INCREASED CONSTRUCTION OF AIR RAID SHELTERS IN BUCHAREST

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP61S00527A000200120050-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 10, 1998
• Sequence Number: 50
• Publication Date: January 21, 1958
• Content Type: REPORT

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CSM No. 546 Copy No._
21 January 1958
NOFORN/CONTINUED CONTROL
CURRENT SUPPORT MEMORANDUM
INCREASED CONSTRUCTION OF AIR RAID SHELTERS IN BUCHAREST
OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND REPORTS
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
This report represents the immediate views of the
originating intelligence components of the Office
of Research and Reports. Comments are solicited.
This document contains information affecting the national defense of
the United States, within the meaning of the espionage laws, Title 18
USC, Sections 793 and 794, the transmission or revelation of which
in any manner to an unauthorized person is prohibited by law.
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NOFORN CONTINUED CONTR
INCREASED CONSTRUCTION OF AIR RAID SHELTERS IN BUCHAREST
A November 1957 report from a Rumanian national states that every
enterprise and institution in Bucharest has been obliged to build air
raid shelters. 1/ Some enterprises had already built them, and others
were having them built in the spring of 1957. In other satellite
nations, however, it is reported that only large important enterprises
are being furnished with substantial shelters and, in view of the cost
involved, it seems improbable that every enterprise in Bucharest would
have a shelter of the type described by the source.
The source states that these new shelters were of the deep under-
ground type, and were provided with ventilation, toilets, baths, and
other facilities. They were apparently intended to be used for periods
up to one week at a time. The shelters were covered with reinforced
concrete slabs, six to eight feet thick. No information on the thick-
ness of the walls nor on the capacity of these shelters is available.
The same source also reported the construction of a very large special
shelter south of the Strandul Bragadiru swimming pool grounds between
Strada Slt. Marius Dumitrescu and Strada Puisor Intre Sine. This
shelter was reportedly covered with a reinforced concrete slab 16 feet
thick. Dirt and sod were laid on top of the cover so that only four
vents are visible above the shelter.
Two earlier reports from former Bucharest residents, one an
architect, have indicated that central Bucharest is honeycombed with
a series of underground corridors and shelters. 2/ Specific areas
of the city which are thus underlain are the former Royal Palace, the
Ministry of Interior, the Cretulescu Gallery, the Dragomir Niculescu
block, the University Foundation, and the Excelsior and Stanescu
Hotels. The construction of this shelter complex-equipped with
modern lighting, plumbing, and ventilation systems--was probably
completed at the end of 1956. The second informant contended that
this underground construction was to provide the party and government
with a stronghold in the event of riot or civil war.
The Ministry of Interior shelter reportedly had an outside
measurement of 131 feet by 92 feet. 3/ The sides and top of this
shelter were of reinforced concrete, apparently in two layers, with a
10-foot layer of loose sand between them. This shelter, with two
underground entrances and an entrance and air vent on top, was com-
pleted in 1954.
Other major air raid shelters in Bucharest reportedly are as
follows: 4/
1. Opposite the Northern Railway Station under the Railway
Management Building--capacity 2,000;
2. Udder the National Bank of Lipscani Street--capacity over
500;
3. Under the Adriatica Building on Calea Victoriei--capacity
500;
4. in. a residential building for officials of the Casa Economiei
si Consignatiei, Brancoveanu Street--capacity over 500;
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5. On. Magheru Boulevard--shelters under the Patria Theater, the
Creditul Minier Building, the former Malaxa Building, and
the Republica M`Q,vfe. Vieat r --capacity several hundred each;
6. 1Tear, the Railroad Workers Hospital on Grivitei Road.
Shelters with extremely large capacities are reported,. by German
repatriates, in the northwest suburbs of Bucharest. 5/ One, a civil-
ian shelter, has a capacity of 5,000 to 6,000, and another near the
former Malaxa Building would hold 6,000 persons. A large shelter,
with a capacity of 3,500 persons, is reported across from the Central
Sanitarium--near the end of Calea Vacaresti. This shelter is 52 feet
deep, with a ceiling 26 feet thick, and is equipped with electricity,
water, ventilation and central heating. Experience indicates that
estimates of shelter capacities are sometimes exaggerated.
In addition to this civilian shelter construction, there is
some evidence that shelters have been built in and around military
installations. Underground shelters have been reported at the Army
Hospital Depot, at various antiaircraft battery sites throughout the
city, and at locations near the barracks of the Bucharest army
garrison. 6/
Because of insufficient dataron,structural'specifications,"no firm
conclusions can be reached as to the effectiveness of the shelters
under nuclear air attack. It seems reasonable, however, to assume
that some of the newer ones were designed to withstand severe blast
effects. From the number of reports which have been received--in-
cluding some which have been confirmed by more than one source--it
appears that a fairly large-scale shelter construction program has
been in progress in the Rumanian capital since 1953.
21 January 1958 CURRENT SUPPORT MEMORANDUM 546 Page 3
r% V"
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Analyst:
Coord:
Sources:
25X1A2g
25X1A9a
State, Bucharest Dsp. No. 218, Control 6593, JointWEEKA 6,
Section I, 13 Feb 55, S
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