bloc as a legal outlet for Communist Party activity. This effort at legal work proved unsuccessful, however, and Köblös was forced to flee the country in the fall of 1925. He remained in exile until 1927, staying in Vienna and the Soviet Union as a part of the Romanian Communist Central Committee in exile. In 1927, Köblös returned to Romania, where he once again came under police scrutiny. He hastily fled to Czechoslovakia but was arrested at Košice by Czechoslovak authorities and held for possible extradition to Romania. A major press campaign was launched on Köblös' behalf, with many international leftist activists, including French novelist Henri Barbusse, successfully lobbying the Prague authorities not to extradite Köblös to Romania. Köblös was finally allowed to leave for the Soviet Union. In June 1928, Köblös attended the 4th Congress of the Romanian Communist Party, held in Kharkov in the Ukraine. Köblös came under severe criticism at that party gathering for perceived errors in the Romanian party's political line and despite engaging in public self-criticism for these alleged shortcomings, Köblös was not re-elected to the party's Central Committee. In December 1929, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Comintern once again condemned the political activity of Köblös and he was forbidden to take part in any further work of the Romanian Communist Party. Instead, Köblös returned to carpentry in an aviation factory. Arrest and execution Köblös continued to make his home in the Soviet Union. He ran afoul of the secret police during the Great Purge of 1937, when he was arrested, accused of espionage. He was executed on 9 October 1938, most likely in the Lubyanka Prison, Moscow. He was posthumously rehabilitated in 1968, during Nicolae Ceaușescu's move to establish his legitimacy in Communist Romania. Footnotes Additional sources Vladimir Tismăneanu, Fantoma lui Gheorghiu-Dej, Editura Univers, Bucharest, 1995 Dosarele Istoriei, 10/1998 1887 births 1938 deaths People from Mureș County Romanian politicians of Hungarian descent Dealul Spirii Trial General Secretaries of the Romanian Communist Party Hungarian emigrants to the Soviet Union Romanian emigrants to the Soviet Union Executive Committee of the Communist International Executed activists Hungarian people executed by the Soviet Union Great Purge victims from Romania Socialist Republic of Romania rehabilitations Executed communists