Video the army sent by Ceausescu to clog the hell of the mines in the Jiu Valley: “Some never returned home”

The Ceausescu regime has made dozens of victims from young people recruited in the army. Thousands of Romanians were sent, to work in the dangerous coal mines in the Jiu Valley, where the lack of experience and chance transformed many into victims. Secret documents reveal the drama of young people.

The mines in the Jiu Valley were, in the 1980s, the nightmare of many Romanians sent to the army, as shown by unique documents kept in archives. For a decade, until 1988, thousands of young people made the military internship in the coal mines, and many of them were seriously injured or lost their lives in work accidents.

“After taking the oath, in 1978, in Petrosani, they put 50 in a platoon-we were about 250 then-they climbed all on the buses and we were sent to work in the coal mines. He, we were walking only through the mine and we were afraid of what is under the ground. He remembers vines, a local from Hunedoara, who was registered in a mining work battalion.

Mines in communist Hunedoara

After the completion of the military internship at the Unit in Petrosani, Hunedorean was also engaged in mining, but closer to the house, during the mining operations in Muncelu Mic, from the Poiana Ruscă Mountains.

In the Hunedoara of the 1980s there were numerous mines, which together had almost 100,000 employees. Many of them were non -performing, but they were kept in activity, despite the costs, by the communist regime.

Almost half of the miners worked in the carboniferous region of the Jiu Valley, several thousand in the iron and complex ore mines in the Poiana Ruscă Mountains, and a consistent part in the gold and complex ores in Apuseni.

The fluctuation of personnel was high, due to difficult working and living conditions, underground risks – higher in coal mines, where there was a danger of gases and explosions – but also because many workers came from other areas of Romania and, after a period, sought to return to their native places.

Miners’ salaries were considered high compared to other economic branches in Romania, but modest in relation to the revenues of miners from other countries. Despite consistent income, many miners lived in poverty. They had numerous families, in which they were the only ones who brought income, while the wives were staying at home to take care of the household and children.

“Those who did not live in the Jiu Valley and stayed in the numerous dormitories of non -family, sometimes more difficult, due to a more messy life. a former miner from Uricani remembered.

Tragedies in the mines of the Jiu Valley

While the miners in the Jiu Valley could enjoy some freedom, for the military sent on the underground “front”, the working conditions were much more drastic, and the military internship could become a real nightmare. Some statistics show that, between 1977 and 1987, almost 100,000 soldiers worked in the Jiu Valley, and at least 80 of them died in work accidents. Another over 1,000 were injured in such events.

The documents kept in the archives show that the soldiers did not give the expected performance by the communist regime in a job-the one-with whom they were acquainted for the first time and which many did not want to practice. The lack of experience exposed to accidents and endangered the safety of the other Ortaci.

The worst mining accident in the last decade of communism occurred on November 29, 1980, at the Livezeni mine. Then, two successive explosions underground led to the death of 53 miners, mining rescuers and military, and 77 other people were seriously injured. According to the documents of the time, 15 soldiers died.

The fears of the military sent underground

An informative note of the Security, presented by the researcher Sebastian Popa, shows that at the end of 1985 in the mining enterprises in the Jiu Valley, 6,200 soldiers worked, and others over 800 had concluded in August 1985 a minimum term of five years, being distributed here from the military units in the country.

“Regarding the situation of the more than 6,200 soldiers who work in the mining enterprises in the Jiu Valley, it turns out that many of them state that it is very difficult to work in the mine, some expressing their fear for the work accidents they are exposed to underground. After the events among the military, the number is related to the tasks,”inform the informative note made available by Sebastian Popa.

The same note showed that, after the collective accident at the Aninoasa Mina of June 25, 1985, where four people died, one of the soldiers stated that “The Aninoasa mine exploded, where 140 soldiers and a few civilians died and I am afraid to work in the mine.”

There were also situations when the soldiers expressed their dissatisfaction with the quality of the meals served in some mining units and the insufficient amount of dietary supplements necessary for the hard work in the underground, according to the communist security documents, kept in the CNSAS archives.

“Thus, in July 1985, in exchange for Mina Lupeni, a number of 43 soldiers refused to enter the mine, reasoning that they were given a box of hot food. Following the research, six soldiers were sent to arrest, three were convicted and passed to the disciplinary battalion, Depending on ”, it was specified in the document.

In 1985, 26 people were fatally injured in the Mines of the Jiu Valley, of which five were soldiers, complete the security report.

“These accidents have a negative influence on the work climate and create a psychic climate of insecurity among the military. Due to lack of qualified civilian personnel (miners, miners help), in many jobs one civilians returns to four soldiers in the respective working formations, creating the risk of accidents.”the authors of the document informed.

Thousands of soldiers, sent to “re -education” in coal mines

In the early 1950s, the coal mines in the Jiu Valley were controlled by the Soviets, and to increase the coal production, thousands of soldiers were sent here. Many of them were part of the work details, being considered by the communist regime soldiers with “unhealthy social origins”.

“Some of them were sent here following punishments for trying to get rid of the army, and others were just because the military represented a cheap workforce. These soldiers are unexpected and involved in numerous accidents. Recently, a soldier died of wagons with charcoal while making a hole in the gallery. The cause of a contracted disease before entering the mine, telling them that he was weak and sick before performing military service. “showed an informative note from 1954, kept in the digitized archives of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

A security unit was responsible for maintaining authority in me. Its power varies depending on the size of the exploitation, but usually consisted in about 200 officers and people for each operation.

The mines were surrounded by barbed wire fences and walls almost two meters high. The soldiers had to work almost always wearing uniforms. Some of them, besides the work in factories and me, also received military training, but especially theoretical-political training.

“The yield of these soldiers is not exactly good, since they are always hungry and that is why they cannot and do not want to work”, showed another CIA report.

Miners’ strike brought thousands of military to the Jiu Valley

After the Miners strike on August 1-3, 1977, the Ceausescu regime sent thousands of military to the Jiu Valley, while numerous miners were expelled from the mining region to avoid new conflicts.

“More than 2,000 soldiers were mobilized in the Jiu Valley, where great demonstrations and strikes, in which tens of thousands of people participated, broke out three months ago, and the economic and political tensions continue. The strikes and demonstrations in the Jiu Valley represented the most crushing protest movements in Romania”reported American journalist David Andelman, correspondent of The New York Times, in the report “Romania earthquake”, published on November 21, 1977.

It was said that the military were going to work in the coal mines, but a miner reported that the soldiers had refused, saying: “It is not our job, we came to defend the country”note the journalist.

The miners reported that a large number of security officers presented themselves as mere miners and were detached in the mines in the Jiu Valley, having the mission to prevent the reorganization of the workers and the outbreak of new protest movements.

“We were informed that shortly after the arrival of security officers and soldiers, thousands of miners were removed, many of them by force, from the Jiu Valley, together with their families.”complete David Andelman.

The military left a goal in the production of mines

In 1987, about 7,000 soldiers worked in the mines in the Jiu Valley, but by the middle of the following year they would all leave the region, with the abolition of the Military Mining Brigade, against the background of domestic and international pressures.

“Starting with May 1988, the situation regarding the insurance of the workforce has changed by leaving the 5,400 soldiers who worked underground. For their replacement a program of measures included precise terms and responsibilities both locally, county and national. Surface activities to underground activities, 1,100 workers temporarily detached from other counties, of which 300 came from other mining companies. They to enter the session ”, It shows an informative note of the communist security, presented by the researcher Sebastian Popa, on his blog.

According to the information, the specialists warned that the emergency measures could not compensate for the lack of qualified personnel and that the production of coal, as well as the security of work, were to suffer.

Other security documents, from the same period, showed that the workers employed in the Jiu Valley to replace the military had poor training in the field of mining, and the rapid qualification courses failed to train them enough. The lack of interest of the new employees increased the risk of underground accidents.

The workers were unhappy that they were receiving lower salaries than they had hoped, they did not benefit from homes, and their wives did not have the opportunity to hire. The lack of food was a constant problem, recognized by the authorities. They showed that, without solving the food crisis, the stabilization of the labor was impossible.

Many of the workers left the Jiu Valley, stating that in their origin counties the supply was much better, another 1988 information showed.