Toma Arnăuțoiu was born 14 Feb. 1921 in the village of Nucşoara, county Muscel, second son of schoolteacher Ion Arnăuţoiu and of Laurenţia Arnăţoiu.

Admitted to the Cavalry School “King Ferdinand I” in 1942.
Sent on attachment to the Horse Guard Regiment in 1943.
Promoted second-lieutenant in April 1944. Graduated from the Cavalry School, ranked fourth in his class.

Sent to the frontline in September 1944 seeing action in Yugoslavia and Hungary.
Awarded the “Crown of Romania” Order, 5th class.
Wounded in battle in Hungary on 26 December 1944.
After three months in hospital, resumed military duties, first at the Gorj Territorial Club, then in the Roşiori 5 Regiment.
Transferred to the Horse Guard Regiment on 20 June 1946 only to be decommissioned on 11August 1946.
Promoted Lieutenant on 6 August 1947.
Discharged as reservist on 9 August 1946.

Founded in 1949 together with Col. Gheorghe Arsenescu an anticommunist resistance group in the village of Nucşoara, county Muscel (presently Argeş). To begin with the group consisted of 16 members of which four women. The group split soon after as it was too large to hide and to move around, but also because of disagreements. Part of them will be killed or wounded during skirmishes with the Securitate troops.

In spite of the Securitate’s sustained efforts to capture them the three members who stayed together with Toma Arnăuţoiu – his brother Petre, Maria Plop and Constantin Jubleanu – were able to resist for nine years.

On 20 May 1958, the survivors, plus the two-years old daughter of Toma and Maria, were captured as a result of their betrayal by a former school mate of Toma Arnăuţoiu. The investigation lasted one year.

The Military Court passed the death sentence for Toma Arnăuţoiu, his brother and 14 men who had helped them during the nine years on the run. They were executed in the Jilava prison on the night of 18/19 July 1959.

Maria Plop was given a life sentence and died in prison, likewise the parents of Toma and Petre Arnăuţoiu. The child born to Toma and Maria in their mountains hideout was taken to an orphanage. Ioana only found out her true identity in 1990.