Ionel Jora
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Ioan "Ionel" Jora (20 June 1921 – 5 June 1950) was 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 ...
n
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 ...
activist and officer of 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 ...
'', Romania's secret police, who was assassinated by the son of a suspect he had apprehended.


Biography

Ionel Jora was the third child of a working-class family from the port of
Galați Galați ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names) is the capital city of Galați County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the river Danube. and the sixth-larges ...
; his parents, Ion and Tudorița, were under the surveillance of ''
Siguranța ''Siguranța'' was the generic name for the successive secret police services in the Kingdom of Romania. The official title of the organization changed throughout its history, with names including Directorate of the Police and General Safety () ...
'', Romania's secret police before
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 ...
, for their communist convictions. By fourteen, he was already working as a shop boy, and joined the
Galați shipyard The Galați shipyard (), formally Damen Shipyards Galați, is a shipyard located on the maritime sector of the Danube in Galați, a city located in the Moldavia region of Romania. It was founded in 1893 as the ''G. Fernic et Co Mechanical constru ...
as an apprentice in 1936. After participating in
industrial action Industrial action (British English) or job action (American English) is a temporary show of dissatisfaction by employees—especially a strike or slowdown or working to rule—to protest against bad working conditions or low pay and to increas ...
together with older workers, he came under pressure from his employer and the ''Siguranța'', being forced to leave the shipyards for the ''Gallus'' paint factory in 1938. Soon after, in 1940, he was recruited into the outlawed
Union of Communist Youth The Union of Communist Youth ( Romanian: '; UTC) was the Romanian Communist Party's youth organisation. Like many Young Communist organisations, it was modelled after the Soviet Komsomol. It aimed to cultivate young cadres into the party, as ...
. By October 1940, together with his brother Alexandru, Jora was part of a communist cell constituted at the shipyard. The cell held several clandestine meetings and on the night 12–13 December 1940 organised the distribution of manifestos directed at the shipyard employees, workers of the port and the general populace. The latter manifestos condemned the indifference of the authorities towards the victims of the
1940 Vrancea earthquake The 1940 Vrancea earthquake, also known as the 1940 Bucharest earthquake, () occurred on Sunday, 10 November 1940, in Romania, at 03:39 (local time), when the majority of the population was at home. The 1940 earthquake registered a magnitude of ...
and called on the inhabitants to protest the presence of German troops in the city. During this period, Jora met future communist leader
Miron Constantinescu Miron Constantinescu (13 December 1917 – 18 July 1974) was a Romanian communist politician, a leading member of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR, known as PMR for a period of his lifetime), as well as a Marxist sociologist, historian, academic ...
, who had been sent to the city to coordinate the communist cells in the region. One of the meetings took place in a room rented by Jora, as he had left home due to disagreements with his father. The same room was also used for preparing propaganda work and organising the cell. In the early days of 1941, as Romania's dictator
Ion Antonescu Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and MareÈ™al (Romania), marshal who presided over two successive Romania during World War II, wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister of Romania, Prime Minister and ''ConducÄ ...
was aligning the country closer with
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
, Jora was involved in spreading
anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...
flyers in his native town. After one member of the cell was apprehended during the action, the local police quickly rounded up all suspected communists in the city, including Jora and his brother. On Jora's arrest, a pack of manifestos were found under his clothes. As reported later by the Securitate's internal news bulletin, as well as biographic article in the ''
Magazin Istoric ''Magazin Istoric'' () is a Romanian monthly magazine. Overview ''Magazin Istoric'' was started in 1967. The first issue appeared in April 1967. The headquarters is in Bucharest. The monthly magazine contains articles and pictures about Romanian ...
'' magazine, during interrogations Jora refused to divulge information regarding his comrades. After a trial that lasted only four days, on 10 February 1941 the Military Tribunal of the 3rd Army Corps sentenced the Jora brothers to five years of
penal labour Penal labour is a term for various kinds of forced labour that prisoners are required to perform, typically manual labour. The work may be light or hard, depending on the context. Forms of sentence involving penal labour have included in ...
and civic degradation each. Eleven other members of the cell received sentences ranging from 5 to 14 years of hard labour. The communist activists, imprisoned in the Galați Penitentiary, organised themselves in four party cells coordinated by a prison committee, and attended courses in history of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...
, economy, arithmetic and others held by members of the group, including Constantinescu. The members of the group were moved to other prisons during the summer of 1941; suffering from lung disease, Ionel Jora was ultimately transferred to the
Târgu Ocna Prison Târgu Ocna Prison is a prison located in Târgu Ocna, Bacău County, Romania. History Early years In 1851, when Prince of Moldavia, Prince Grigore Alexandru Ghica visited the area, he was impressed by the poor conditions in which detainees work ...
in early 1944. After the
1944 Romanian coup d'état Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...
, with the Communist Party recognized as a legal organisation, Jora worked as an activist for the
Covurlui County Covurlui County is one of the historic counties of Moldavia, Romania. The county seat was Galați. In 1938, the county was disestablished and incorporated into the newly formed Ținutul Dunării, but it was re-established in 1940 after the fall of ...
party committee. For a short time beginning with 1947, he returned to the Galați shipyard to work as a
turner Turner may refer to: People and fictional characters * Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name *One who uses a lathe for tur ...
. Dissatisfied with this position, in early 1948 Ionel Jora requested to enrol in the ''Siguranța'', soon to become the General Directorate for the Security of the People, joining as a lieutenant. In this capacity, together with other officers, he led a team active against anti-government armed bands which were hiding in the
Vrancea Mountains The Vrancea Mountains () are a mountain range in the Curvature Carpathians in Romania. Located mostly in western Vrancea County, they also cover parts of Bacău, Buzău, and Covasna counties. The highest peak is , at . To the south are the an ...
. The band, constituted of members of the fascist
Iron Guard The Iron Guard () was a Romanian militant revolutionary nationalism, revolutionary Clerical fascism, religious fascist Political movement, movement and political party founded in 1927 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as the Legion of the Archangel M ...
, had been robbing local household and tourists, destroying sheepfolds, attacking local
collective farms 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-o ...
and had killed several forest workers. The ''Securitate'' managed to capture all of the members of the band, including its leader, who had initially managed to flee. Jora has been credited by ''Magazin Istoric'' with personally capturing the leader and preventing him from attacking another operative. He was also involved in the capture of another clandestine member of the Iron Guard who was preparing to flee the country. By the summer of 1949, Jora had been promoted to substitute political officer of the
Râmnicu Sărat County Râmnicu Sărat County is one of the historic counties of Muntenia, Romania. The county seat was Râmnicu Sărat. Geography Râmnicu Sărat County covered 3,324 km2 and was located in central-south-eastern part of Greater Romania, in the nort ...
Security Service. In February 1950 Jora was assigned to lead a team in capturing a former member of the
Gendarmerie A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (). In France and so ...
accused of
war crimes A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...
who had been hiding in
Dâmbovița County Dâmbovița County (; also spelt Dîmbovița) is a county () of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Târgoviște, the most important economic, political, administrative and cultural center of the county. It is a traditional administra ...
. Depending on the account, the suspect either surrendered peacefully or Jora managed to capture him following a short struggle in April. Toma Bârlădeanu, the son of the suspected war criminal, witnessed the arrest and began seeking revenge. Initially, he planned to attack the
Râmnicu Sărat Râmnicu Sărat (also spelled ''Rîmnicu Sărat'', , or ''Rebnick''; ) is a municipiu, city in Buzău County, Romania, in the historical region of Muntenia. It was first attested in a document of 1439, and raised to the rank of ''municipiu'' in ...
''Securitate'' office, however he renounced after his brother refused to participate. Afterwards, Bârlădeanu managed the find out Jora's identity and began secretly pursuing him. On 3 June 1950, Bârlădeanu managed to steal a
Luger pistol The Pistole Parabellum or Parabellum-Pistole (Pistol Parabellum), commonly known as just the Luger or Luger P08, is a toggle-locked recoil-operated semi-automatic pistol. The Luger was produced in several models and by several nations from 1 ...
from a Miliția officer he had befriended. After failing to find Jora on 4 June, the assassin returned the following day, spotting Jora around 11 PM in the town's public garden, as the latter was returning from work. Attacked by surprise near his home, Jora was barely able to defend himself and was ultimately shot by Bârlădeanu, dying on the spot. Toma Bârlădeanu stole Jora's pistol, hid the two guns and left for a nearby village. By 8 June, the Miliția officer whose pistol he had stolen managed to track him down and confronted him regarding the gun. Bârlădeanu initially denied involvement in Jora's death, however he acknowledged it after the officer suggested he would join him in forming an anti-communist group in the
Apuseni Mountains The Apuseni Mountains (, "Western Mountains"; , "Transylvanian Mountains") are a mountain range in Transylvania, Romania, which belongs to the Western Romanian Carpathians. The highest peak is the Bihor Peak at . The Apuseni Mountains have ab ...
. The officer led him to believe they will leave for the mountains, however he arrested him shortly after. Bârlădeanu was ultimately sentenced to death for terror acts by the Military Tribunal of Galați on 14 July 1950.


Legacy

After his death, Jora's name was awarded to the ''Greierul''
metalworking Metalworking is the process of shaping and reshaping metals in order to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term, it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on e ...
plant in Galați, which became the "Ionel Jora" State Industrial Enterprise. The enterprise was eventually merged into the "June 11" Enterprise after 1959. Jora's life was the subject of a
short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...
prepared for training of ''Securitate'' officers by the "Alexandru Sahia" Cinematographic Studio. A 1974 review in the ''Securitate'' internal news bulletin lists it among the films that, while not excelling at cinematographic technique, constituted valuable documentaries. Romanian realist sculptor
Vasile VedeÈ™ Vasile is a male Romanian given name or a surname. It is equivalent to the English name Basil which is of Greek origin and means "King". It is also used by the Megleno-Romanians. As a given name As a surname In many societies, a surn ...
dedicated a bust to the ''Securitate'' officer, currently on display in the Museum of Visual Art of Galați. Jora's only son, Miron, studied at the Politechnical Institute of Galați, becoming a professor and specialist in welding engineering.


Notes


References

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jora, Ionel 1921 births 1950 deaths People from Galați Romanian Communist Party politicians Romanian World War II resistance members Romanian prisoners and detainees Securitate officers Assassinated Romanian people Deaths by firearm in Romania People murdered in Romania Inmates of Târgu Ocna Prison