bodnăraș was born to a ukrainian father and a german mother in 1904, in iaslovăț, suceava county, bukovina, then under austrian rule. his career as an artillery officer in the romanian army was interrupted by a conflict with a member of the romanian royal house. he was transferred to a garrison in bessarabia where he was contacted by communist elements, became a soviet spy and defected to the ussr in 1931. he returned to romania in 1935 and fulfilled different special missions for soviet military intelligence. caught by accident, bodnăraș was sentenced to ten years in prison. imprisoned at brașov, doftana and caransebeș, he entered the romanian communist party in 1940 becoming a key figure in gheorghe gheorghiu-dej's faction. he was released in 1942.