155
CERCUL MILITAR NAŢIONAL
watch them with an apparent indifference; but this
scene causes so much suffering”. According to Alex-
andru Marghiloman, a conservative politician who did
not leave the capital, the number of prisoners incar-
cerated in the Military Club Palace stood at about 700-
800, including several officers. After several months,
some of the prisoners from the Military Club were
transferred to the Săveni Camp (in Ialomiţa county).
In order to pressure the Romanian government in
Iaşi, the occupation authorities arrested a number of
political leaders and imprisoned them at the Military
Club. In August 1917, most of those arrested and im-
prisoned at the Imperial Hotel were released, while the
remaining ones were transferred to the Military Club.
According to Aurel Gavrilescu, whowas imprisoned for
six months in the largest hall of the Military Club Pal-
ace (now known as the Marble Hall), “about 80 wood
cells were built, one near another and positioned in a
circle, thus making them easier to guard. Each of the
cells barely had the room for a bed and a table”. In-
side the wooden walls of the cells, the same memori-
alist continues, “sawdust was used for isolation”. After
Romania signed the separate peace with the Central
Powers at Buftea-Bucureşti, the prison from the Mili-
tary Club was dismantled.
During the two years of occupation, the building
also served as the headquarters for the German de-
tachment guarding Bucharest (Hauptwache), which
numbered about 400 soldiers and their equipment, in-
cluding heavy weapons. On the esplanade of the Mili-
tary Club Palace, the cannons and machine guns were
guarding the order, this also being the place were a
series of the ceremonies of the occupier took place,
such as the military parade of January 27, 1918, honor-
ing the birth date of the German Kaiser Wilhelm II.
On November 12, 1918, after the signing of the
armistice between the Entente and Germany, the
German troops left Bucharest, but not before clash-
ing with the local population in various places in the
capital, including the Military Club. A few days later,
on November 18 / December 1, the royal family and
government returned to Bucharest, an event marked
by a grandiose rally of the people of Bucharest. The
Military Club Palace, an imposing but unfinished edi-
fice, silently witnessed these events. Paradoxically, it
was the occupation that imprinted it deeply into the
public consciousness of the people of Bucharest. It will
stay the same in the decades to come.
The return of the authorities to the capital and the
gradual normalization of the economic, social, politi-
cal and cultural life represented a new era for the Mili-
tary Club, as well. The most pressing issues were the
resumption of the activity and the finalization of the
construction works.
The finalization of the palace represented one of
the thorniest issues that had to be solved in the com-
ing years after the First World War. During its meeting
of February 22, 1919, the Steering Committee present-
ed two solutions to the Ministry of War: the takeover
of the building by the Ministry of War, which would
have administered it in accordance to its own needs;
or the granting, by the same Ministry of War, of a sub-
stantial financial support in order to pay the debts and
resume the construction works.
The Ministry of War opted for the second solution,
but a loan presupposed the involvement of the Coun-
cil of Ministers. Therefore, in the report no. 15542 of
October 9, 1919, General Ion Răşcanu – at that time the
minister of war – asked the government the approval
of a loan of over 2,000,000 lei from the war credit. The
government did not agree with this request, so other
solutions had to be found – obtaining a loan from the
Donation House of the Army; negotiations with vari-
ous civilian institutions, such as the Urban Credit of Bu-
