The Jews in Târgu Jiu camp

The presence of Jews in Târgu Jiu dates from the 19th century, being mentioned as inhabitants in 1860. The existing information records that in 1899 and 1910, 69 and 47 Jews lived in Târgu Jiu, respectively, and in 1930 their number was 100. After World War II, in 1947, 104 Jews lived in the city. During the communist period, everyone emigrated.

Târgu Jiu is known in contemporary history as the place where Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, first secretary (general secretary) of the Romanian Communist Party after 1945 and leader of communist Romania (1945-1965), began his “flight to power” in August 1944. In 1939, a camp for Polish refugees was set up in the city. The following year, the camp became a camp for political prisoners, being placed under the direct control of the Ministry of Interior. At the same time, also Jews suspected of communism were transferred to the camp from that year. Legionnaires, striking miners from the Jiu Valley, or members of political parties that posed a danger to the Antonescu regime, as well as people detained for prostitution or begging, were interned in Târgu Jiu. Interns were kept in separate barracks according to political affiliation.

In the case of the Jews who arrived in Târgu Jiu, they were sent to Bumbești for labour. Here they worked on the stone quarry or on the construction of the Bumbești - Livezeni railway line. According to the existing data, at the beginning of 1941, there were 1,506 people (communists, legionnaires, strikers, suspects) in the Târgu Jiu camp.

Romania’s entry into the war against the Soviet Union, June 22nd, 1941, was preceded by the deportation in 48 hours of Jewish men aged between 18 and 60 who lived in the rural areas between Siret and Prut. Some of them also arrived in Târgu Jiu. Thus, in August 1941, there were 1,501 Jews in the Târgu Jiu camp. Of these, 266 were from Dorohoi, 112 from Lespezi, 220 from Botoșani, 91 from Vaslui, 362 from Fălciu, and 431 from other counties of Moldova. In October 1941, the Jews from Galați were also deported to Târgu Jiu, who had been identified by the authorities as dangerous.

Like the other detainees, the Jewish deportees were used to work on the Bumbești - Livezi railway line or were used by various institutions and enterprises in the city of Târgu Jiu or in the vicinity of the city. From October 1941, the Jews deported to the camp in the summer of 1941 were sent back to their places of origin. Thus, in November 1941, there were only 710 Jews left in the Târgu Jiu camp, including 59 women.

1942 meant a significant change for the Jews in the Târgu Jiu camp. In July 1942, General Ion Antonescu ordered the deportation to Transnistria of the following categories of Jews: Jews suspected of communism, but not convicted, Jews who demanded repatriation to the Soviet Union in 1940, and Jews from the Târgu Jiu camp.

Thus, in September 1942, the Jews from Târgu Jiu and those accused of communist activities were deported to Transnistria, to the Vapniarca camp. According to existing information, 406 Jews were deported from the Târgu Jiu camp. Those who survived the deportations were repatriated in March 1944, being brought back to the Târgu Jiu camp. They were released after August 23rd, 1944. After that date, in accordance with the provisions of the Armistice Convention of September 12th, 1944, in Târgu Jiu were interned those accused of war crimes or for the disaster of the country, as well as some of the ethnic Germans who had not been deported to the USSR. The existing information shows that the number of those who were interned in Târgu Jiu after 1945 would have been 5,246 people. 

Ovidiu Creangă, Târgu Jiu, in Geoffrey P. Megargee (general editor), Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933-1945, Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2018, pp. 781-782.

Ana Bărbulescu, The Târgu-Jiu Camp: Between History and Memory, in Holocaust. Studii şi cercetări [The Holocaust. Studies and research], vol. VI, nr. 1(7)/2014, pp. 14, 16.

Ana Bărbulescu, Târgu Jiu, accessible online at http://www.inshr-ew.ro/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Targu-Jiu.pdf 

Andrei Muraru (coordonator), Dicționarul penitenciarelor din România comunistă [The Dictionary of Penitentiaries in Communist Romania] (1945-1967), Iași, Polirom, 2008, pp. 494-495.