In today’s issue of my series `In the Spotlight` I thought about presenting to you a book I hold dear to my heart, for it carved inside me the desire to learn all I can about the old system which governed Romania for almost 50 years. When I say system I am by no means talking about the Communist system as an Ideology, but as the machinations, it has used to oppress its subjects and the book written by Doina Jela , called ”Drumul Damascului: Spovedania Unui Fost Torționar” (trad. Road to Damascus: The Confession of an Ex-Persecutioner) will be the best guide to understanding the horrors inflicted by the old regime.
Context of the book:
Apart from the general issues invoked by today’s concertizes who actually lived in the system (i.e. shortage of food, no prospect of western engagement, little to no freedom of choice) what the people of Romania do not discuss -for it is an unknown or absolutely taboo subject nowadays- are the physical persecutions inflected by the old system. I am specifically talking about the prisons and penitentiaries used in the Communist time, both used during Petru Groza and Gheorghiu-Dej’s mandates (and of course our dear Ceausescu’s mandates) as a means of torture.
A killing machine created with hate and bloodlust by a deviant understanding of an Ideology which decimated the noble families of Romania, its intelligentsia and a good part of the Church ( a great number of Greco-Catholic, Orthodox etc. priests were sent to different prisons and many of them lost their lives in the so-called “work facilities” or were beaten and tortured to death).
What is the book ”Road to Damascus: The Confession of an Ex-Persecutioner” stating?
Now that I have given you a very short overview of the scenery we will talk about ( for I am unable and rightly underprepared to talk more about this very complex subject, I will let today’s historians deal with them) I will introduce to you the subjects presented in Miss Jela’s books, whom I had the honour and privilege to meet and discuss with.
The book is an interview of one very interesting character, the ex-persecutioner (in Romanian, the term is ”torționar” so I tried to come up with a term as close in meaning as that) Franț Țandară, who operated during the Ministry of the Trinity Teohari–Pauker–Luca and a little bit after that, as an agent in different penitentiaries and prisons throughout the country.
Here he talks about the horrendous treatments he inflicted on the poor prisoners, about the ways he came up anew with methods of torture, about the division of powers and about the prisoners he encountered, from Romanian Princes to important political figures of the past, like Iuliu Maniu for example, and their interactions.
As I previously stated, I am unable momentarily to talk about the socio-political aspects of the time, for I am not a Communist Scholar however, I have a background of working in Trauma Studies. Thus my analysis of this book will be more of an approach from this perspective.
The most interesting part about the interview is most definitely the voluntary approach of Țandară. What do I mean by that? Well, he pretty much was the one who contacted Miss Jela, a journalist at that time and Prof. Fronea Bădulescu (very important to mention that prof. Bădulescu was an ex-prisoner in one of the facilities used by the communists), telling them who he was and what he did and about how much he needed to confess about his demons. The trauma is persistent and observable throughout the whole book and interview, as Țandară tells about his childhood story and how he came to kill his own father and how that was the first step towards his dehumanization.
An interesting aspect he mentions is the modus operandi of the regime, of recruiting different kids from poor backgrounds and how they were trained and groomed to become killing machines devoid of sentiments towards their victims.
In the frenzy of the power they were conferred, they were unable to discern between the good and the bad, having set goals, to torture and decimate. He mentions quite a lot how he sometimes tortured for fun, for this was what he thought it was good at that time and sometimes for fear of punishment if uncomplying would happen. Another interesting aspect is that he attributed his tragic background to the nobility and the bourgeoisie of the time, he was killing out of spite and when spite and hate become the catalyst for your behaviour, only havoc remains to be seen.
Of course, the regime had a say in that, as they were the ones promoting these ideas to the youth. What I adore about this book is how Țandară is not interrupted when he has a stream of consciousness, -although his discourse is sometimes hard to follow, using different timelines and intertwining unrelated events- and how he is given the stage, he is let to tell his part of the story, not what the party wanted its subject to know.
He sometimes gives detailed accounts about some of his methods, about his comrades and superiors and sometimes tells us there are some things he is too ashamed to talk about and how only God will know them at his divine punishment.
At no moment does he want repentance, he is sure of the Hell he has to go through. He does not want forgiveness, he is but a mere participant in a sick game of playing God, or he is sometimes the unbothered witness of horror.
Țandară Between Perpetrator and Victim:
What bothered me the most and what I appreciate highly at this book – think Miss Jella mentioned during our meeting- is that she ( Doina Jela) does not influence the opinion of the reader, she is there to collect data not to judge Țandară the man and exactly that left me with a sorrowful feeling, I was and still am absolutely unable to put Țandară in one category.
I argue that he is a perpetrator as much as he is a victim, for one should agree that the two concepts are by no means mutually exclusive. He is the victim of the system which gave him a fata morgana and is the perpetrator of their faulted machinations. I think I cannot give you more that a brief overview of this book, for the only way for you to grasp the full meaning of it is to actually read it yourselves and to create your own opinions, all I can tell you is that this book is an absolute MUST because:
-it brings forth a topic most ignored but of utmost importance: that of perpetrator and victim and the dynamics established between the two states of being; it talks about the problem of suppressed trauma –a recurrent theme within Romania’s collective mentality- and about the dynamics of totalitarianism and its subjects. 
Miss Jella and Prof. Fronea Bădulescu do an absolutely brilliant job at presenting to you Țandară the man, the neighbour, the victim and the ex-perpetrator and I can not underline how important such a piece of history is for us, as a people and for the generations to come, for acknowledging the trauma and discussing its context and method of perpetuation is the step forward towards healing from it.
