500-600 were common criminals and the rest political prisoners. In 1950–1956, of 500-600 detainees, some 400 were common criminals. Subsequently, until the late 1960s, the total fell to 400, of whom 10-15 were political. There were some 200 minors in 1953, all common criminals. Between 1945 and 1948, thirty-one escapes were recorded. In 1950, the

Securitate The Department of State Security (), commonly known as the Securitate (, ), was the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. It was founded on 30 August 1948 from the '' Siguranța'' with help and direction from the Soviet MG ...

secret police executed at least thirteen members of the anti-communist resistance movement inside the prison.

Nicolae Mărgineanu Nicolae may refer to: * Nicolae (name), an Aromanian and Romanian name * ''Nicolae'' (novel), a 1997 novel See also *Nicolai (disambiguation) *Nicolao Nicolao is an Italian given name and a surname. It may refer to the following: Given name *Ni ...

underwent a violent interrogation just before being released in 1964, and beatings were especially common while prisoners were being escorted to and from court. It is credibly asserted by witnesses that during these walks, the Securitate shot tens of detainees, whose deaths were recorded as having occurred while attempting to flee or attacking guards.Muraru, pp. 265-68

Notes

References

* {{Communist Romania prisons Defunct prisons in Romania Buildings and structures in Cluj-Napoca