Remains of 23 Political Prisoners Found at Former Romanian Communist Camp

Jerusalem, 16 June, 2026 (TPS-IL) -- (AGERPRES) – The remains of 23 political prisoners and martyrs of the Romanian communist regime were discovered following the third stage of archaeological excavations carried out in the cemetery in the Agaua locality, on the Great Island of Brăila, as part of the project to identify and recover the victims of the former labor camp in Salcia, the Archdiocese of the Lower Danube said.

According to the archdiocese, the excavations were carried out by a team of experts coordinated by historian Marius Oprea, who continued research in the mass grave in which the prisoners who died in the forced labor colony in Salcia, during the communist regime, were buried, without a cross and without a religious service.

“As in previous editions, archaeologists – supported by the Archdiocese of the Lower Danube and the parishes of Frecăței and Agaua – have extracted, with great professionalism, courtesy and attention, several bones in good condition, after 75 years. A common coffin in which five sufferers were placed is impressive and moving, who certainly ended up in critical situations, at the limit of their ruthless exploitation. Following the excavations, 23 new human remains of victims from this forced labor colony were identified, after another 15 earthly remains of those who had to endure terrible suffering and torment in this area of ​​the country were discovered in previous years,” the archdiocese said in a statement.

The Archbishop of the Lower Danube, His Eminence Father Casian, officiated the funeral service. Subsequently, the remains were placed in wooden reliquaries and deposited in the churches of the localities of Agaua and Frecăței, according to church regulations.

At the end of the ceremony, Archbishop Casian performed the service of placing the cross of the future ark-ossuary, located near the Trinity Memorial “The Holy 40 Martyrs of Sevastia,” inaugurated in 2021 and dedicated to the victims of the former Salcia camp.

The research project aims to recover and honor the memory of those who were imprisoned, exploited, and died in one of the harshest labor colonies of the communist era.

The former labor colony of Salcia operated between 1952 and 1964, on the Big Island of Brăilei in eastern Romania, and was considered one of the harshest camps of the communist system. Thousands of political prisoners were used to dam, drain and develop the agricultural area of ​​Bălția Brăilei, in extremely difficult conditions, marked by hunger, cold, disease, violence and exhausting work.

Many prisoners lost their lives in the camp and were buried in mass graves.