The prison itself was built at an earlier stage. Work on it had begun in 1937, under King Carol II, and was completed in 1941, during Ion Antonescu's rule. At the time, it was the most modern detention facility in Romania. Located at the northern edge of Pitești, the building was structured on four levels: basement, ground floor, and two upper floors, arranged in a T-shaped design. The first political prisoners it housed arrived in 1942; these were high school students suspected of having taken part in the Legionnaires' rebellion. For a while after the proclamation of the Romanian People's Republic in December 1947, it continued to house primarily those found guilty of misdemeanors. Shortly after the establishment of the Securitate in August 1948, the Pitești Prison became a detention center for university students. By April 1949, the director of Pitești Prison was Alexandru Dumitrescu.