The silent escape

280 Pages·17.637 MB·English

by  Lena Constante

SILENT
THE
ESCAPE

S I L E N T
THE
ESCAPE
Three Thousand Days
in Romanian Prisons
LENA CONSTANTE
Translation by
Franklin Philip
Introduction by
Gail Kligman
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
Berkeley Los Angeles London
Published as L'evasion silencieuse: Trois mi/le jour seule dans /es
prisons roumaines in 1990 by Editions La Decouverte, Paris
The publisher gratefully acknowledges the contribution provided by
the Literature in Translation Endowment Fund, which is supported
by a generous gift from Joan Palevsky.
University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
University of California Press
London, England
Copyright© 1995 by The Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Constante, Lena
[Evasion silencieuse. English]
The silent escape: three thousand days in Romanian prisons /
Lena Constante; translation by Franklin Philip; introd. by Gail Kligman.
p. cm.-(Society and culture in East Central Europe)
Translation of: L'evasion silencieuse.
ISBN 0-520-08209-5
1. Constante, Lena. 2. Political prisoners-Romania-Biography.
I. Title. II. Series: Societies and culture in East-Central Europe.
HV9772.5.C6613A3 1995
365' .45 092-dc20 94-10627
I
[B] CIP
Printed in the United States of America
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39 .48-1984 @
In loving memory of my husband) Harry Brauner

Contents
Introduction by Gail Kligman IX
Part One January 1950-April 1954
1 First Prison 5
2 Second Prison 37
3 Third Prison 74
4 Fourth Prison 92
Part Two Antecedents
5 April-October 1948 121
Part Three The Penitentiary
6 Dumbraveni 145
7 The Walls Speak:
Miercurea-Ciuc Penitentiary 203
Afterword 251
vii