Amnesty International postcards sent to imprisoned Greek Catholic bishop in Romania
Item
Title
Amnesty International postcards sent to imprisoned Greek Catholic bishop in Romania
Description
The four images show Amnesty International postcards sent to Dej prison to the Greek Catholic Bishop Ioan Dragomir in 1964. They are selected from a total of 15 winter holiday postcards sent from various places in United Kingdom and Australia to Dej prison. Most of them have standardized typed messages on the Amnesty International cards.
The first picture shows the inside of a card and back of an envelope. The card is a standard pre-written Amnesty International card to which the sender added: “I hope you will soon be free. God be with you.” The sender was the secretary of the University College in Cardiff. Most of the cards come with only the pre-written standardized messages and are signed and addressed. This is among the few that include some lines from the sender.
The second and third images show the front of two cards.
The forth image shows the inside of a card that sparked the special interest of the secret police. The senders’ message reads: “Dear bishop Dragomir, greetings. May the future bring greater light, Yours Faithfully Fred Dykstiva”. However, it was not the hand-written message the Securitate officers were concerned about but the pre-written Amnesty International message at the bottom of the card. “This card is being sent to men and women in various countries held in prison for their beliefs, to show that those who are free to speak and worship as they wish remember those who are not.”
The 15 cards arrived at Dej prison in November 1964 several months after Bishop Ioan Dragomir had been released from prison after an amnesty decree that released most of the political prisoners of the regime. However, what triggered the Securitate involvement was the fact that Bishop Dragomir had never been a prisoner of the Dej prison (this was a prison that catered for prisoners arrested and charged for spying for a Western country). Bishop Dragomir was supposed to have been sent to Dej prison since his imprisonment had originally been on charges of espionage for Vatican. However, his past as a member of the Peasant Party ensured instead that he was sent to Galați prison and later to Brăila where he spent the last days of his imprisonment until July 1964. While most of the political prisoners in Dej prison received Amnesty International postcards it was the Ioan Dragomir batch that raised the suspicions of the secret police. The officers raised questions about how the senders had found out that this was the correct address for political prisoners. This mistake in address seemed to indicate that international institutions were privy to the thinking behind the types of prisoners being sent to the various prisons. Moreover, the officers were interested in whether the correspondence between the bishop and these senders continued after his release from prison. Unlike his correspondence after his release that was copied and read by the secret police, these postcards never reached bishop Dragomir.
Bishop Dragomir was one of the clandestine Greek Catholic hierarchy that was created by Nuncio Patrick O’Hara following the imprisonment of the bishops of the Greek Catholic Church in 1948 for refusing to sign and acknowledge the forced unification with the Orthodox Church. He was imprisoned for 20 years in 1952 for activities against the social order. He was released in 1964 and returned to his home where he spiritually administered the clandestine communities of Greek Catholics as their bishop.
The four images are part of the informative file on Ioan Dragomir CNSAS I3560 volume 2. The informative file has 10 volumes and includes several other evidence photographs, notes from informants, intercepted correspondence, secret police reports on the everyday activity of Ioan Dragomir and the Greek Catholic underground community.
For related entries see:
The first picture shows the inside of a card and back of an envelope. The card is a standard pre-written Amnesty International card to which the sender added: “I hope you will soon be free. God be with you.” The sender was the secretary of the University College in Cardiff. Most of the cards come with only the pre-written standardized messages and are signed and addressed. This is among the few that include some lines from the sender.
The second and third images show the front of two cards.
The forth image shows the inside of a card that sparked the special interest of the secret police. The senders’ message reads: “Dear bishop Dragomir, greetings. May the future bring greater light, Yours Faithfully Fred Dykstiva”. However, it was not the hand-written message the Securitate officers were concerned about but the pre-written Amnesty International message at the bottom of the card. “This card is being sent to men and women in various countries held in prison for their beliefs, to show that those who are free to speak and worship as they wish remember those who are not.”
The 15 cards arrived at Dej prison in November 1964 several months after Bishop Ioan Dragomir had been released from prison after an amnesty decree that released most of the political prisoners of the regime. However, what triggered the Securitate involvement was the fact that Bishop Dragomir had never been a prisoner of the Dej prison (this was a prison that catered for prisoners arrested and charged for spying for a Western country). Bishop Dragomir was supposed to have been sent to Dej prison since his imprisonment had originally been on charges of espionage for Vatican. However, his past as a member of the Peasant Party ensured instead that he was sent to Galați prison and later to Brăila where he spent the last days of his imprisonment until July 1964. While most of the political prisoners in Dej prison received Amnesty International postcards it was the Ioan Dragomir batch that raised the suspicions of the secret police. The officers raised questions about how the senders had found out that this was the correct address for political prisoners. This mistake in address seemed to indicate that international institutions were privy to the thinking behind the types of prisoners being sent to the various prisons. Moreover, the officers were interested in whether the correspondence between the bishop and these senders continued after his release from prison. Unlike his correspondence after his release that was copied and read by the secret police, these postcards never reached bishop Dragomir.
Bishop Dragomir was one of the clandestine Greek Catholic hierarchy that was created by Nuncio Patrick O’Hara following the imprisonment of the bishops of the Greek Catholic Church in 1948 for refusing to sign and acknowledge the forced unification with the Orthodox Church. He was imprisoned for 20 years in 1952 for activities against the social order. He was released in 1964 and returned to his home where he spiritually administered the clandestine communities of Greek Catholics as their bishop.
The four images are part of the informative file on Ioan Dragomir CNSAS I3560 volume 2. The informative file has 10 volumes and includes several other evidence photographs, notes from informants, intercepted correspondence, secret police reports on the everyday activity of Ioan Dragomir and the Greek Catholic underground community.
For related entries see:
Cele patru imagini prezintă cărți poștale Amnesty International trimise, în anul 1964, la închisoarea din Dej, destinate episcopului greco-catolic Ioan Dragomir. Sunt selectate dintr-un total de 15 cărți poștale de vacanță de iarnă trimise din diferite locuri din Marea Britanie și Australia la închisoarea din Dej. Majoritatea au mesaje tipizate standardizate pe cărțile poștale Amnesty International.
Prima imagine arată interiorul unei cărți și partea din spate a unui plic. Cartea este una standard deja scrisă Amnesty International la care expeditorul a adăugat: „Sper că veți fi în curând liberi. Domnul să fie cu voi.” Expeditorul era secretarul Colegiului Universitar din Cardiff. Majoritatea cărților poștale au venit doar cu mesajele standardizate deja scrise și sunt doar semnate și adresate. Aceasta este printre puținele care includ câteva cuvinte de la expeditor.
A doua și a treia imagine arată fața a două cărți poștale.
A patra imagine arată interiorul unei cărți poștale care a stârnit interesul special al poliției secrete. Mesajul expeditorilor spune: „Dragă episcope Dragomir, salutări. Viitorul să îți fie luminat, al dumneavoastră plin de credință Fred Dykstiva”. Cu toate acestea, nu de mesajul scris de mână erau preocupați ofițerii Securității, ci de mesajul deja tipărit al Amnesty International din partea de jos a cărţii poștale. „Această carte poștală este trimisă bărbaților și femeilor din diferite țări deținuți în închisoare pentru credința lor, pentru a arăta că toți cei care sunt liberi să vorbească și să se închine după cum doresc își amintesc de cei care nu sunt”.
Cele 15 cărți poștale au ajuns la închisoarea din Dej în noiembrie 1964, la câteva luni după ce episcopul Ioan Dragomir a fost eliberat din închisoare în urma decretului de amnistie care a eliberat majoritatea prizonierilor politici ai regimului. Totuși, ceea ce a declanșat implicarea Securității a fost faptul că episcopul Dragomir nu a fost niciodată prizonierul închisorii din Dej (aceasta a fost o închisoare pentru prizonierii arestați și acuzați de spionaj pentru o țară occidentală). Episcopul Dragomir ar fi trebuit să fie trimis în închisoarea din Dej, deoarece la încarcerarea sa fusese inițial acuzat de spionaj pentru Vatican. Cu toate acestea, trecutul său ca membru al Partidului Țărănesc a asigurat în schimb că a fost trimis la închisoarea din Galați și, mai târziu, la cea din Brăila, unde a petrecut ultimele zile de închisoare până în iulie 1964. În timp ce majoritatea prizonierilor politici de la închisoarea din Dej au primit cărți poștale Amnesty International, grupul de cărți poștale trimise lui Ioan Dragomir a fost cel care a ridicat suspiciunile poliției secrete. Ofițerii au chestionat modul în care expeditorii au aflat că aceasta era adresa corectă pentru prizonierii politici. Această greșeală de adresare părea să indice că instituțiile internaționale erau la curent cu gândirea din spatele tipurilor de prizonieri trimiși în diferite închisori. Mai mult, ofițerii erau interesați dacă a continuat corespondența dintre episcop și acești expeditori şi după eliberarea sa din închisoare. Spre deosebire de corespondența sa după eliberare, care a fost copiată și citită de poliția secretă fiind ulterior lăsată să-și continue drumul spre destinatar, aceste cărți poștale nu au ajuns niciodată la episcopul Dragomir.
Episcopul Dragomir a fost unul dintre ierarhii greco-catolici clandestini care a fost instalat de nunțiul Patrick O'Hara după condamnarea la închisoare a episcopilor Bisericii Greco-Catolice în anul 1948 pentru că au refuzat să semneze și să recunoască unirea forțată cu Biserica Ortodoxă. În 1952, a fost condamnat la 20 de ani de închisoare pentru activități împotriva ordinii sociale. A fost eliberat în 1964 și s-a întors acasă, unde a administrat spiritual comunitățile clandestine de greco-catolici în calitate de episcop.
Cele patru imagini fac parte din dosarul informativ al lui Ioan Dragomir CNSAS I3560 volumul 2. Dosarul informativ are 10 volume și include alte câteva fotografii probatoare, note de la informatori, corespondență interceptată, rapoarte ale poliției secrete despre activitatea de zi cu zi a lui Ioan Dragomir și a comunității greco-catolice clandestine.
Pentru rubrici similare, vezi:
Subject
Communism--Romania--History--20th century
Communism--Europe, Eastern--History--20th century
Secret police (secret service)
Surveillance
Spies
Amnesty International
Catholic Church--Byzantine rite, Greek
Romania. Securitatea
Creator
Anca Sincan
Source
Consiliul Național pentru Studierea Arhivelor Securității (CNSAS) I3560, vol 2
Publisher
This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme No . 677355
Date
1965
Contributor
Anca Sincan
Rights
Copyright for the document image belongs to CNSAS
Consiliul Național pentru Studierea Arhivelor Securității
Consiliul Național pentru Studierea Arhivelor Securității
Format
jpeg
Language
RO
Type
image
Identifier
CNSAS I3560
Coverage
20th century, Romania
Bibliographic Citation
Anca Sincan, "Amnesty International postcards sent to imprisoned Greek Catholic bishop in Romania"
Date Created
2019
postcard Amnesty International 
postcard Amnesty International 
postcard Amnesty International 
postcard Amnesty International