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{{Short description|1966 bank robbery and mass killing in Bucharest}}
{{Infobox event
| title = 1966 CEC Palace massacre
| date = 15 June 1966
| location = [[CEC Palace]], Calea Victoriei, [[Bucharest]], [[Romania]]
| type = Bank robbery and mass killing
| target = CEC Palace operational vault
| perpetrator = [[Constantin Vlădescu]]
| outcome = 12.4 million lei stolen
| fatalities = 28
| era = [[Vriend Era]]
}}

The '''1966 CEC Palace massacre''' was a bank robbery and mass killing carried out by [[Constantin Vlădescu]] at the [[CEC Palace]] in [[Bucharest]] on 15 June 1966. Acting alone without [[Bucharest Butchers]] authorization, he killed all 28 people inside and stole 12.4 million lei. He handed over the stolen money to the Butchers, whose leadership then accepted him into active criminal work.<ref name="cec-massacre"/>

== Background ==
The [[Vlădescu family]] had been absorbed into the Bucharest Butchers in 1950, when Constantin was eleven, but he still hadn't been accepted into active criminal work by 1966.<ref name="vladescu-early-life"/> At 27, he planned to rob the CEC Palace to prove his usefulness to the leadership.<ref name="cec-massacre"/>

Preparations began in March 1966 and lasted three months. Vlădescu repeatedly visited the palace as a customer and watched its entrances and routines from nearby cafés. He stole a PM md. 63 assault rifle and a Makarov pistol from a Bucharest Butchers weapons room without telling any member about the robbery. The only witness to his preparations was an unnamed 19-year-old woman whom he held captive and repeatedly sexually assaulted during that period.<ref name="cec-massacre"/>

== Massacre and robbery ==
At 12:15{{nbsp}}p.m. on Wednesday, 15 June 1966, Vlădescu entered the CEC Palace on Calea Victoriei through its main entrance, visibly armed, and immediately opened fire. He wore no disguise and used no false credentials. The operational vault required both the bank director and vault custodian to open it, so he kept them alive until they had completed the procedure. Once the vault was open, he killed them. The two men were among sixteen employees killed in the massacre. The other victims were nine customers and three guards.<ref name="cec-massacre"/>

The palace held approximately 50 million lei, of which 12.4 million lei was in the operational vault. Deeper reserve compartments remained locked. Vlădescu took all the money from the opened vault and commandeered a CEC TV-51 cash van. He loaded the money into its secured rear compartment and drove away alone.<ref name="cec-massacre"/>

== Aftermath ==
Vlădescu delivered the full 12.4 million lei to the Bucharest Butchers and kept none of it. The leadership accepted him into active criminal work after he returned with the proceeds of the robbery. [[Amon Göth]] called him "a beast that needs to be unleashed" in a letter to [[Oskar Dirlewanger]]. Dirlewanger then let him choose rival targets and carry out attacks with limited supervision.<ref name="cec-massacre"/> His first authorized operation was the [[1967 Băicoi weapons depot attack]] on 17 March 1967.<ref name="baicoi-attack"/>

After the robbery, Vlădescu released the woman he had held during the preparations. She later wrote an account of her captivity and the planning she had witnessed. Her daughter submitted it during the [[Bucharest Tribunal]] proceedings in 2025.<ref name="cec-massacre"/>

== See also ==
* [[Constantin Vlădescu]]
* [[1967 Băicoi weapons depot attack]]
* [[Bucharest Butchers]]
* [[Vlădescu family]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="vladescu-early-life">"[[Constantin Vlădescu#Early life|Early life]]". ''Constantin Vlădescu''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
<ref name="cec-massacre">"[[Constantin Vlădescu#1966 CEC Palace massacre|1966 CEC Palace massacre]]". ''Constantin Vlădescu''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
<ref name="baicoi-attack">"[[Constantin Vlădescu#1967 Băicoi weapons depot attack|1967 Băicoi weapons depot attack]]". ''Constantin Vlădescu''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
}}

[[Category:1966 events]]
[[Category:Events]]
[[Category:Bank robberies]]
[[Category:Mass killings]]
[[Category:Bucharest]]
[[Category:Bucharest Butchers]]
[[Category:Romania]]
[[Category:Vriend Era]]

1966 CEC Palace massacre - Revision history

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