Mislea Prison
 The old Mislea Monastery, where Mislea Prison was located | |
 | |
| Location | Mislea, Prahova County, Romania |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 45°05′32.5″N 25°49′29.7″E / 45.092361°N 25.824917°E |
| Status | defunct |
| Population | Political prisoners |
| Opened | 1869 |
| Closed | 1970s |
| Street address | Strada Radu Paisie 14 |
Mislea Prison was a prison located in Mislea, Prahova County, Romania.
The prison was established in 1869 on the site of the Mislea Monastery.[1] Founded in 1536–1537 by Radu Paisie, Prince of Wallachia, the monastery was located on the banks of the Mislei River, close to where it reaches the Telega River, in between Câmpina and Ploiești.[2] The prison housed minors until 1924, when it became a women's prison. That year, three workshops were opened, for weaving, carpet-making and clothes-making. The women were common criminals as well as political prisoners placed in a special section: spies, Iron Guard affiliates and Romanian Communist Party activists. Liuba Chișinevschi and Constanța Crăciun fell into the latter category.[3] The church at the center of the monastery was strongly affected by the 1940 Vrancea earthquake; the inmates helped with the repairs.[2] From 1944 to 1952, the prisoners were both ordinary and political; only political from 1952 to 1956; and, in theory, only ordinary afterwards.[4]
By and large, conditions were less harsh than in the average prison during the early communist regime. After 1949, political prisoners were allowed into the workshops, producing traditional crafts, bridal dresses and Persian rugs, then using the money to buy food from a nearby farm. However, work eventually came to exceed twelve hours a day. Elisabeta Rizea and Niculina, the wife of Ion Mihalache, were among those permitted to weave carpets. "Secret" prisoners, not even allowed to take a walk, included Maria Antonescu (1950–1955), Arlette Coposu, and Maria Golescu. Non-working detainees were served small portions of barely edible food.[5] Ioana Berindei, the daughter of historian and politician Ion Hudiță and the wife of historian Dan Berindei was detained at Mislea Prison together with her infant daughter, Ruxandra, after giving birth in 1951 at Văcărești Prison.[6][7]
The prisoners were as young as school age, and one was brought there shortly after being born, the posthumous daughter of an anti-communist resistance movement fighter, interned along with her mother. There were seventeen large rooms with a capacity of 527 inmates. One ten-minute shower was allowed weekly. Physical beatings were rare, but other punishments frequent: food deprivation, being forced to stand from 5 in the morning until 10 at night, vaginal inspections and isolation in freezing rooms. Letters, packages and visits were forbidden. The warden from 1944 to 1953, a veteran communist, stands out as a positive character in memoirs: she hated informants, procured medicines for the prisoners, and tolerated the celebration of Christmas.[8]
Many inmates were liberated after the 1964 general amnesty, and the prison was closed in the 1970s. The facilities have been renovated and now house a Care and Assistance Center for Disabled Adults.
Notes
- ^ Muraru, p. 395
- ^ a b "Mănăstirea Mislea – închisoare politică pentru femei". www.crestinortodox.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved March 8, 2024.
- ^ Muraru, p. 395
- ^ Muraru, p. 395
- ^ Muraru, p. 396
- ^ "Ioana Hudiță Berindei". www.memorialsighet.ro (in Romanian). Memorial of the Victims of Communism and of the Resistance. June 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
- ^ Saxone-Horodi, Liana (9 July 2012). "In memoriam Ioana Berindei". Observator Cultural (in Romanian). Retrieved 8 March 2024.
- ^ Muraru, pp. 397-98
References
- Muraru, Andrei (2008). Dicționarul penitenciarelor din România comunistă: 1945–1967 (in Romanian). Institutul de Investigare a Crimelor Comunismului în România. Iași: Polirom. ISBN 978-973-46-0893-5. OCLC 297531689.