Antonie Plămădeală and the Securitate in the years 1940s-1950s
Antonie Plămădeală and the Securitate in the years 1940s-1950s

Summary/Abstract: This article examines the life of the Romanian theologian Antonie Plămădeală (1926-2005) in the years1940s-1950s. More specifically, it discusses his experience with the Romanian secret police (Securitate) and the way in which Securitate portrayed him in its dossiers written on him in this decade. This article also examines Plămădeală’s arrest and years in prison in the mid 1950s, incarcerated for alleged ties to the Legionary Movement, organization known for its fascist, paramilitary and anti-Semitic activity and rhetoric. Although the Securitate files provide significant evidence pertaining to Plămădeală’s association with legionaries, through his ties to the Faculty of Theology at the University of Bucharest as well as to the Vladimireşti Monastery, Securitate’s evidence pertaining to Plămădeală’s being a member of this movement is inconclusive. Thus, it is likely that Plămădeală may have not been a legionary. In regards to Plămădeală’s experience as a political prisoner, this article suggests that Plămădeală’s prison years were destructive to his inner being and identity.

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