Periprava labor camp
The village of Periprava in 1936
LocationPeriprava, Tulcea County, Romanian People's Republic
Coordinates45°18′N 29°34′E / 45.300°N 29.567°E / 45.300; 29.567
StatusDefunct
Capacity2,000
PopulationPolitical prisoners
OpenedJuly 1, 1957
Closed1963
DirectorIoan Ficior
Notable prisoners
Florin Pavlovici, Mitică Popescu, Mihai Rădulescu

The Periprava labor camp was a labor camp operated by the Romanian communist regime, part of the Brăila Pond labor camps. The camp, located near the village of Periprava in the Danube Delta, held up to 2,000 prisoners.[1][2] According to a study done by the International Centre for Studies into Communism, 8.23% of political prisoners in Communist Romania did time at Periprava.[3] In the literature on communist prisons and camps in Romania, the Periprava labor camp is described as one of the harshest places of imprisonment. In view of the extremely severe detention and work regime, sheer terror, and high mortality, the camp is known among former detainees as a true "death camp".[4]

The labor camp

The main facility of the labor camp was next to Periprava village; other detention facilities in the area were at Sfiștofca, Grindu, Letea, C. A. Rosetti, and on ferries.[5] In the early 1950s, Periprava was a section of the Chilia Formation; it became an independent prison on July 1, 1957.[6] The official designation for the camp was Facility 0830 (Formațiunea 0830).[4] Exposed to scorching heat and mosquito swarms in the summer and icy winds in the winter, the prisoners lived in brick-walled, 24 m2 pens that held up to 160 men each. They spent their days cutting reeds and building dams; those who were unable to fulfill the daily quota of 8 thick bundles of reeds were beat unconscious by guards wielding rubber clubs.[7]

According to testimony in 2013 by Andrei Muraru, then head of the Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes in Romania, this "was an extermination camp; it was a repressive, excessive, inhuman and discretionary regime." Detainees were overworked, beaten, left without heat, and forced to drink dirty water from the Danube, leading to widespread dysentery.[1] Also according to Muraru, now an adviser to President Klaus Iohannis, the inmates were subjected to a "diabolic program of extermination through exhausting work, hunger and physical torture."[8] The youngest inmate to die at Periprava was 19 and the oldest 71.[2] The deaths were due to exhaustion, hunger, cold, and torture; some of the detainees were shot as they attempted to escape the camp. At least 124 prisoners, most of them political ones, are believed to have died in the Periprava labor camp.[9]

The detainees

Periprava was one of the places of detention of Romanian writer Florin Pavlovici, described by him in his memoirs.[10] Another writer who was imprisoned at Periprava was Mihai Rădulescu.[11] Actor Mitică Popescu spent 3 months on forced labor at Periprava.[12]

Most of the prisoners were young, having been arrested after the suppression of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and the ensuing student protests in Bucharest (many of the older politicians had been already exterminated by then at Sighet, Aiud, and other prisons). According to Pavlovici, many of the detainees were peasants who had resisted the collectivization of agriculture imposed by the communist authorities in the 1950s. Among them were 30–40 men from Răstoaca who had attacked a convoy of Party members (which included Nicolae Ceaușescu) that had come to convince the locals to join in the collectivization effort.[10]

The camp commander

Ioan Ficior was the commander of the camp from 1958 to 1963.[1] In September 2013, he was indicted for genocide before the High Court of Cassation and Justice in Bucharest.[13] Ficior was convicted in March 2017 for crimes against humanity, and sentenced to 20 years in prison for the deaths of 103 political inmates at Periprava;[14] he died at Jilava Prison in September 2018, at age 90.[1]

Aftermath

In 2018, teams of historians and archaeologists were searching for the remains of prisoners from the former Periprava labor camp who were either executed or died from a lack of medical care.[15] Investigators have found skeletons of former prisoners who appeared to have been dumped naked into unmarked mass graves;[1] their clothing was retained by the administration of the camp.[16] As of 2019, 40 human remains have been discovered at Periprava; plans call for DNA testing and identification of the victims.[17] According to Marius Oprea, 51 unmarked graves of prisoners who died at the Periprava labor camp have been identified as of June 2020.[18] By September 2020, the remains of 54 political detainees had been uncovered at Periprava;[9] by August 2022, the number had increased to 71.[19]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Ion Ficior, 90, Convicted in Romania Labor Camp Crimes, Is Dead". The New York Times. September 26, 2018. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  2. 1 2 Mutler, Alison (September 18, 2013). "Romania: Camp commander accused of 103 deaths". USA Today. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  3. ↑ "Recensământul populației concentraționare din România în anii 1945–1989 (date preliminare)" [Census of the concentration camp population in Romania in the years 1945–1989 (preliminary data)] (in Romanian). 31 May 2009. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
  4. 1 2 Țălnaru, Dan Mihai. "Lagărul morții de la Periprava. Mărturii inedite din ancheta torționarului Ficior" [The death camp at Periprava. New testimonies from the investigation of the torturer Ficior]. Historia (in Romanian). Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  5. ↑ Cherneva, Toni; Rotariu, Oana. "Reflections on a dark past. The forced labour camps of the Danube Delta" (PDF). www.breiling.org. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  6. ↑ Cherneva, Toni; Rotariu, Oana. "Reflections on a dark past. Part I – History & concept" (PDF). www.breiling.org. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  7. ↑ Mayr, Walter (January 14, 2010). "Building a Resort Among the Ruins of a Gulag". Spiegel International. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Ion Ficior dies at 90; Romanian labor camp commander was convicted of crimes against humanity". Washington Post. September 26, 2018. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  9. 1 2 Fodor, Simona (September 15, 2020). "Eastern RO: Remains of political detainees uncovered at former labor camp in Periprava". www.romania-insider.com. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  10. 1 2 Ghica, Sorin. "Mărturii din infernul de la Periprava" [Testimony from the Hell of Periprava]. Historia (in Romanian). Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  11. ↑ Holbea, Gheorghe (January 22, 2010). "Marele crez al omului Mihai Rădulescu". Lumina (in Romanian). Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  12. ↑ Cristescu, Andrei-George (January 3, 2023). "Actorul Mitică Popescu a făcut închisoare politică la Periprava și a fost urmărit de Securitate" [The actor Mitică Popescu was a political prisoner at Periprava and was pursued by the Securitate]. Adevărul (in Romanian). Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  13. ↑ "IICCMER cere Parchetului începerea urmăririi penale împotriva fostului comandant al lagărului de la Periprava pentru genocid" [IICCMER calls on the Prosecutor's Office to start a criminal investigation against the former commander of the Periprava camp for genocide] (in Romanian). 2013-09-18. Archived from the original on 2015-05-28.
  14. ↑ Mutler, Alison (August 8, 2020). "Buried In A Casino Wall, A Dark Secret From Romania's Communist Past". www.rferl.org. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Historians dig for justice for labour camp prisoners in Romania". TRT World. August 5, 2018. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  16. ↑ Iancu, Mariana (September 9, 2017). "Poveștile cumplite din abatorul terorii Peninsula. Lăgărul comunist de muncă unde moartea era o binecuvântare" [Horrific stories from the Peninsula slaughterhouse of terror. The communist labor camp where death was a blessing]. Adevărul (in Romanian). Retrieved August 11, 2021.
  17. ↑ Ionescu, Sînziana (February 18, 2019). "Apel pentru identificarea deținuților politici morţi la Periprava și la Tîrgu Ocna. Sunt necesare probe ADN de la rude, pe cheltuiala statului" [Call for the identification of dead political prisoners in Periprava and Tîrgu Ocna. DNA testing from relatives is required at the expense of the state]. Adevărul (in Romanian). Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  18. ↑ Oprea, Marius (June 6, 2020). "Istorie fără perdea. Din 674.875 de oameni intrați pe mîna Securității, un sfert au murit în lagăre, închisori și deportare. De Sîmbăta Morților, să-i pomenim!" [History without a curtain. Of the 674,875 de people taken in by the Securitate, a quarter died in labor camps, prisons, and deportations. Let's remember them on the Saturday of Souls!] (in Romanian). Mediafax. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  19. ↑ Oprea, Marius (August 2, 2022). "La Periprava, într-un "lagăr al suferințelor fără număr și al morții"" [At Periprava, in a "camp of countless suffering and death"] (in Romanian). Mediafax. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
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