Franț Țandără

Franț Țandără (22 February 1930[1] – 2 May 2004[2]) was a Romanian communist and self-described torturer.

Țandără was born into a poor and dysfunctional family. Abandoned by both parents, he became an army ward at age 11.[3] After the end of World War II he led a vagrant life, before becoming in 1946 a sympathizer of the Romanian Communist Party in Giurgiu.[4] According to his account from an interview,[1] he curried favor with Pavel Ștefan, a local communist boss, who found work for him at Căile Ferate Române. After a dispute with his father, though, Țandără killed his father with an axe; he was apprehended and sentenced to 12 years hard labor.[1]

Țandără spent several years doing forced labor at the Danube–Black Sea Canal, and allegedly served as an informant to the communist authorities in the re-education camps there.[1] After being transferred to Culmea, he was sent in August 1951 to Psychiatric Hospital no. 9 in Bucharest, where he claims he became employed by the Securitate to assist in the torture and killing of political prisoners.[1][4] He was released early, upon receiving a presidential pardon he claims was signed by writer Mihail Sadoveanu.[1] In 1956 Țandără succumbed to mental pressure and was committed to a psychiatric hospital. After his release he worked as a carpenter and a beekeeper.[3]

According to his own declarations, Țandără tortured and killed more than 100 persons, and enjoyed doing this,[5] stating, "I hated the bourgeoisie at the maximum. I wanted to kill them all".[6] His claims, where he asked to be judged by a tribunal of his victims, are the subject of the 1999 book The Road to Damascus: Confession of a former torturer by Doina Jela.[7][3]

According to Variety, out of the estimated 1,700 Romanians whose mission under the Communist regime was torturing political prisoners, Țandără was the only one who felt a need to confess.[8] He died in 2004 in Giurgiu, without ever having faced prosecution for the crimes he confessed to.[1]

His story is presented in The Afternoon of a Torturer, a 2001 Romanian biography film directed by Lucian Pintilie based on Jela's book and starring Gheorghe Dinică in the role of Țandără.[9]

References
  1. Anton, Fabian (January 11, 2007). "Cuvinte pentru comuniști. O convorbire cu torționarul Franț Țandără". Observator Cultural (in Romanian).
  2. "Interviu halucinant cu torționarul comunist Franz Țandără: „Era o plăcere de a tortura. Oamenii curați la suflet n-au scăpat. I-am lichidat pe toți"". antena3.rolanguage=Romanian. February 3, 2020.
  3. Petrinca, Ruxandra (2017). "Halfway Between Memory and History: Romanian Gulag Memoirs as a Genre". Slovo. UCL Press. 29 (1): 2–30. doi:10.14324/111.0954-6839.056. ISSN 0954-6839.
  4. Antoniu, Paul (February 14, 2020). "Relația cu Securitatea și interviu cu Franz Țandără - Securist torționar" (in Romanian). Retrieved April 12, 2020.}
  5. Saiu, Florian (March 5, 2020). "Dezvăluirile unui torționar: „Ceaușescu? Un infractor nenorocit, dădea lovituri pe la Piatra Olt"". evz.ro (in Romanian).
  6. Novac, Catalina (2005). Long-term traumatic experiences of imprisonment and their impact on the well-being of political prisoners of the Romanian Gulag (Thesis). University of Rochester. ISBN 978-0-542-05636-9.
  7. Jela, Doina (1999). Drumul Damascului: spovedania unui fost torționar (in Romanian). Bucharest: Humanitas. ISBN 973-28-0993-0. OCLC 879018233.
  8. Young, Deborah (September 28, 2001). "The Afternoon of a Torturer". Variety. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  9. Saiu, Florian (January 31, 2020). "Drumul Damascului. Spovedania terifiantă a unui fost torționar: Franț Țandără". evz.ro (in Romanian).

Further reading
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