The relationship of "unmasked" students to the "patron"
O. D. C. C. is not clear. Not everyone considered re-educated became a member
of O. D. C. C. as a matter of course; in fact, only a very small number were
chosen by Turcanu and approved by his unseen superiors. The exact number of
those considering themselves members could not be learned. Supposedly it did
not exceed 50 or 60 out of a total of more than 1,000 re-educated students. It
was from these approved "joiners" that committee leaders were
selected to direct unmaskings.
As the number of re-educated grew, using all of them in unmaskings became of
course more difficult. Everything possible was done to ensure that each
participated in at least one such operation, in order to confirm his
disintegration into the new state. There were, on the other hand, always the
zealots who carried the load, and were taken from cell to cell to begin their
work anew.
The rest of the re-educated students passed their days according to the
established program. Usually the program came from "above," namely
from the directorate of the O. D. C. C., but many times it was left to the
discretion of cell committees, the leadership being confident that its
underlings understood very well what was permitted and what was not.
Topics for discussion, once selected, were often assigned to a student to
confirm his degradation, but there were plenty of volunteers who offered to
speak on "agreed upon" subjects out of a desire to put to sleep any
suspicions the committee might entertain. In this manner were organized short
theatrical productions in which the old order, or organizations of which the
"creators" were former members, were maligned. Poetry, and
particularly the epigram, was employed in developing the topics selected by the
committee. Out of these efforts came a collection of verses, entitled "The
Red Notebook," to which several students over a period of three years
contributed their work. The student Sergiu Mandinescu, a quite talented youth,
had charge of editing the work, which was finally presented to the political
officer of the Gherla prison, Avadanei, who, in addition to torturing
prisoners, busied himself with being a "patron of the arts. " The
collection, as was to be expected, contained lavish praise of the Communist
Party and its early underground fighters; laudatory poems about machinery in
factories; and odes on the creative nature of prison life which "forged
new men. "
Educational discussions were held based on materials prepared by the
prison's directorate and by O. D. C. C. members. In these, plans of action for
further unmaskings were worked out and various reports of "in the
field" leaders of unmaskings were analyzed. During these "analysis
meetings" were scrutinized also the written declarations of those
subjected to torture, especially those concerning the outer unmasking; if found
adequate, they were sent every month to the Ministry of the Interior by special
courier.
The fulfillment of this program was supervised by members of the O. D. C.
C., a watchful eye being particularly kept on things which might prove
symbolic, resulting sometimes in quite preposterous situations. Here is an
example:
One afternoon a student began humming a popular tune of the 1940's. From the
whole song, I here give only the refrain:
"But I cannot, and slowly pass the years
Waiting for the buckeyes to bloom again ... "
Just a few common words. But back in 1947 the Romanians had modified the
last line, substituting "Waiting for the Americans to arrive. "
Doubtless our music lover was only humming a tune without thought for the
substituted verse, but someone who heard him shouted, "Unmask!" This
was the term used to announce you had something to say about yourself or
someone else. At once, everybody had to stop what he was doing and listen.
"The bandit X sang a song with a hidden meaning; he cannot forget what he
was; and he awaits the Americans to take revenge on the re-educators. "
The student in question, surprised, could not but admit that the bandit within
him had not yet disappeared and that he was guilty and deserving of stringent
punishment!
Any slackening in attention to "the new nature" was taken care of
by controlling the rhythm of the unmaskings. When the effect was at a low ebb,
those who were still in their own cells were sent either to other cells where
unmaskings were being started, or into cells where the newly arrived were being
held. Here they were required to act as "confidence men" and obtain
all the information they could from the newcomers, which could be used later
when the cudgels were brought out and the re-education began.