Lazar Lobont

* 1913

  • "[On inquiry they took me out...] I do not know how many times! And they took me... And then the officer came... taking my hand, he put eye-glasses for me to see nothing, and taking my hand he took me in the hallway... He brought in front of the investigator. [...] They said that a search was organized and they found Royal coins. And they asked me why I kept the money? They suggested I was on the King’s side and that... the priest ... The real reason for the beatings was my connection with the priest and that we have engaged in political coverstaions... without me realizing this would have been a problem... neither the priest liked the communists because they had no faith, ...if they had faith, wouldn’t they have been capable of these attrocities, right?"

  • "From Deva [they took us to] Gherla prison. At Gherla we were brought in chains, and I was put in a 10 days quarantine, 50 people in one room. When one was sitting down, the other one was standing, it wasn’t enough space. And I ate without spoon, there were no spoons. I didn’t have spoon... When they arrested me ... I was 48 years. I didn’t know what the pain of mouth was. When I returned home I had only two teeth in my mouth... they gave us cooked food... The guardian came'... 'Today 10 people eat...' With the cup, no spoon... others with tin... and I destroyed my mouth. I came home with two teeth!"

  • "They sent to me from Bucharest... in '98, next year... in '97... to come before the Supreme Court in Bucharest, room 33. What was supposed an old man like me to do there? Was I physically fit to get there? And I went to Court and explained them the situation ... I thought they send me to Hunedoara. I went to Hunedoara and there a judge said: 'Not here! You have to go to Bucharest.' I said to him: 'I cannot go to Bucharest.' Then I made an address in which I explained how I was arrested, and the conditions... But no answer came. Since December I sent it... And I expected for them to cancel the condemnation. That was all. (laughs - n.n.)"

  • Celé nahrávky
  • 1

    Bucuresti, 12.06.2012

    (audio)
    délka: 40:03
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu Prison Experiences in Communist Romania
Celé nahrávky jsou k dispozici pouze pro přihlášené uživatele.

“When they arrested me I was 48 years old. I didn’t know what the pain of mouth was. When I returned home I had only two teeth in my mouth...”

Lobont Lazar 1974.jpg (historic)
Lazar Lobont
zdroj: Arhiva autor

Lobonţ Lazar was born on April 8, 1913 in the village Ghelari, Hunedoara County, Romania. He was arrested on June 23, 1958 and sentenced to hard labor for life for the crime of armed insurrection. His sentence was later commuted to 25 years of forced labor. At his arrest he was working at Hunedoara Steel Enterprise. During detention his wife divorced him because of the pressure exercised by state authorities on her. He was released on April 18, 1964. After release he remarried his wife.