I think this picture was taken in Des on 31st July 1978. I, Jozsef Farkas, am on the left, with Radu Andarache. He was the fist executive manager of the cellulose and paper company, then he was appointed as the executive manager of the thermal plant in Des. He died last year, in 2004.
I've lived in Des since 1957. First they appointed me manager of the cement factory in Des, and I worked there until 1958, when they threw me out from the Party. I had no problems because of my Jewish origin, because I didn't give them the opportunity to catch me on a mistake. The problem was that I mentioned in my resume that I was a member of the Gordonia. I had some trouble because of that, it all started in Bucharest, and when I got to Des, my General Manager got a document stating that I had been thrown out of the Party. They made a big fuss, and discussed this case in a party meeting, and excluded me from the Party. The General Manager fired me immediately, because I wasn't a member of the Party anymore, but I remained the head of the production department, with the same salary. When Vajda, the Party secretary-general in Kolozsvar then, later he became Secretary for Agriculture, found out after a few weeks that I had been fired and excluded from the Party, he raised a big issue and ordered them to put me back in my position immediately. So they found me this local industrial company, called Bobilna, and I became its manager.
I didn't complain at all because of my exclusion from the Party. They admitted me when I was 18, and excluded me in 1958, and they accepted me back in 1971. They apologized and said it was a mistake and they took me back. What wrong did I do by joining at the age of 15?
I was a manager for 13 years while 'exclus din partid' [excluded from the Party]. I had no problems at all, because I did my work, and also traveled abroad.
