Rise and Fall [antikvár]

1 If memory serves, it was in the spring of 1946. At the initiative of Minister of Internal Affairs Aleksandar-Leka Rankovic and his aides from State Security, a meeting had been called to discuss building a new jail in Belgrade. Those we had inherited—scattered all over the city—were unsuitable in every respect. Wartime destruction was not the reason, however, since the occupation authorities had adapted to prison use structures far bigger than the ones demolished. When we convened and took a look around, it was apparent that to the last man we were all former convicts. Politburo member Mosa Pijade and I, though not responsible for arrests and imprisonment, were included for that very reason. That we had to have a new jail was obvious, and no one argued the point. There were appeals to hygiene and humanity, but if the meeting had one keynote, it was this: on the outside, the new prison should resemble anything but a prison; on the inside, it should have none of those imperfections or "conveniences" that Communists had turned to advantage in their illegal prison communication back in the days of the Yugoslav monarchy. We would