37 - Aiud Again

Summary

After the second Christmas I spent in Jilava, I was taken to the Interior Ministry detention area again for two weeks, during which I was asked to prepare the organization of the work of detainees at the Canal. From ministry detention, of course.

“I don't see what kind of work I can organize from here in terms of digging with a spade,” I answered. “Under these conditions, I am afraid I might end up prosecuted for sabotage too.”

A year or two later, that's exactly what happened to four of the six detainee engineers who had managed the work there. As digging the canal was progressing slowly because the detainees were weak with hunger and had no strength in them, the engineers were accused of sabotage, given a death sentence, and executed.

“But engineer Popp,” the ministry officer told me, “agreed to manage the steelworks in Reşita from here, in the ministry.”

“That's his business,” I answered. “Steelwork is something else, and Popp is an expert with deep experience.”

I got sent to Jilava once again, but right after the third Christmas I spent in Jilava, therefore in 1952, I was brought back to the ministry, where the same officer told me, “We’re sending Popp and you back to Aiud Penitentiary, where there's a factory with twenty-five hundred detainee workers. In the technical office at the factory you’ll find engineers Manciu and Ioan, plus the other directors from Reşita: Rădulescu, Radoveanu, and Roiescu. Popp and you will be in charge of reducing the amount of waste and increasing product quality without decreasing output. I believe we need to set up an apprenticeship course for a maximum of four months, where the detainees can learn one trade or another. After all, there are as many trades as in Reşiţa there, and almost the same, I am sure.”

I agreed with this new proposal, and the next morning I was taken to a bus and put into one of the booths alone.