Jilava is a commune in

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 ...

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 rarely used ''Valahia'' are synonyms in Ro ...

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 ...

, near

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 ...

. It is composed of a single village, Jilava. The name derives from a Romanian 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 A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

and also the Fort 13 Jilava.

Fort 13 Jilava

Jilava was the location of a fort built by

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Carol I of Romania, as part of the capital's defense system. At a later date, the fort was converted into a prison.

Jilava Prison Jilava Prison () is a prison located in Jilava, a village south of Bucharest, Romania. History The prison began as Fort 13, part of the fortifications of Bucharest built in the 1870s and 1880s. It served as an arms deposit and garrison until 1 ...

is now a historical monument. This prison is the site where, on November 26–27, 1940, the

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 ...

authorities of the

National Legionary State The National Legionary State () was a Totalitarianism, totalitarian Fascism, fascist regime which governed Kingdom of Romania, Romania for five months, from 14 September 1940 until its official dissolution on 14 February 1941. The regime was led ...

killed 64

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their 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, although ...

s as revenge for the previous killing of their leader Corneliu Zelea Codreanu (see '' Jilava Massacre''); it was also here that

Ion Antonescu Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and Mareșal (Romania), marshal who presided over two successive Romania during World War II, wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister of Romania, Prime Minister and ''Conduc� ...

, dictator ('' Conducător'') of Romania 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 ...

, was executed for

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 ...

in 1946 and where on 23 October 1971 the

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

, Ion Rîmaru 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, 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 ...

, and Gen. Radu R. Rosetti, as well as Gheorghe Arsenescu, Gen. Radu Băldescu, Aristide Blank, Matei Boilă, Victor Cădere, Gen. Dumitru Carlaonț, Gen. Dumitru Coroamă, Gen.

Nicolae Dăscălescu Nicolae I. Dăscălescu (29 June 1884 – 28 September 1969) was a Romanian people, Romanian general during World War II. Biography He was born in a poor peasant family in Girov, Căciulești, Neamț County, Kingdom of Romania. After completin ...

, Gen. Ioan Dumitrache, Anton Durcovici, Radu Filipescu, Paul Goma, Iuliu Hirțea, Iuliu Hossu, Ion Ioanid, George Ivașcu, Adm. Horia Macellariu, Mihail Manoilescu, Gen. Gheorghe Manoliu, Gen. Ion Negoițescu, Constantin Noica, Ovidiu Papadima, Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu, Gherman Pântea, I. Peltz, Nicolae Penescu, Constantin Titel Petrescu, Gen. David Popescu, Mihai Rădulescu, Alexander Ratiu, Nicolae Steinhardt, 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, and many others.

Natives

* Dem I. Dobrescu (1869–1948), politician who served as Mayor of Bucharest from 1929 to 1934

References

{{Authority control Communes in Ilfov County Localities in Muntenia

Fort 13 Jilava

Natives

See also

References