Hofman Fund · Canalul-80
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One ruble — 8.30 lei (22 November 1980)
On 22 November 1980, the National Bank, Suceava county branch, Treasury and cash service, no. 15245, replied to the Militia. The value of one ruble for non-commercial operations was 8.30 lei. The amount to be charged is set under Decree no. 373 of 8 November 1976.
Source: my father Gheorghe Hofman’s file at CNSAS, file P 039192, vol. 1. This photograph carries two marks: in red at the top, 35; circled beside the date, 34. I do not close the folio number from these marks. Working photograph, not a certified copy.
What this document shows
- National Bank of the Socialist Republic of Romania, Suceava county branch, Treasury and cash service, no. 15245, Suceava, 22 November 1980. The letter is addressed to the Suceava County Militia, Criminal Investigation Service.
- It replies to letter P/3781 of 19 November 1980. The same letter, P./3781, is cited by the Suceava Archpriesthood with the date 14 November 1980. Two dates. I do not collapse them. Bible and New Testament prices.
- One ruble, for non-commercial operations: 8.30 lei. The amount to be charged is set under Decree no. 373 of 8 November 1976.
- The heading of the same letter is also visible above the Archpriesthood’s reply. The body is read here, on its own sheet.
What this document does not show
The letter does not print 170 rubles and does not print 2,822 lei. It does not set the price of a Bible. Decree no. 373/1976, article 1, counts a loss in the currency of a socialist country at twice the non-commercial rate, in the cases it lists. 8.30 × 2 = 16.60. 170 × 16.60 = 2,822. Criminal Decision no. 49, photographed at home, prints 2,822 lei as the equivalent of the 170 rubles, owed jointly with Kloos. On the lines we have, the decision names Decree 210/1960, article 37, for the offense, and does not cite Decree 373. The product matches. It is not a line the court wrote.
The sum of 2,822 lei is already in the count on the front page. It is not a second pile of cash.
Another National Bank letter, of 26 November 1980, gives rates for the dollar, the mark and the zloty. It is not this sheet, and I do not apply it to any sentence. Under the letter, on the full photograph, a list of booklets begins. That list is cropped out of the image and is not published.
A fit of the arithmetic, not a fact the court wrote on this letter: twice 8.30 lei, multiplied by 170, gives 2,822 lei. The decision prints the result and does not print the decree the bank cites.