- In this tour you can see dinamic panoramas describing the following spaces:
- (Right click on the room's title to place it on the map)
- Ground floor
- The cell block
- Room 9: The cell where Iuliu Maniu (1873-1953) died
- 1st floor
- Room 37: “Black” (punshment cell)
- Room 38: Dignitaries’ Room
- Room 53: Bishops’ Room
- 2nd floor
- Room 68: “Black” (punshment cell)
- Room 73: The cell where Gheorghe I. Brătianu died
In this tour you can see dinamic panoramas describing the following spaces: (Right click on the room's title to place it on the map) Ground floor The cell block Room 9: The cell where Iuliu Maniu (1873-1953) died 1st floor Room 37: “Black” (punshment cell) Room 38: Dignitaries’ Room Room 53: Bishops’ Room 2nd floor Room 68: “Black” (punshment cell) Room 73: The cell where Gheorghe I. Brătianu died
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1. Sighet Prison
The cell block, ground floor: view towards west
The cell block, ground floor: view toward east
Room 38, 1st floor: Dignitaries’ room “The Danube Work Colony”
Room 53, 1st floor: Bishops’ room
Room 9, ground floor: The cell where Iuliu Maniu (1873-1953) died
Room 73, 2nd floor: The cell where Gheorghe I. Brătianu died
Room 37, 1st floor: “Black” (punishment cell)
The cell block, Ground floor: view towards west
The cell block, 2nd floor: view towards west
Închisoarea de la Sighet a fost construită în 1897 (6), de autorităţile austro-ungare, în același stil și cu aceleași funcțiuni ca închisorile din Satu Mare, Oradea, Arad, Aiud, Gherla și din alte orașe transilvănene.
Era o închisoare de drept comun care însă, mai ales în timpul primului și celui de-al doilea război mondial, a fost folosită și pentru încarcerarea deținuților politici: revoluționari polonezi, preoți din bisericile naționale, dezertori din armata maghiară (români sau de alte etnii).
După 1918 a funcţionat ca închisoare de drept comun. După 1945, prin Sighet se făcea repatrierea foştilor prizonieri şi foştilor deportaţi din U.R.S.S. În perioada 1948-1950 au fost închiși aici elevi, studenți și țărani din rezistența maramureșeană.
Sighet Prison was built in 1897 by the Austro-Hungarian authorities.
It was a prison for common law criminals, but it was also used to incarcerate political prisoners, especially during World War I: Polish revolutionaries, priests from the national churches, and deserters from the Hungarian Army (Romanians or other ethnicities).
From 1947 onwards, in addition to common-law offenders, individuals from Maramureș, who were detained for political offences, were also imprisoned here: peasants who did not manage to pay their quotas on agricultural products, prominent figures of the democratic parties, pupils and students, members of anti-Communist organisations.
The prisoners were held in unwholesome conditions, miserably fed, prohibited from lying down during the day on the beds in the unheated cells. They were not allowed to look out of the windows (those who disobeyed were punished with detention in the “blackie” and the “ashey”, narrow, lock-up type cells, with wet floors and no light).
Shutters were mounted on the windows, so that only the sky could be seen.
The former dignitaries were held at Sighet for over one year without any legal warrant. It was not until 1 August 1951 that matters were “legalised”: by decision 334 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 89 former dignitaries were “transferred” to a labour unit “for 24 months – special record,” in spite of their already being there. This administrative penalty, without right to appeal, was extended on 6 August 1953 by 60 months through Decision of the Ministry for State Security no. 559.
În toamna anului 1948, datorită refuzului de a trece la ortodoxie, episcopii şi preoţii greco-catolici au fost arestaţi, fixându-li-se domiciliu obligatoriu în mănăstirile ortodoxe, în cele din urmă, au fost încarceraţi la Sighet. La 1 decembrie 1948, printr-un decret al Marii Adunări Naţionale, Biserica Greco-Catolică a fost desfiinţată, toate bunurile ce aparţineau organizaţiilor şi instituţiilor centrale ale Bisericii Unite treceau în proprietatea statului, iar bisericile şi averea parohiilor au revenit parohiilor ortodoxe.
At the end of May 1950, the group pf Greek-Catholic bishops and priests from the Căldăruşani Monastery was transferred to Sighet, a group arrested at the end of October 1948 for refusing to convert to the Orthodox Church.
Sala Episcopilor etaj 1
Puşcăria fusese construită în 1896 de către autorităţile maghiare, în vremea când Transilvania făcea parte din Imperiul austro-ungar. Primii deţinuţi politici i-au trecut porţile la 22 august 1948. Între acea dată şi 1955, cele 72 de celule au găzduit patru foşti prim-miniştri, dintre care îl menţionăm pe Iuliu Maniu; pe Constantin (Dinu) Brătianu, şeful Partidului Naţional Liberal, dar şi pe episcopii Bisericilor Romano-Catolice şi Greco-Catolice.
The cell where Gheorghe I. Brătianu died, Ground floor – in situ reconstitution
Celula în care a murit Iuliu Maniu – parter
La 12 noiembrie 1947, Iuliu Maniu a fost condamnat la temniță grea pe viață, în cadrul procesului fabricat liderilor PNȚ, după înscenarea de la Tămădău. A fost adus la Sighet la 15 august 1951, alături de alți condamnați din “lotul Maniu”, aflați până atunci la Galați.
Sala 37, etaj 1
“Neagra” (celula de pedeapsă)
Celularul, parter
vedere spre vest
Celularul, etaj 2
vedere spre vest
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Sighet Prison was built in 1897 by the Austro-Hungarian authorities. It was a prison for common law criminals, but it was also used to incarcerate political prisoners, especially during World War I: Polish revolutionaries, priests from the national churches, and deserters from the Hungarian Army (Romanians or other ethnicities).
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From 1947 onwards, in addition to common-law offenders, individuals from Maramureș, who were detained for political offences, were also imprisoned here: peasants who did not manage to pay their quotas on agricultural products, prominent figures of the democratic parties, pupils and students, members of anti-Communist organisations.
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In May 1950, the prison’s character changed radically, and for over five years, until July 1955, it was transformed into an exclusively political penitentiary.
During the 1950-1955 period the Sighet prison held:
- 4 Prime Ministers
- presidents of the interwar democratic parties
- five governors of the National Bank of Romania
- dozens of ministers and secretaries of state
- numerous academics and university professors
- 58 hierarchs and clerics (38 Greek-Catholics, 19 Roman-Catholics and 1 Orthodox priest).
Documents & images
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The cell where Iuliu Maniu died, photographed through the vision panel.
The prisoners were held in unwholesome conditions, miserably fed, prohibited from lying down during the day on the beds in the unheated cells.
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They were not allowed to look out of the windows (those who disobeyed were punished with detention in the “blackie” and the “ashey”, narrow, lock-up type cells, with wet floors and no light).
Shutters were mounted on the windows, so that only the sky could be seen.
Documents & images
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A room dedicated specifically to the political elite which was exterminated at Sighet.
On the night of 5/6 May 1950, following a nation-wide operation, 84 former dignitaries were arrested, soon transferred to the Sighet Penitentiary. The second group of former politicians was sent to the northern prison in early July 1950, with specific repartition by cells, decided at Bucharest.
Overall view of Room 38: Dignitaries’ room
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The former dignitaries were held at Sighet for over one year without any legal warrant. It was not until 1 August 1951 that matters were “legalised”: by decision 334 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 89 former dignitaries were “transferred” to a labour unit “for 24 months – special record,” in spite of their already being there. This administrative penalty, without right to appeal, was extended on 6 August 1953 by 60 months through Decision of the Ministry for State Security no. 559.
In mid-August 1951, the convicts in the National Peasant Party Stalinist-type trial of November 1947 were brought to Sighet, having previously been held in Galați. They included Iuliu Maniu and Ion Mihalache.
Overall view of Room 38: Dignitaries’ room
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Document from May 6, 1950
Detail from Room 38: Dignitaries’ room
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MAI decision no. 334 from August 1st, 1951
Detail from Room 38: Dignitaries’ room
Documents & images
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At the end of May 1950, the group pf Greek-Catholic bishops and priests from the Căldăruşani Monastery was transferred to Sighet, a group arrested at the end of October 1948 for refusing to convert to the Orthodox Church. Other lots followed in September and October 1950.
Detail from Room 53: Bishops’ Room
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Between 1950-1955, the Sighet prison held 16 Catholic bishops (10 Greek-Catholic and 6 Roman-Catholic bishops).
Detail from Room 53: Bishops’ Room
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They were accompanied by vicars, canons and an important number of priests, all incarcerated because of their loyalty to their faith.
Detail from Room 53: Bishops’ Room
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“At Sighet I saw, I felt and I lived hunger. People speak of hunger so many times and we do not actually realise what hunger is; in the Sighet gaol I learned what hunger is.”
Iuliu Hossu
Detail from Room 53: Bishops’ Room
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Sighet prison survivors remember three essential elements, defining life in prison: the hunger, the cold and the isolation, all with the purpose of systematically killing off detainees. The penitentiary system was conceived to dehumanize, humiliate and mock the inmates. These objectives were followed both through the daily conditions (the work they had to do, regardless of age or health), and through the food or sanitary conditions.
Documents & images
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The cell where Iuliu Maniu (1873-1953) died. In situ reconstitution
Thanks to his exemplary attitude in public life, Iuliu Maniu became, from 23 August 1944 to his arrest in July 1947, a symbol of democratic resistance to the country’s communisation However, a show trial was held, in which he was accused of “high treason”.
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Iuliu Maniu
On 12 November 1947 Iuliu Maniu was convicted to life imprisonment, hard labour, at the trial of the National Peasant Party leadership, which followed the Tămădău incident, in which the leaders of the party were duped into attempting to flee the country.
He was brought to Sighet on 15 August 1951, together with other convicts in the “Maniu lot”, who had been held in Galați.
Iuliu Maniu died in prison on 5 February 1953, aged 80, his body dumped in a grave in the Paupers’ Cemetery, at the edge of the town of Sighet.
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Detail from Room 11: The Destruction of the Political Parties
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Objects belonging to Iuliu Maniu
Detail from Rooms 84-87: Rooms “Iuliu Maniu – a Father of Democracy”
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Iuliu Maniu‘s death certificate, issued in 1957, 4 years after his death. Note that “unemployed” was noted under “Job”
Detail from Rooms 84-87: Rooms “Iuliu Maniu – a Father of Democracy”
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Overall view of Rooms 84-87: Rooms “Iuliu Maniu – a Father of Democracy”
Documents & images
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The cell where Gheorghe I. Brătianu (1898-1953) died. In situ reconstitution
Along with the cell where Iuliu Maniu died, this cell has been preserved exactly as it used to be, as described by the witnesses of the great historian’s death.
Overall view of Room 73: The cell where Gheorghe I. Brătianu died
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Gheorghe I. Brătianu
A historian, university professor, member of the Romanian Academy and political figure, Gheorghe Brătianu was removed from his teaching position and excluded from the Romanian Academy after 1947. He was arrested on 5/6 May 1950 and admitted to Sighet Prison for 24 months. Although he had died in penitentiary in April 1953, his term was increased by 60 months according to the Decision of the Ministry for State Security no. 559 of 6 August 1953.
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Historian Gheorghe I. Brătianu‘s death certificate, issued retroactively, 4 years after his death.
Detail of rooms 54-58: Gheorghe I. Brătianu: a Historian in History
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Objects belonging to Gheorghe I. Brătianu and sent to his family in 1956 by the administration of the Sighet Penitentiary, where he had died in 1953.
Detail of rooms 54-58: Gheorghe I. Brătianu: a Historian in History
Documents & images
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“As in all prisons, there was this black cell, without any light, without a bed, in the middle there was a hook which was probably used to chain some of the inmates, this cell was a punishment, you would come in clothed or half-naked or even naked, held for a day or two, according to the punishment you had.”
(Interview with priest Eugen Popa the Archive of Oral History of the Memorial of the Victims of Communism and of the Resistance, Aurora Sasu collection).
Overall view of Room 37: “Black” (punishment cell)
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Upon their arrival in Sighet, the inmates would receive an enamelled tin cup for water, a canteen for food and a spoon. The daily meal schedule was set at fixed hours, announced by a large bell.
Some inmates were forced to carry out various tasks within the daily program, such as sweeping the corridors, doing the laundry or working in the kitchen, cutting and chopping wood, and the hardest and most exhausting task in the penitentiary was pumping water.
Detail from Room 37: “Black” (punishment cell)
Documents & images
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Original architectural details preserved in the Cell block
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Original cell doors. The original paint and all the vision panels, locks and hinges were preserved.
Detail from The cell block, ground floor
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Original cell doors. The original paint and all the vision panels, locks and hinges were preserved.
Detail from The cell block, ground floor
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“I remember when, on the third day since our arrival, our group of priests was taken to the supplies warehouse and when we put on our striped uniforms, we could not recognize each other. We were completely changed. We looked like prowlers or common criminals.
Of course, this was only the first impression, because after some time we got used to it and we made our peace with it.”
(Alexandru Rațiu, Două scrisori, in „Memoria închisorii Sighet”, edited by Romulus Rusan, Bucharest, Fundația Academia Civică, 2003, p. 122)
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“There was also a small infirmary, but it was empty, without any medicine. The doctor and the orderly, taught by Governor Ciolpan and the officer on duty, would visit us each Sunday.
We would salute them: Doctor, sir – I am inmate x, y – I have a headache or a toothache, or a stomach ache, or anything else. Lungu would look at us and say Hum! Then he would ask the orderly to bring some aspirin etc., and then go. (…)
Question: was there no medicine in Romania to help the sick in Sighet prison?
Answer: there was, but the order that came from the top, from the Ministry of the Interior, was that of not helping them, that is, of letting them die.”(Alexandru Rațiu, Două scrisori, in „Memoria închisorii Sighet”, edited by Romulus Rusan, Bucharest, Fundația Academia Civică, 2003, p. 128-129)
Documents & images
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In 1955, following the Geneva Convention and considering the long-awaited admission of Communist Romania (RPR) in the UN, part of the political prisoners in Romanian prisons were released, part of them were transferred to other prisons, some were sent away with forced domicile. Of the approximately 200 inmates in the Sighet Prison, 53 had died. The prison once again became a facility for common-law offenders. It was closed down in 1977. The building was used as a warehouse for a time and as production space for small warehouse, and ultimately became an abandoned ruin.
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By 1993, when Ana Blandiana and Romulus Rusan presented the project for a museum to the Council of Europe, the building had become an insalubrious ruin. However, it was here that the world’s first memorial to the victims of communism was to be born.
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Detail from The cell block, 1st floor
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Overall view of The cell block, Ground floor
Documents & images