Living book: Radu Bellu, engineer
(fragments)
"The German officers said to ours: Brothers, do something because these will not last. The trains with armament and the locomotives were so heavy that they risked to break down… The Germans asked the Government of Romania to urgently build the route that still exists today from Perșani to Brădet…
The route was changed in order to prepare for war … And then, in a year and four months the Germans, who were clever boys, brought about 1500 Russian prisoners from Ukraine whom the Germans had also put to work in Ukraine, and where many had died, because they did not receive enough food. In order not to die in Ukraine, they brought them to work at the tunnel in Perșani… They were in such a state of starvation and exhausted from work that after they brought them here to work on the Homorod Valley, 1000 died… There were only 500 of 1500 left, although they were served meat.
Although they received clean beds and benefited from medical services, 1000 Russian soldiers, who became heroes of the Soviet Union, died and were buried opposite the tunnel, in the cemetery that you can see now in the Homorod Valley, on the side of the road. They died because of the treatment of the Germans in Ukraine… Then the communists came and arrested Ion Usmănică. We do not know much about the valuable people who worked on the Railways at that time … He was a highly capable engineer who led these works. Ion Usmănică was arrested by the Allied Control Commission and sentenced to death by shooting… He was found guilty by them for the death of a thousand Soviet soldiers who had worked in the Homorod Valley… They arrested him and took him away, you realize, he was a young man… At one point, at a party that took place at the Soviet Embassy attended by President Gheorghiu-Dej, Chivu Stoica and others, they discussed about Romania… Gheorghiu-Dej, very carefully, said to the ambassador to communicate to Stalin that he doesn’t deal with just what was left available because the Russians had arrested some people… He knew about Usmănică that he was a very good builder and of course the ambassador reported to Stalin in the morning what Gheorghiu-Dej had said about a man who was not guilty… He had been the head of the yard, he had fed the people, but they had died because the Germans had tormented them… And Stalin ordered his release…"
Radu Bellu
"The German officers said to ours: Brothers, do something because these will not last. The trains with armament and the locomotives were so heavy that they risked to break down… The Germans asked the Government of Romania to urgently build the route that still exists today from Perșani to Brădet…
The route was changed in order to prepare for war … And then, in a year and four months the Germans, who were clever boys, brought about 1500 Russian prisoners from Ukraine whom the Germans had also put to work in Ukraine, and where many had died, because they did not receive enough food. In order not to die in Ukraine, they brought them to work at the tunnel in Perșani… They were in such a state of starvation and exhausted from work that after they brought them here to work on the Homorod Valley, 1000 died… There were only 500 of 1500 left, although they were served meat.
Although they received clean beds and benefited from medical services, 1000 Russian soldiers, who became heroes of the Soviet Union, died and were buried opposite the tunnel, in the cemetery that you can see now in the Homorod Valley, on the side of the road. They died because of the treatment of the Germans in Ukraine… Then the communists came and arrested Ion Usmănică. We do not know much about the valuable people who worked on the Railways at that time … He was a highly capable engineer who led these works. Ion Usmănică was arrested by the Allied Control Commission and sentenced to death by shooting… He was found guilty by them for the death of a thousand Soviet soldiers who had worked in the Homorod Valley… They arrested him and took him away, you realize, he was a young man… At one point, at a party that took place at the Soviet Embassy attended by President Gheorghiu-Dej, Chivu Stoica and others, they discussed about Romania… Gheorghiu-Dej, very carefully, said to the ambassador to communicate to Stalin that he doesn’t deal with just what was left available because the Russians had arrested some people… He knew about Usmănică that he was a very good builder and of course the ambassador reported to Stalin in the morning what Gheorghiu-Dej had said about a man who was not guilty… He had been the head of the yard, he had fed the people, but they had died because the Germans had tormented them… And Stalin ordered his release…"
Radu Bellu