before them to discuss his inability to form resistance units; "Marius" proposed relieving him of his posting. During a break in the proceedings, Bodnăraș approached Rangheț and Pârvulescu, who advised him to strike as soon as possible. On 4 April, just after a massive air bombing of Bucharest (which also destroyed Foriș's hiding place), Bodnăraș and Pîrvulescu, assisted by Rangheț, captured and deposed Foriș. Bodnăraș himself reported that the operation had discreet backing from Auschnitt and Colonel Victor Precup. The kidnapping took place at Foriș's temporary home on Carol Knappe Street, Domenii, with both Koffler and Sârbu present. Unable to assess the situation due to the ongoing bombing raids, Foriș accepted at face value Bodnăraș's claims of Soviet endorsement, handed in his pistol and his personal papers, and replied back: Eu mă supun ("I submit"). According to Câmpeanu, his failure to put up resistance evidences his Soviet political education, the doctrine that "one cannot be right against the party." A message drafted and read aloud by Bodnăraș was notable in that it failed to mention either what trespassing Foriș stood accused of, or who it was that would replace him. He never interrupted his reading—even though there were signs that Rangheț had failed to show up with the armed guard that would have neutralized any potential resistance. Only Sârbu tried to register her objection: when asked to hand in the PCR archive, she asked for a part session to be convened on the matter. Bodnăraș retorted that it was "too late for that". As historian Sorin Oane puts it, Bodnăraș had unusual leeway, with "Foriș and his immediate helpers accepting their deposition as if hypnotized." Bodnăraș was satisfied with the overall docility of his targets, and left the house to look for Rangheț and his men. During that interval, Foriș, Koffler and Sârbu were guarded by Romeo Runcan; the three prisoners and their sentinel never questioned the legality of their situation. After regrouping, the conspirators locked Foriș up in Bodnăraș's safe house in Vatra Luminoasă, southern Bucharest, where their guards included Bodnăraș's wife Florica. After this, the three kidnappers established a joint leadership, or troika, which, during the same year, recognized Gheorghiu-Dej as the new general secretary. During the kidnapping, Gheorghiu-Dej was still awaiting for confirmation of Bodnăraș's success, which would have allowed him to prepare an escape from Târgu Jiu. When he received a letter attesting this, he rewarded