inaugurated another period of tensions and "factionalism", with Petre Gheorghe emerging as a powerful rival by December 1941. Foriș reacted by sending Constantin Pîrvulescu to dismiss Ilfov's entire PCR executive committee, which refused to abide by that order until January 1942, when Foriș protege Petrea managed to replace "Zidaru". During those months, the communist prisoners, mostly held at Caransebeș, awaited more directives from the general secretary. Finally, in October 1941, Gheorghiu-Dej wrote Foriș on their behalf, expressing his willingness to follow central commands. In the meantime, Foriș had ordered Chișinevschi and Georgescu to be investigated by a special party commission. Both were immediately cleared, but Foriș remained unconvinced. He procrastinated until April 1942, when he finally wrote to Caransebeș that he considered the two comrades to have been compromised; Georgescu defended himself by spreading rumors that Foriș himself was a traitor. As a member of the Caransebeș in-crowd, Apostol credited these rumors to his death: "Foriș was the one who turned over the Central Committee secretariat to the Siguranța. [...] Foriș had convened a party session at a safe house, its address only known to him. This was where Chișinevschi, Teohari Georgescu and Birtaș arrived [...], each on his own and at separate intervals. [...] The deal was that Foriș would be the last to arrive. What arrived instead was a group of Siguranța agents. They arrested everyone there". Political scientist and eyewitness Pavel Câmpeanu notes that Foriș was personally responsible for another debacle, also taking place in April 1942—namely, the Siguranța raid on the Union of Communist Youth, which disassembled Ilfov's organizational network, resulting in the arrest of activists Justin Georgescu (who died in custody) and "Zidaru" (who was executed later on). The raid disturbed other communists, who suspected that the party central had been compromised by informants; Foriș denied their claims by issuing his own conspiracy theory, which nominated his accusers, including Petre Gheorghe's Jewish wife, as "Hitlerite" provocateurs. In reality, the network had been exposed through a long-term sting operation by the German Security Office, which followed Gheorghe's contacts with the Bulgarian underground. According to various testimonies, "Zidaru" still regarded Foriș (or Ungurul, "The Hungarian") as a figure of ultimate authority, and dedicated his last thoughts to regretting their earlier conflict. Gheorghe's sister, Ivanka Sarisky, did not share in his sentiment, writing to her comrades that Foriș needed to be "purged". By 1943, almost all the leadership