- Tămădău Affair
The Tămădău Affair (Romanian: "Afacerea Tămădău", "Înscenarea de la Tămădău" - "the
Tămădău frameup " - or "Fuga de la Tămădău" - "the Tămădău flight") was an incident that took place inRomania in the summer of1947 , the source of a political scandal andshow trial .It was provoked when an important number of
National Peasants' Party (PNŢ) leaders, including party vice presidentIon Mihalache , had been offered a chance to flee Romania, where the Communist Party (PCR), the main force inside thePetru Groza government, already had a tight grip on power with backing from by theSoviet Union ("seeSoviet occupation of Romania "). The affair signalled some of the first official measures taken against opposition parties, as a step leading to the proclamation of aPeople's Republic at the end of the same year ("seeCommunist Romania ").Background
The PCR victory in the 1946 general election, achieved through widespread
electoral fraud , [Frunză, p.287-292, 297] was followed by the first attempts at anti-Communist resistance (including large rallies, and the creation of a "military circle" led by Mihalache). [Frunză, p.292-293, 295]As the main adversary of
Stalinism and committed supporter of theWestern Allies , the PNŢ was the main target for PCR hostility. PNŢ party presidentIuliu Maniu was already targeted for having backed attempts (duringWorld War II ) by the fascist "Conducător "Ion Antonescu to sign aseparate peace with theUnited Kingdom and theUnited States ("seeRomania during World War II "). [Frunză, p.293-295] In late October 1946, the PNŢ entered into open conflict with the authorities; the first volley was to send a "Report" to theUnited Nations , heavily critical of Soviet policies (the text was subject tocensorship inside Romania). [Frunză, p.297-298]The Communist press alleged that the National Peasants' Party had been organizing a wide network of armed resistance (groups cited in that context may have indeed existed as early as 1947, and probably merged into the resistance movement of the 1950s). [Frunză, p.296] At the same time, the Communists approached several PNŢ politicians with offers to join the Communists in administrative positions. Similar offers were made to other parties: the PCR obtained the cooperation of
Mihai Ralea , who led theSocialist Peasants' Party , as well asAnton Alexandrescu ,Nicolae L. Lupu , andVictor Eftimiu . [Frunză, p.299]Events
Several details of the Affair are still unclear. The offer to flee Romania was either quickly discovered (as the PCR alleged), or had already been investigated, and, in the hope of discrediting the opposition party, partly facilitated by agents of
Teohari Georgescu , Minister of the Interior. [Frunză, p.300-301] In October 1947, Maniu declared that:"The idea for Mr. Mihalache and a few friends to go abroad was an older one and I had decided at some point to leave myself, in case Mr. Mihalache would not allow himself to leave. This discussion between us lasted for a while, and we were thinking how we could find a means of locomotion. When the question was being debated between the two of us with no one else aware of it, Dr.
Emil Haţieganu came to see me. [...] He said: I have two aviators who have a plane at their disposal and have let me know that they have secured 3-4 seats, as they are to leave on an official military mission toIstanbul . I said that I was satisfied by the offer and I that I would designate 3-4 persons to leave." [Maniu, in Lăcustă]Early on the morning of July 14, 1947, at the
Tămădău airfield (46 km from Bucharest),Siguranţa Statului and armed soldiers arrested a number of prominent PNŢ politicians, including Mihalache,Nicolae Penescu ,Ilie Lazăr ,Nicolae Carandino , Dumitru andEugen Borcea , all of whom were waiting for airplanes to transport them out of the country; the presence of a reporter for the official press, accompanying the soldiers as the arrest was being carried out, was never properly explained. [Cioroianu, p.95; Frunză, p.301; Vohn]The scandal was centered on the charge of
treason ("of the people's interests"), provoked by the allegation that those arrested had attempted to establish agovernment in exile . [Frunză, p.300-301] At that time, however, it was not illegal for a citizen of theKingdom of Romania to leave his country of birth, and there was no official policy hostile to the Western Allies. [Frunză, p.301] Calls for a trial of the entire party were voiced by the Communist press (notably, bySilviu Brucan ), and Maniu himself, although not present at Tămădău, was argued to have planned the escape. [Frunză, p.301] Arrested while under treatment in asanatorium , [Cioroianu, p.96; Vohn] Maniu later admitted to the fact, and indicated that he was prepared to assume complete responsibility:" [After Haţieganu's offer] I spoke to Mr. Mihalache, I specifically asked him to make use of this opportunity and he accepted. Indeed, the moral and political responsibility for the departure of Mr. Mihalache and our friends is mine." [Maniu, in Lăcustă]
He denied, however, any subversive goal:
"The purpose as designed by me was that, through going abroad, they were to inform foreign countries of the situation in Romania." [Maniu, in Lăcustă]
Outcome
Later the same day (July 14, 1947), authorities stormed into the PNŢ headquarters and confiscated all documents held in the archive, a move followed by other searches for documents in various locations. [Vohn] On July 19, the Assembly of Deputies of Romania voted to outlaw the party press (including "
Dreptatea "), and to lift theparliamentary immunity of PNŢ deputies — the entire party leadership was arrested on the same day, and the party was banned on July 30 (on the basis of a report filed by Teohari Georgescu). [Frunză, p.302-303] In parallel, Soviet authorities handed Teohari Georgescu the handwritten testimony of a formerAbwehr agent, Alfred Petermann, who alleged that Maniu had worked as an agent for the BritishSecret Intelligence Service during the war, keeping contact withAlfred Gardyne de Chastelain . [Pokivailova & Chiper, p.44-49]All those involved and those judged to have been involved were sentenced to harsh
penal labour sentences: Maniu died inSighet prison in 1953, and Mihalache inRâmnicu Sărat ten years after. [Both Maniu and Mihalache had been sentenced to life in prison; upon sentencing, Maniu, who was 75, was required to pay 50,000 lei, to cover his own funeral expenses (Frunză, p.388)] Most other important party activists were sentenced with or without trial in the following years; [Cioroianu, p.96; Frunză, p.388]Corneliu Coposu , who was to lead the reestablished party after theRomanian Revolution of 1989 , was also arrested and imprisoned in connection with the Tămădău Affair.Constantin Titel-Petrescu , leader of the independent branch of the Social Democratic Party (one which had refused cooperation with the Communists), was also implicated in the trial — it was concluded that he had participated in planning the Tămădău episode, and was himself later tried and convicted on the basis of this and other accusations. [Frunză, p.389; Petrescu was released in 1955, after theUnited Kingdom Labour Party interceded withNikita Khrushchev — nonetheless, he was still required to sign his ideological affiliation to Communism (Frunză, p.390)] The diplomatNeagu Djuvara , who was present at the RomanianLegation inSweden , was mentioned in one of the testimonies at the trial, and opted not to return to his country. [Roman]The episode was soon after used against the Foreign Minister,
Gheorghe Tătărescu , leader of theNational Liberal Party-Tătărescu (which, although aligned with the Communists, had by then criticized several Communist policies). He was attacked by the PCR newspaper "Scînteia " for having allegedly failed to act against a pro-Maniu conspiracy inside his ministry, unceremoniously demoted, and replaced by the Communist activistAna Pauker . [Frunză, p.307-308]Notes
References
*
Adrian Cioroianu , "Pe umerii lui Marx. O introducere în istoria comunismului românesc" ("On the Shoulders of Marx. An Incursion into the History of Romanian Communism"),Editura Curtea Veche , Bucharest, 2005
*Victor Frunză, "Istoria stalinismului în România" ("The History of Stalinism in Romania"), Humanitas, Bucharest, 1990
*ro icon Ioan Lăcustă, [http://www.itcnet.ro/history/archive/mi1997/current10/mi42.htm "În Bucureşti, acum 50 ani" ("In Bucharest, 50 Years Ago")] , in "Magazin Istoric", October 1997
*Tatiana Pokivailova, Ioan Chiper, "Procesul Maniu în arhivele de la Moscova" ("The Maniu Trial in the Moscow Archives"), in "Magazin Istoric", April 2002
*ro icon Toma Roman jr., [http://www.plai-cu-boi.ro/protect/11/djuvara.html "«Politiceşte, Ion Antonescu habar n-avea ce face»" ("«Politically, Ion Antonescu Had No Idea of What He Was Doing»"), interview with Neagu Djuvara, in "Plai cu Boi", No.11]
*ro icon Cristina Vohn, [http://www.jurnalul.ro/articol_59598/lovitura_de_teatru___inscenarea_de_la_tamadau.html "Lovitura de teatru - Înscenarea de la Tămădău" ("Theater Coup - The Tămădău Frameup")] , in "Jurnalul Naţional ",August 16 ,2006 External links
*ro icon
Silviu Brucan , [http://www.adevarulonline.ro/2005-08-12/Istorie/pedeapsa-trebue-sa-fie-maxima_146367.html "Pedeapsa trebue să fie maximă!" ("The Penalty Must be the Maximum One!")] , article ofNovember 10 ,1947 , republished by "Adevărul "
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