Jilava is a commune in

Ilfov county Ilfov () is the 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, which act like suburbs ...

Muntenia Muntenia (, also known in English as Greater Wallachia) is a historical region of Romania, part of Wallachia (also, sometimes considered Wallachia proper, as ''Muntenia'', ''Țara Românească'', and the seldom used ''Valahia'' are synonyms in ...

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

, near

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north ...

. It is composed of a single village, Jilava. The name derives from a

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditiona ...

word of Slavic origin ( Bulgarian жилав ''žilav'' (tough), which passed into Romanian as ''jilav'') meaning "humid place". In this commune there is an operating prison and also the Fort 13 Jilava.

Fort 13 Jilava

Jilava was the location of a fort built by

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ...

Carol I of Romania Carol I or Charles I of Romania (20 April 1839 – ), born Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, was the monarch of Romania from 1866 to his death in 1914, ruling as Prince (''Domnitor'') from 1866 to 1881, and as King from 1881 to 1914. He w ...

, as part of the capital's defense system. At a later date, the fort was converted into a prison. It is now a historical monument. This prison is the site where, on November 26–27, 1940, the

Iron Guard The Iron Guard ( ro, Garda de Fier) was a Romanian militant revolutionary fascist movement and political party founded in 1927 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as the Legion of the Archangel Michael () or the Legionnaire Movement (). It was strong ...

authorities of the

National Legionary State The National Legionary State was a totalitarian fascist regime which governed Romania for five months, from 14 September 1940 until its official dissolution on 14 February 1941. The regime was led by General Ion Antonescu in partnership with th ...

killed 64

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their politics, political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, al ...

s as revenge for the previous killing of their leader

Corneliu Zelea Codreanu Corneliu Zelea Codreanu (; born Corneliu Codreanu, according to his birth certificate; 13 September 1899 – 30 November 1938) was a Romanian politician of the far right, the founder and charismatic leader of the Iron Guard or ''The Legion o ...

(see '' Jilava Massacre''); it was also here that

Ion Antonescu Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and marshal who presided over two successive wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister and '' Conducător'' during most of World War II. A Romanian Army career officer who ma ...

, dictator (''

Conducător ''Conducător'' (, "Leader") was the title used officially by Romanian dictator Ion Antonescu during World War II, also occasionally used in official discourse to refer to Carol II and Nicolae Ceaușescu. History The word is derived from the Ro ...

'') of Romania during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, was executed for war crimes in 1946 and where on 23 October 1971 the

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

Ion Rîmaru Ion Rîmaru (; modern spelling ''Râmaru''; 12 October 1946 – 23 October 1971) was a Romanian serial killer dubbed the Vampire of Bucharest (''Vampirul din București'') or the Blondes' Killer (''criminalul blondelor''). Rîmaru terrorized Buch ...

was executed by firing squad. The prison also was a detention site for political prisoners after the start of Communist rule in Romania. According to a study done by the International Centre for Studies into Communism, 36.1% of all such prisoners did some time at Jilava Prison. Among the political prisoners detained at Jilava were

Corneliu Coposu Corneliu (Cornel) Coposu () (20 May 1914 – 11 November 1995) was a Christian Democratic and liberal conservative Romanian politician, the founder of the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party ( ro, Partidul Național Țărănesc Cre ...

, Richard Wurmbrand, Gen. Radu Korne, Gen.

Nicolae Ciupercă Nicolae Ciupercă (20 April 1882 – 25 May 1950) was a Romanian general, born in Râmnicu Sărat. He served during World War I and World War II under the command of Alexandru Averescu and then Ion Antonescu, but would retire from a military li ...

, and Gen.

Radu R. Rosetti Radu R. Rosetti ( – June 2, 1949) was a Romanian brigadier general, military historian, librarian, and a titular member of the Romanian Academy. Biography Early years Born in Căiuți, Bacău County, he was part of the old ''boyar'' Rosetti fam ...

, as well as Gheorghe Arsenescu, Gen. Radu Băldescu, Aristide Blank, Matei Boilă, Victor Cădere, Gen. Dumitru Carlaonț, Gen. Dumitru Coroamă, Gen. Nicolae Dăscălescu, Gen.

Ioan Dumitrache Ioan Dumitrache (25 August 1889 – 6 March 1977) was a Romanian major general during World War II, in command of the 2nd Mountain Division. His troops ('' vânători de munte'') were recognized as the elite troops of the Romanian Army througho ...

, Anton Durcovici, Radu Filipescu, Paul Goma, Iuliu Hirțea,

Iuliu Hossu Iuliu Hossu (30 January 1885 – 28 May 1970) was a Romanian Greek-Catholic prelate who served as the Bishop of Cluj-Gherla. Pope Paul VI elevated Hossu to the rank of cardinal ''in pectore'', that is, secretly, in 1969 but did not publish ...

, Ion Ioanid, George Ivașcu, Adm.

Horia Macellariu Horia Macellariu (10 May 1894, Craiova – 11 July 1989, Bucharest) was a Romanian rear admiral, commander of the Royal Romanian Navy's Black Sea Fleet during the Second World War. Early life Horia Ion Pompiliu Macellariu was born in Craiova on ...

Mihail Manoilescu Mihail Manoilescu (; December 9, 1891 – December 30, 1950) was a Romanian journalist, engineer, economist, politician and memoirist, who served as Foreign Minister of Romania during the summer of 1940. An active promoter of and contributor to f ...

, Gen.

Gheorghe Manoliu Gheorghe Manoliu ( 21 May 1888 – 28 August 1980) was a Romanian major general during World War II. Biography He was born in 1888 in Piatra Neamț, the son of Vasile and Andromaca Manoliu, both civil servants, originally from the Ceahlău regio ...

, Gen.

Ion Negoițescu Ion Negoiţescu (; also known as Nego; August 10, 1921 – February 6, 1993) was a Romanian literary historian, critic, poet, novelist and memoirist, one of the leading members of the Sibiu Literary Circle. A rebellious and eccentric figure, Nego ...

Constantin Noica Constantin Noica (; – 4 December 1987) was a Romanian philosopher, essayist and poet. His preoccupations were throughout all philosophy, from epistemology, philosophy of culture, axiology and philosophic anthropology to ontology and logics ...

Ovidiu Papadima Ovidiu Papadima (June 23, 1909, Sinoe, Constanța County – May 26, 1996, Bucharest) was a Romanian literary critic, folklorist, and essayist. He studied at the Alexandru Papiu Ilarian High School in Târgu Mureș, graduating at the top of ...

Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu (; November 4, 1900 – April 17, 1954) was a Romanian communist politician and leading member of the Communist Party of Romania (PCR), also noted for his activities as a lawyer, sociologist and economist. For a while, he ...

, Gherman Pântea, I. Peltz, Nicolae Penescu,

Constantin Titel Petrescu Constantin Titel Petrescu (5 February 1888 – 2 September 1957) was a Romanian politician and lawyer. He was the leader of the Romanian Social Democratic Party. He was born in Craiova, the son of an employee of the National Bank in Buchare ...

, Gen. David Popescu, Mihai Rădulescu, Alexander Ratiu,

Nicolae Steinhardt Nicolae Steinhardt (; born Nicu-Aurelian Steinhardt; July 29, 1912 – March 29, 1989) was a Romanian writer, Orthodox monk and lawyer. His main book, ''Jurnalul Fericirii'', is regarded as a major text of 20th century Romanian literature an ...

, Alexandru Todea,

Sandu Tudor Sandu Tudor (; born Alexandru Al. Teodorescu, known in church records as Brother Agathon, later Daniil Teodorescu, Daniil Sandu Tudor, Daniil de la Rarău; December 22 or December 24, 1896 – November 17, 1962) was a Romanian poet, journalist, th ...

Alexandru Zub Alexandru Zub (born October 12, 1934) is a Romanian historian, biographer, essayist, political activist and academic. A former professor at the University of Iași, noted for his contribution to the study of cultural history and Romanian history, he ...

, and many others.

Natives

* Dem I. Dobrescu

References

{{Authority control Communes in Ilfov County Localities in Muntenia Prisons in Romania

Fort 13 Jilava

Natives

See also

References