Nicolae Purcărea (1923 – 2015) was a Pitești Phenomenon survivor who served long years: 15 years of imprisonment and two years forced domicile in Bărăgan. Member of the Brotherhoods of the Cross, he was jailed between 1942 and 1944 in the penitentiaries of Brașov, Văcărești, Pitești and Alba Iulia.

After being released, he was admitted to the Brașov Commerce Academy, but, feeling his arrest was imminent, in 1947 he joined a group of partisans in the mountains, led by Dumitru Apostol. In 1949 he was arrested and sent to Pitești prison, and he was in Room 1- Basement on 6 December 1950, when 'reeducation' started. The torture he was subjected to caused him a temporary state of unconsciousness.

He served his time in various detention centers: Canal, Gherla, Jilava and Codlea. He was released in 1959 and sent to Lătești, Bărăgan under forced domicile. There he met Eugenia Fuică, a former prisoner herself, whom she married in 1957. Purcărea was arrested again in 1958, and was imprisoned for six more years in Aiud Penitentiary. In 1964 he came back to Brașov and took up wood carving. He became one of the most appreciated traditional wood carvers in Romania, setting up a school for the mastering of this art in Brașov.

At 90 years of age, he wrote his memoirs in the book 'The Pack is Howling' (Urlă haita).