Pauker's fall and "processing" campaign Leonte Răutu

josip broz tito villain plotting invasion of romania (east german cartoon, presented gheorghiu-dej on 50th birthday, 1951)

navigating course between warring pmr groups of pauker , gheorghiu-dej, răutu established reputation during fall of third faction, lucrețiu pătrășcanu s secretariat group. in Împotriva cosmopolitismului..., răutu called rival enemy of working class , , defamer of marxist values. noted tismăneanu, applied proverbial zeal condemning pătrășcanu s entire political activity. tito–stalin split, răutu became involved in exposing supposed titoist infiltrations in romania, ordering tight monitoring of tanjug propaganda, , romanian agitprop project focused on vilifying yugoslavia. in parallel, took on supervision of nominally independent left-wing daily adevărul, overseeing liquidation in 1951.

răutu first impressed critics of regime being able survive pauker s downfall (1952), , 1 of few of wartime exiles not designated right deviationist . miron constantinescu, other pmr intellectual, initiated campaign purge other supposed inner-party oppositionists, drafting pmr resolution on prelucrări ( processing , euphemism interrogations ). in speeches pmr sections, răutu described cadre verification policy inspired 19th cpsu congress , talk of ideological work being paramount in consolidation of socialism. declared pauker saboteur of collectivization , associate vasile luca guilty of criminal activity .

in large part, processing meant clampdown on writers supposed (and supposedly concealed) fascist sympathies. communist-turned-dissident poet, nina cassian, recalls: leonte răutu [...] dominated these scatty, vulnerable, terrified , confused beings—the artists , writers, producing tragedies , comedies, stagings glories , stigmatization, paralyzing 1 s morality, activating s immorality . cassian targeted critic of regime, , kept under surveillance negative influence on other literary figures, including lover of time, marin preda. 1 author escape răutu s campaigns modernist left-winger geo dumitrescu, whom poet eugen jebeleanu defended, @ last moment, against claims had been working far-right newspapers during war years. senior writers george călinescu , victor eftimiu accused of concealing social democratic sympathies.

meanwhile, historian constantin daicoviciu, former member of iron guard fascist movement, found embarrassment communist-run peace committees , banned politics. paradoxically, other areas under răutu s control escaped such purges, , former far-right affiliates such octav onicescu , ion barbu pursued scientific careers little standing in way.

răutu built himself new power base comprising noted agitprop figures, of whom writers , journalists. prominent ones moraru, Șelmaru, savin bratu, ovid crohmălniceanu, paul georgescu, nicolae tertulian , ion vitner. on years, deputies included mihail roller (who had returned soviet union), ofelia manole, paul niculescu-mizil, nicolae goldberger (a member of politburo since 1930s), manea mănescu (in charge of science), cornel onescu , pavel Țugui (later expelled party having concealed youthful sympathy iron guard). of other favorites, including constantin ionescu gulian (recovered initial put-down cosmopolitan discourse) , ernő gáll, became official interpreters of marxist philosophy.

before , after 1952, răutu s program rigidly , thoroughly stalinist. such, tismăneanu writes, spearheaded damaging campaigns in cultural field, designed terrorize romania s intellectual class : destruction of romanian academy research institutes, [academy s own] mutilation, forced sovietization [...] gaudy kowtowing @ russian culture (as had been defined under stalinist canon) [...] promotion of fanatics, of ideologically possessed, impostors , dilettantes, high cultural offices . răutu s monopoly on humanities credited having incapacitated development of independent ideas in romanian philosophy , sociology, near-complete elimination of psychology credible academic subject. instructed gheorghiu-dej, agitprop chief targeted romania s pre-communist marxist current school of menshevism —announcing, in 1951, constantin dobrogeanu-gherea, father of romanian social democracy, worthy of condemnation. conversely, , ionescu gulian attacked conservative opinion-maker , gherea s rival, titu maiorescu, icon of bourgeois conformity.

the neotraditionalist philosopher lucian blaga, contemporary of răutu s, vilified. blaga target of ominous commentary in communist newspapers, singled out revenge communist poet mihai beniuc, , derided in public răutu. other main targets of răutu s communist censorship tudor vianu, liviu rusu (depicted idealistic) , blaga s in-law teodor bugnariu. young scholar @ time, mihai Șora described răutu object of fearful myth: censor such keen eyes, 1 find impossible slip [and] cultivated man, finding great pleasure in reading bourgeois, western etc. literature, same 1 publicly condemn. pursuing ideological condemnation of philology, răutu arrived @ imposing joseph stalin s own marxism , problems of linguistics. marxist linguists not keen on adopting stalin s perspective, including alexandru rosetti, alexandru graur , iorgu iordan, investigated enemy-like activity , left virtually unemployed until 1954.

the young communist activist nicolae ceaușescu reporting răutu in matters of sport. activity included 1953 investigation of central army club, suspected of caste-like factionalism , of placing [its] interests above interests of national sport.