We are inside the former Pitești Prison, the place where one of the most violent forms of torture took place between 1949-1951. These violent acts have been described by Alexandr Solzhenitsyn as "the most terrible act of barbarism in the contemporary world". We will explore the prison through the eyes of Nicolae Purcărea, one of the young students who have experienced the so-called "Pitești Phenomenon."

Nicolae Purcărea was born on December 13, 1923, in the Schei district of Brașov, Transylvania, a territory finally united with Romania, but deeply affected by the experience of the First World War. The fulfillment of the national ideal, that of uniting all Romanians into one state, placed Romania in a radically changed ethnic and political context.

In this society Nicolae Purcărea was born and educated - a shy and solitary young man, dominated by the strong caracter of his elder brother.