Periprava labor camp

The Periprava labor camp was a labor camp operated by the Romanian communist regime. The camp, located near the village of Periprava in the Danube Delta, held up to 2,000 prisoners.[1] 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.[2]

The village of Periprava in 1936

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.[3]

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."[4]

Periprava was one of the places of detention of Romanian writer Florin Pavlovici, described by him in his memoirs.[5] Another writer who was imprisoned at Periprava was Mihai Rădulescu.[6]

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.[7] 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; he died at Jilava prison in September 2018, at age 90.[1]

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.[8] Investigators have found skeletons of former prisoners who appeared to have been dumped naked into unmarked mass graves.[1] As of 2019, 40 human remains have been discovered at Periprava; plans call for DNA testing and identification of the victims.[9]

References
  1. "Ion Ficior, 90, Convicted in Romania Labor Camp Crimes, Is Dead". The New York Times. September 26, 2018. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  2. "Recensământul populaţiei concentraţionare din România în anii 1945 – 1989 (date preliminare)" (in Romanian). Retrieved April 18, 2020.
  3. Mayr, Walter (January 14, 2010). "Building a Resort Among the Ruins of a Gulag". Spiegel International. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  4. "Ion Ficior dies at 90; Romanian labor camp commander was convicted of crimes against humanity". Washington Post. September 26, 2018. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  5. Ghica, Sorin. "Mărturii din infernul de la Periprava" [Testimony from the Hell of Periprava]. Historia (in Romanian).
  6. Holbea, Gheorghe (January 22, 2010). "Marele crez al omului Mihai Rădulescu". Lumina (in Romanian). Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  7. "IICCMER cere Parchetului începerea urmăririi penale împotriva fostului comandant al lagărului de la Periprava pentru genocid" (in Romanian). 2013-09-18. Archived from the original on 2015-05-28.
  8. "Historians dig for justice for labour camp prisoners in Romania". TRT World. August 5, 2018. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  9. Ionescu, Sînziana (February 18, 2019). "Apel pentru identificarea deţinuţilor politici morţi la Periprava şi la Tîrgu Ocna. Sunt necesare probe ADN de la rude, pe cheltuiala statului". Adevărul (in Romanian). Retrieved April 16, 2020.
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