Between 1948 and 1964, under the Communist regime, the prison was one of transit and triage for "counter-revolutionaries": members of banned political parties, Guardists, spies, accused war criminals and members of anti-Communist organizations. It had a small women's section isolated from the rest. The detainees were held for several months awaiting trial and transfer to other prisons or labor camps, or were brought from other prisons for interrogation by the Securitate secret police. Arriving detainees had to run a gauntlet of guards armed with bats and other weapons; after being beaten on the head and elsewhere, their clothes were inspected while they sat naked on the cement floor. They were then thoroughly inspected for contraband in every bodily orifice. Once in the cells, new prisoners would sleep on the floor, rising to the first and then the second bunk as spaces opened up. One bucket contained water for washing while another was a chamber-pot; the cells reeked of feces and urine. After two detainees escaped in 1951, the windows were sealed. Three prisoners died of asphyxiation in the first month, while the rest were covered in sores. Prisoners were not allowed visitors, packages or letters. Given its transit role, Jilava served as a place where news was exchanged; new arrestees were especially prized, as they would bring news from the outside world.[2]
Holding an average of 3,000 prisoners, Jilava saw them beaten, tortured, starved and denied adequate medical care. The most brutal conditions prevailed under Nicolae Moromete[ro], the warden between 1949 and 1952. During one episode in December 1950, after informants reported that detainees were holding discussions about the political situation and the possibility of being liberated by the United States, he went from cell to cell, removing those pinpointed as the ringleaders. Six guards beat each man mercilessly before covering his head with a bag, stepping on him and beating him with truncheons and revolvers. Returned to his cell wrapped in a blanket, the victim often suffered from split eardrums and broken ribs, while blood flowed from his mouth and nose. According to prisoner accounts, most guards were Roma recruited from surrounding villages.[3]
After 1967, the prison housed common, recidivist criminals under a harsh regime. From the 1970s, they were moved into a new building. Protesters arrested during the Romanian Revolution of 1989 were thrown into the old fort, which was used for storage after 1990, meanwhile decaying.[4]
Notable inmates
This is a partial list of notable inmates of Jilava Prison; the symbol † indicates those who died there.
The current director of the penitentiary is Cristina Antoanela Teoroc.[5] As of December 2023, there are 1,049 detainees at Jilava.[6]
The Romanian government has nominated the facility, along with four other prisons used during the communist era, to be included as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.[7]
