The final years of the Second World War and the first decades of communist rule were marked by deportations, political persecution, imprisonment, and reprisals. The exhibition traces events from the bombing of Cluj on 2 June 1944 and deportations to the Soviet Union to the history of political prisons and forced labour camps in Romania. Particular attention is given to the so-called “re-education experiment” at Pitești Prison, where prisoners were subjected to physical and psychological torture.
The freight wagons displayed in the museum evoke the memory of deportations. The exhibition also explores stories of returning home, including personal accounts of experiences that survivors often did not dare share even with their own families.
Surviving objects, documents, and personal testimonies bring to light individual stories and experiences that could not be openly discussed for decades.
