New developments in the Pitesti Re-education experiment file in the communist Romania (1949-1951). Case of Iosif Fuchs

Abstract

The phenomenon of Pitesti Re-education during communist Romania – from 1949 to 1951 – has made a lot of ink to flow and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. We are aware that there is a long list of questions unanswered or unsatisfactorily handled. Starting from the testimonies of survivors who make mentions about certain people less known who played an important and suspicious role in re-education, the name of Iosif Fuchs has caught up our attention in particular. Our text introduces us to his prison time circumstances, pointing out to many elements that are extremely intriguing, thus suggesting the importance of this individual and the consistency of the role he played within this phenomenon. What type of missions did he have, how he accomplished them, what were his activity results and the role he played within this phenomenon can only be guessed at, with future research hoping to bring further clarification.