Sighet Prison



The Sighet prison, located in the town of Sighetu Marmaţiei, Maramureş county, Romania, was used by the communist regime to hold political prisoners. It is now the site of the Sighet Memorial Museum, part of the Memorial of the Victims of Communism.

History
The prison in Sighetu Marmaţiei (often referred to just as "Sighet") was built in 1897, when the area was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as a prison for criminal offenders.

After 1945, at the end of World War II, the repatriation of Romanians who had been prisoners of war and deportees in the Soviet Union was done through Sighet.

In August 1948, once communist power had been consolidated in Romania, Sighet prison was reserved for political opponents of the regime. At first, it held a group of students, pupils and peasants from the Maramureş region. Many of the surviving prisoners are still living in Sighet to this very day.

On the night of May 5, 1950, over one hundred former dignitaries from the whole country were brought to the Sighet penitentiary (former ministers and other politicians, as well as academics, economists, military officers, historians, and journalists), some of them sentenced to heavy punishments, and others held without any form of trial. The majority were over 60 years old. Many important figures of inter-war Romania died in custody, including the leader of the National Peasants' Party and former Prime Minister of Romania, Iuliu Maniu. Between 1950-1955, no death certificates were issued and the families of the deceased were not notified.

Notable inmates

 * Constantin Argetoianu, former Prime Minister of Romania
 * Ion Bălan, Greek-Catholic bishop of Lugoj
 * Dinu Brătianu, politician and historian, committed suicide in prison in 1951
 * Gheorghe I. Brătianu, politician and historian, leader of the National-Liberal Party-Brătianu
 * Daniel Ciugureanu, the Prime minister of the Moldavian Democratic Republics
 * Corneliu Coposu, former secretary to Iuliu Maniu, leader of the National Peasants' Party after 1989
 * Anton Durcovici, Roman Catholic bishop of Iaşi, died of forced starvation in Sighet in 1951
 * Stan Ghiţescu, Vice-President of the Chamber of Deputies of Romania (1926), former Minister of Labor, died in Sighet
 * Constantin C. Giurescu, historian, professor at the University of Bucharest, Royal Governor 1939, Lower Danube Province, Minister of Propaganda 1939-1940
 * Ion Gruia, professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Bucharest, former Minister of Justice, died in Sighet
 * Pan Halippa, president of Sfatul Ţării when it voted union of Bessarabia with Romania in 1918
 * Emil Hațieganu, former Minister of State
 * Iuliu Hossu, Greek-Catholic bishop of Cluj-Gherla
 * Alexandru Lapedatu, professor of History at the Cluj University, former Cults and Arts Minister and State Minister, former president of the Romanian Academy, former President of the Senate of Romania died in Sighet
 * Ilie Lazăr, leader of the National Peasants' Party
 * Ioan Lupaş, professor of History at the Cluj University, former president of the History Section of the Romanian Academy, former Minister of Health and of Culture and Arts
 * Gheorghe N. Leon, economist and politician, former Minister of Economy
 * Ion Macovei, former head of the Romanian Railroads, former Minister of Public Works and Communications, died in Sighet
 * Iuliu Maniu, leader of the National Peasants' Party, former Prime Minister of Romania
 * Mihail Manoilescu, former Foreign Minister, died in Sighet in 1950
 * Ioan Mihail Racoviţă, General and former Minister of Defense in 1944, died in Sighet
 * Ion Manolescu-Strunga, doctor în Economics at the University of Berlin, former Minister of Industry and Commerce, died in Sighet prison
 * Ion Mihalache, leader of the National Peasants' Party, former Minister of the Interior
 * Ion Nistor, historian and former Minister of Cults and the Arts
 * Nicolae Păiș, naval officer, former minister
 * Constantin Titel Petrescu, leader of the Social-Democratic Party, who opposed fusion with the Communist Party of Romania
 * Mihail Priboianu, engineer, former minister
 * Alexander Raţiu, author and priest in Giurtelecu Şimleului
 * Alexandru Rusu, Greek-Catholic bishop of Baia Mare
 * Joseph Schubert, Titular Bishop of the Roman Catholic Church
 * Gheorghe Tașcă - economist, former Minister of Industry and Commerce, leader of the National Peasants' Party
 * Gheorghe Tătărescu, leader of the National Liberal Party-Tătărescu, former Prime Minister of Romania