Mihail Gheorghiu Bujor
Encyclopedia
Mihail Gheorghiu Bujor was a Romania
n lawyer, journalist and socialist
militant. An important figure in the early Romanian labour movement, he embraced communism
during World War I
and organised Romanian armed detachments in Odessa
in support of the October Revolution
, hoping to foment a revolution in his native country. A political prisoner in Romania for much of the interwar period and during World War II
, he held several minor political offices after the regime change
in the late 1940s.
, the sixth children of Gheorghe Gheorghiu, a civil servant. The family was somewhat influential in the city, affording the luxury to provide adequate education for all of the twelve children. Three of children died from tuberculosis
, followed shortly by the parents while Mihail was in his teen years. The quick succession of deaths is credited with transforming Mihail into an atheist.
After completing a local high school, Bujor enrolled in the school of law at the University of Iaşi, also following the courses of several other faculties, such as literature, philosophy and natural sciences. Coming in contact with socialist
ideas, he decided to join the Romanian Social Democratic Workers' Party at 16, however he was rejected on account of his young age. He would eventually be admitted at 18, shortly before the party's demise. While in university, he participated in several Marxist study circle
s, such as the Circle of Social Studies of the Socialists of Moldavia and the Circle for the Enlightenment of the Workers of Iaşi. Conscripted in 1901, he served in a Vânători de munte
battalion and was discharged in 1902 with the rank of second lieutenant
.
newspaper, and continued to do so until 1904. He subsequently moved to Bucharest and, starting with 1902, also became a regular contributor to România Muncitoare
, the main socialist press venue revived by Christian Rakovsky
. Among his collaborators were socialist militants I. C. Frimu
and Alecu Constantinescu
. After Iosif Nădejde left the newspaper for the left-wing Adevărul
, Bujor took over the position of editor-in-chief. During this period he led an intense press activity towards the reorganisation of the Romanian socialist movement, coming to be recognised as one of its foremost representatives. He was especially vocal in his support of rebelling peasants during the 1907 Romanian Peasants' Revolt
. Among other actions, he issued a manifesto titled Către şi concentraţi şi rezervişti ("To the assembled and reserve
soldiers"), calling on the army to stop firing on the rebels.
As a result of his activity, Bujor was elected in the Committee of the Socialist Union during the second Conference of trade unions and socialist circles of June 1907. The other members of the Committee were Rakovsky, Frimu, N. D. Cocea
and Gheorghe Cristescu
. He continued to contribute to the socialist press, founding Viitorul social ("The social future"), a theoretical journal published in Iaşi in 1907-1908. Among the topics Bujor addressed or militated for was the replacement of the censitary suffrage used at the time in Romania with the universal suffrage
. In 1910, the concentrated efforts of the members of the Socialist Union led to the organisation of a Congress for the restoration of the Social Democratic Party of Romania
(PSDR). During the Congress, Bujor, who had taken an important role in its preparations, presented the new party's political platform, as well as its agrarian platform. Both documents were heavily influenced by the thinking of Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea
, the main ideologue of the new party. The Congress also elected Bujor in the Executive Committee of the party.
started, the Romanian Social Democratic Party adopted a pacifist
stance and supported the neutrality of Romania. Mihail Gh. Bujor participated in the 1914 extra-ordinary Congress of the PSDR and the July 1915 Bucharest Inter-Balkan Socialist Conference, which adopted strong anti-war declarations. In 1916 Romania's government decided to join the war on the side of the Entente
, and PSDR was outlawed for its positions. The Romanian campaign however proved disastrous, and the southern half of the country was overrun by the forces of the Central Powers
. Bujor left for Moldavia, the unoccupied part of the country, along with the government and a large part of the population. The February Revolution
of 1917 led to a revival of the socialist movement in Iaşi, as the local socialist club was reopened and a new newspaper, Social-Democraţia ("Social-democracy"), was published. There, Bujor came into contact with revolutionary elements of the Russia
n army stationed in Romania, and began militating for a similar evolution in Romania. Thus, in an eulogy at the funerals of former party leader Ottoi Călin on April 16, Bujor denounced war as an instrument foreign to the interest of proletariat, and urged the public to extend the influence of the Russian revolution. Considering socialists a threat to its authority and the stability of the front, the Romanian government decided to clamp down on the movement, by dissolving the clubs, banning their publications, and arresting their leaders, including Bujor. The imprisonment did not last long, as, after the May Day
parade organised by the Russian military units in Iaşi, a group of Romanian socialists and workers accompanied by Russian soldiers set him free. In the same evening Bujor left for Odessa
in southern Ukraine
, along with Rakovsky, who had been freed in a similar manner on the same day. The local soviet of the Russian soldiers provided them with a train and an armed escort.
In Odessa, Bujor and Rakovsky organised the Romanian Committee for Social-Democratic Action, the latter leaving for Petrograd soon after. The committee sought to mobilize the sizeable Romanian workers population in the region, many of them evacuated from Romania along with strategic factories in the wake of the German invasion. Bujor also maintained contact with the socialists in Iaşi, supplying them with printed manifestos, and in Odessa he organised a revolutionary armed battalion from local Romanian soldiers. The committee requisitioned several Romanian vessels moored in Russian Black Sea
ports and rechristened them with revolutionary names. Starting with September 5, 1917, the Committee headed by Bujor also began to print the newspaper Lupta ("The Struggle"), with the help of local revolutionaries. A more radical discourse was adopted, with calls for the extension of the Russian Revolution in Romania and the overthrow of the monarchy. However, the committee supported a bourgeois-democratic revolution rather than an outright socialist one, as Romania was seen as too backward for socialism to succeed. Generally, it was supportive of the Russian Provisional Government
, not making clear differences between Mensheviks and Bolsheviks.
After the October Revolution
, Bujor, although reserved at first, sided with the Bolsheviks, and in December he left for Petrograd to meet the new leadership. The committee also changed its position towards communist revolution in Romania, considering it as both feasible and necessary. In February 1918 Bujor met Lenin, who appointed him a member in the High College for the Struggle against Counter-revolution in the South, an provisional military command. On January 10, 1918, the Odessa committee was transformed into the Romanian National Committee against the Counter-revolution in Romania, and Bujor was soon joined by Rakovsky. The committee decided to fight against the Romanian government, whom they considered to be controlled by the bourgeoisie and the landowners, and to help start a revolution inside the country. A Soviet offensive in Romanian-controlled Bessarabia was also prepared for late February, but the evolutions on the international scene prevented a major attack. After the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
and the occupation of Ukraine by the German Army
, Bujor decided to remain in Odessa. Arrested by the Germans, he was handed over to the Whites
, however he was soon set free after a successful Soviet counter-offensive liberated the city. In March 1919 he was appointed to the southern bureau of the newly founded Third International.
(PSR) into a communist party
. To that end, he wrote several manifestos, pamphlets and articles in the socialist press. Bujor also contributed to the documents that were to be presented in the following congress of the PSR. He would not participate in the congress, as he was arrested in March 1920 by the Romanian authorities. Bujor was sentenced to death for treason, however, following major workers' protests, the sentence was commuted to hard labour on life. Nevertheless, in the 1920 general election he won a seat for Galaţi
in the Chamber of Deputies
, the lower house of the Romanian Parliament. The parliamentary majority invalidated his mandate along with the ones of several other PSR members which had won the popular vote.
Bujor spent most of the interwar period imprisoned at Doftana
, with long periods under solitary confinement
. Following a long campaign of socialist and communist-minded intellectuals, he was eventually amnestied in 1934. Bujor attempted to use his position as an early socialist leader and former political prisoner to organise an united front
of the socialist movement of Romania, at the time split between the restored Social Democratic Party (PSD), the Unitary Socialist Party (PSU), and the Workers and Peasants' Bloc (BMŢ). His initiative, although actively supported by the PSU, failed as the PSD and the communist-dominated BMŢ refused to negotiate with each other. As the Romanian government became increasingly authoritarian, Bujor was arrested again in 1937 and imprisoned at Jilava
. During World War II
, as Romania joined Nazi Germany
in the invasion of the Soviet Union
, he was interned along other prominent communists in the Târgu Jiu
camp. Set free after Romania joined the Allies
, he was elected in the reformed unicameral Parliament, and, after the republic was proclaimed, he was elected to the Great National Assembly
. In this period, he became a member of the Romanian Society for Friendship with the Soviet Union, and travelled to the Soviet Union
, despite his disapproval of the Moscow Trials
. The elder Bujor received several honorific positions after Joseph Stalin
's death, such as the presidency of the Association of the Former Antifascist Political Prisoners and membership in the General Council of the International Federation of Resistance Fighters.
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n lawyer, journalist and socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
militant. An important figure in the early Romanian labour movement, he embraced communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and organised Romanian armed detachments in Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
in support of the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
, hoping to foment a revolution in his native country. A political prisoner in Romania for much of the interwar period and during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he held several minor political offices after the regime change
Communist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
in the late 1940s.
Early life
Mihail Gh. Bujor was born in IaşiIasi
Iași is the second most populous city and a municipality in Romania. Located in the historical Moldavia region, Iași has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Romanian social, cultural, academic and artistic life...
, the sixth children of Gheorghe Gheorghiu, a civil servant. The family was somewhat influential in the city, affording the luxury to provide adequate education for all of the twelve children. Three of children died from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
, followed shortly by the parents while Mihail was in his teen years. The quick succession of deaths is credited with transforming Mihail into an atheist.
After completing a local high school, Bujor enrolled in the school of law at the University of Iaşi, also following the courses of several other faculties, such as literature, philosophy and natural sciences. Coming in contact with socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
ideas, he decided to join the Romanian Social Democratic Workers' Party at 16, however he was rejected on account of his young age. He would eventually be admitted at 18, shortly before the party's demise. While in university, he participated in several Marxist study circle
Study circle
A study circle is a small group of people who meet multiple times to discuss an issue. Study circles may be formed to discuss anything from politics to religion to hobbies...
s, such as the Circle of Social Studies of the Socialists of Moldavia and the Circle for the Enlightenment of the Workers of Iaşi. Conscripted in 1901, he served in a Vânători de munte
Vânatori de Munte
The vânători de munte |Huntsmen]]) are the elite mountain troops of the Romanian Land Forces. They were first established as an independent Army Corps in 1916 during World War I, and became operational in 1917 under Corpul de Munte designation....
battalion and was discharged in 1902 with the rank of second lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
.
Reorganisation of the socialist movement
In 1901 Mihail Gh. Bujor began to write articles for Cronica ("The Chronicle"), a BucharestBucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
newspaper, and continued to do so until 1904. He subsequently moved to Bucharest and, starting with 1902, also became a regular contributor to România Muncitoare
România Muncitoare
România Muncitoare was a socialist newspaper, published in Bucharest, Romania....
, the main socialist press venue revived by Christian Rakovsky
Christian Rakovsky
Christian Rakovsky was a Bulgarian socialist revolutionary, a Bolshevik politician and Soviet diplomat; he was also noted as a journalist, physician, and essayist...
. Among his collaborators were socialist militants I. C. Frimu
I. C. Frimu
Ion Costache Frimu was a Romanian socialist militant and politician, a leading member of the Romanian Social Democratic Party and labor activist...
and Alecu Constantinescu
Alecu Constantinescu
Alexandru "Alecu" Constantinescu was Romanian trade unionist, journalist and socialist and pacifist militant, one of the major advocates of the transformation of the Romanian socialist movement into a communist one....
. After Iosif Nădejde left the newspaper for the left-wing Adevărul
Adevarul
Adevărul is a Romanian daily newspaper, based in Bucharest. Founded in 1871 and reestablished in 1888, it was the main left-wing press venue to be published during the Romanian Kingdom's existence, adopting an independent pro-democratic position, advocating land reform and universal suffrage...
, Bujor took over the position of editor-in-chief. During this period he led an intense press activity towards the reorganisation of the Romanian socialist movement, coming to be recognised as one of its foremost representatives. He was especially vocal in his support of rebelling peasants during the 1907 Romanian Peasants' Revolt
1907 Romanian Peasants' Revolt
The 1907 Romanian Peasants' Revolt took place in March 1907 in Moldavia and it quickly spread, reaching Wallachia. The main cause was the discontent of the peasants about the inequity of land ownership, which was in the hands of just a few large landowners....
. Among other actions, he issued a manifesto titled Către şi concentraţi şi rezervişti ("To the assembled and reserve
Military reserve force
A military reserve force is a military organization composed of citizens of a country who combine a military role or career with a civilian career. They are not normally kept under arms and their main role is to be available to fight when a nation mobilizes for total war or to defend against invasion...
soldiers"), calling on the army to stop firing on the rebels.
As a result of his activity, Bujor was elected in the Committee of the Socialist Union during the second Conference of trade unions and socialist circles of June 1907. The other members of the Committee were Rakovsky, Frimu, N. D. Cocea
N. D. Cocea
N. D. Cocea was a Romanian journalist, novelist, critic and left-wing political activist, known as a major but controversial figure in the field of political satire...
and Gheorghe Cristescu
Gheorghe Cristescu
Gheorghe Cristescu was a Romanian socialist and, for a part of his life, communist militant. Nicknamed "Plăpumarul" , he is also occasionally referred to as "Omul cu lavaliera roşie" , after the most notable of his accessories.-Early activism:Born in Copaciu Gheorghe Cristescu (October 10, 1882...
. He continued to contribute to the socialist press, founding Viitorul social ("The social future"), a theoretical journal published in Iaşi in 1907-1908. Among the topics Bujor addressed or militated for was the replacement of the censitary suffrage used at the time in Romania with the universal suffrage
Universal suffrage
Universal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...
. In 1910, the concentrated efforts of the members of the Socialist Union led to the organisation of a Congress for the restoration of the Social Democratic Party of Romania
Romanian Social Democratic Party (defunct)
The Romanian Social Democratic Party was a social-democratic political party in Romania. It published the magazine România Muncitoare, and later Socialismul, Lumea Nouă, and Libertatea.-Early party:...
(PSDR). During the Congress, Bujor, who had taken an important role in its preparations, presented the new party's political platform, as well as its agrarian platform. Both documents were heavily influenced by the thinking of Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea
Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea
Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea was a Romanian Marxist theorist, politician, sociologist, literary critic, and journalist....
, the main ideologue of the new party. The Congress also elected Bujor in the Executive Committee of the party.
World War I and Russian Revolution
After World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
started, the Romanian Social Democratic Party adopted a pacifist
Pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...
stance and supported the neutrality of Romania. Mihail Gh. Bujor participated in the 1914 extra-ordinary Congress of the PSDR and the July 1915 Bucharest Inter-Balkan Socialist Conference, which adopted strong anti-war declarations. In 1916 Romania's government decided to join the war on the side of the Entente
Allies of World War I
The Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...
, and PSDR was outlawed for its positions. The Romanian campaign however proved disastrous, and the southern half of the country was overrun by the forces of the Central Powers
Central Powers
The Central Powers were one of the two warring factions in World War I , composed of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria...
. Bujor left for Moldavia, the unoccupied part of the country, along with the government and a large part of the population. The February Revolution
February Revolution
The February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Centered around the then capital Petrograd in March . Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire...
of 1917 led to a revival of the socialist movement in Iaşi, as the local socialist club was reopened and a new newspaper, Social-Democraţia ("Social-democracy"), was published. There, Bujor came into contact with revolutionary elements of the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n army stationed in Romania, and began militating for a similar evolution in Romania. Thus, in an eulogy at the funerals of former party leader Ottoi Călin on April 16, Bujor denounced war as an instrument foreign to the interest of proletariat, and urged the public to extend the influence of the Russian revolution. Considering socialists a threat to its authority and the stability of the front, the Romanian government decided to clamp down on the movement, by dissolving the clubs, banning their publications, and arresting their leaders, including Bujor. The imprisonment did not last long, as, after the May Day
International Workers' Day
International Workers' Day is a celebration of the international labour movement and left-wing movements. It commonly sees organized street demonstrations and marches by working people and their labour unions throughout most of the world. May 1 is a national holiday in more than 80 countries...
parade organised by the Russian military units in Iaşi, a group of Romanian socialists and workers accompanied by Russian soldiers set him free. In the same evening Bujor left for Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
in southern Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, along with Rakovsky, who had been freed in a similar manner on the same day. The local soviet of the Russian soldiers provided them with a train and an armed escort.
In Odessa, Bujor and Rakovsky organised the Romanian Committee for Social-Democratic Action, the latter leaving for Petrograd soon after. The committee sought to mobilize the sizeable Romanian workers population in the region, many of them evacuated from Romania along with strategic factories in the wake of the German invasion. Bujor also maintained contact with the socialists in Iaşi, supplying them with printed manifestos, and in Odessa he organised a revolutionary armed battalion from local Romanian soldiers. The committee requisitioned several Romanian vessels moored in Russian Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
ports and rechristened them with revolutionary names. Starting with September 5, 1917, the Committee headed by Bujor also began to print the newspaper Lupta ("The Struggle"), with the help of local revolutionaries. A more radical discourse was adopted, with calls for the extension of the Russian Revolution in Romania and the overthrow of the monarchy. However, the committee supported a bourgeois-democratic revolution rather than an outright socialist one, as Romania was seen as too backward for socialism to succeed. Generally, it was supportive of the Russian Provisional Government
Russian Provisional Government
The Russian Provisional Government was the short-lived administrative body which sought to govern Russia immediately following the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II . On September 14, the State Duma of the Russian Empire was officially dissolved by the newly created Directorate, and the country was...
, not making clear differences between Mensheviks and Bolsheviks.
After the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
, Bujor, although reserved at first, sided with the Bolsheviks, and in December he left for Petrograd to meet the new leadership. The committee also changed its position towards communist revolution in Romania, considering it as both feasible and necessary. In February 1918 Bujor met Lenin, who appointed him a member in the High College for the Struggle against Counter-revolution in the South, an provisional military command. On January 10, 1918, the Odessa committee was transformed into the Romanian National Committee against the Counter-revolution in Romania, and Bujor was soon joined by Rakovsky. The committee decided to fight against the Romanian government, whom they considered to be controlled by the bourgeoisie and the landowners, and to help start a revolution inside the country. A Soviet offensive in Romanian-controlled Bessarabia was also prepared for late February, but the evolutions on the international scene prevented a major attack. After the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a peace treaty signed on March 3, 1918, mediated by South African Andrik Fuller, at Brest-Litovsk between Russia and the Central Powers, headed by Germany, marking Russia's exit from World War I.While the treaty was practically obsolete before the end of the year,...
and the occupation of Ukraine by the German Army
German Army
The German Army is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. Following the disbanding of the Wehrmacht after World War II, it was re-established in 1955 as the Bundesheer, part of the newly formed West German Bundeswehr along with the Navy and the Air Force...
, Bujor decided to remain in Odessa. Arrested by the Germans, he was handed over to the Whites
White movement
The White movement and its military arm the White Army - known as the White Guard or the Whites - was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces.The movement comprised one of the politico-military Russian forces who fought...
, however he was soon set free after a successful Soviet counter-offensive liberated the city. In March 1919 he was appointed to the southern bureau of the newly founded Third International.
Imprisonment and later life
At the end of 1919 Mihail Gh. Bujor returned to Romania, where he militated for the transformation of Socialist Party of RomaniaSocialist Party of Romania
The Socialist Party of Romania was a Romanian socialist political party, created on December 11, 1918 by members of the Romanian Social Democratic Party , after the latter emerged from clandestinity...
(PSR) into a communist party
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
. To that end, he wrote several manifestos, pamphlets and articles in the socialist press. Bujor also contributed to the documents that were to be presented in the following congress of the PSR. He would not participate in the congress, as he was arrested in March 1920 by the Romanian authorities. Bujor was sentenced to death for treason, however, following major workers' protests, the sentence was commuted to hard labour on life. Nevertheless, in the 1920 general election he won a seat for Galaţi
Galati
Galați is a city and municipality in Romania, the capital of Galați County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, in the close vicinity of Brăila, Galați is the largest port and sea port on the Danube River and the second largest Romanian port....
in the Chamber of Deputies
Chamber of Deputies of Romania
The Chamber of Deputies is the lower house in Romania's bicameral parliament. It has 315 seats, to which deputies are elected by direct popular vote on a proportional representation basis to serve four-year terms...
, the lower house of the Romanian Parliament. The parliamentary majority invalidated his mandate along with the ones of several other PSR members which had won the popular vote.
Bujor spent most of the interwar period imprisoned at Doftana
Doftana prison
Doftana was a Romanian prison. Built in 1895, it was used in the 1930s to detain political prisoners, among them the future president Nicolae Ceauşescu. It is situated close to the village with the same name, in the Telega commune...
, with long periods under solitary confinement
Solitary confinement
Solitary confinement is a special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is isolated from any human contact, though often with the exception of members of prison staff. It is sometimes employed as a form of punishment beyond incarceration for a prisoner, and has been cited as an additional...
. Following a long campaign of socialist and communist-minded intellectuals, he was eventually amnestied in 1934. Bujor attempted to use his position as an early socialist leader and former political prisoner to organise an united front
United front
The united front is a form of struggle that may be pursued by revolutionaries. The basic theory of the united front tactic was first developed by the Comintern, an international communist organisation created by revolutionaries in the wake of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.According to the theses of...
of the socialist movement of Romania, at the time split between the restored Social Democratic Party (PSD), the Unitary Socialist Party (PSU), and the Workers and Peasants' Bloc (BMŢ). His initiative, although actively supported by the PSU, failed as the PSD and the communist-dominated BMŢ refused to negotiate with each other. As the Romanian government became increasingly authoritarian, Bujor was arrested again in 1937 and imprisoned at Jilava
Jilava
Jilava is a commune in Ilfov county, Romania, near Bucharest. It is composed of a single village, Jilava.The name derives from a Romanian word of Slavic origin meaning "humid place". Jilava was the location of a fort built by King Carol I of Romania, as part of the capital's defense system...
. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, as Romania joined Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
in the invasion of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, he was interned along other prominent communists in the Târgu Jiu
Târgu Jiu
Târgu Jiu is the capital of Gorj County, Oltenia, Romania. It is situated on the Southern Sub-Carpathians, on the banks of the river Jiu. Eight villages are administered by the city: Bârseşti, Drăgoeni, Iezureni, Polata, Preajba Mare, Româneşti, Slobozia and Ursaţi.-History:The city takes its name...
camp. Set free after Romania joined the Allies
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
, he was elected in the reformed unicameral Parliament, and, after the republic was proclaimed, he was elected to the Great National Assembly
Great National Assembly
The Great National Assembly was the legislature of the Romanian People's Republic and the Socialist Republic Romania. When Communism was overthrown in Romania in December 1989, the National Assembly was replaced by a bicameral parliament, made up of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.The Great...
. In this period, he became a member of the Romanian Society for Friendship with the Soviet Union, and travelled to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, despite his disapproval of the Moscow Trials
Moscow Trials
The Moscow Trials were a series of show trials conducted in the Soviet Union and orchestrated by Joseph Stalin during the Great Purge of the 1930s. The victims included most of the surviving Old Bolsheviks, as well as the leadership of the Soviet secret police...
. The elder Bujor received several honorific positions after Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
's death, such as the presidency of the Association of the Former Antifascist Political Prisoners and membership in the General Council of the International Federation of Resistance Fighters.