It was also here that Ion Antonescu, dictator of Romania during World War II, was executed for war crimes in 1946 and where on 23 October 1971 the serial killer, Ion Ramaru was executed by firing squad.

The prison also was a detention site for political prisoners after the start of Communist rule in Romania. According to a study done by the International Centre for Studies into Communism, 36.1% of all such prisoners did some time at Jilava Prison.