Citizendia

See also: Serviciul Român de Informaţii

The Securitate (Romanian for Security; official full name Departamentul Securităţii Statului, State Security Department), was the secret police force of Communist Romania. Serviciul Român de Informaţii (SRI is the Romanian domestic intelligence service. Romanian or Daco-Romanian ( dated: Rumanian or Roumanian; self designation limba română, ˈlimba roˈmɨnə is a Romance Secret police (sometimes political police) are a Police agency which operates in Secrecy to maintain National security against internal Previously the Romanian secret police was called Siguranţa statului (Safety of the State). Romania ( dated: Rumania, Roumania Founded on August 30, 1948, with help from the Soviet NKVD, the Securitate was abolished in December 1989, shortly after President Nicolae Ceauşescu was ousted. Events 1363 - Beginning date of the Battle of Lake Poyang; the forces of two Chinese rebel leaders— Chen Youliang and Year 1948 ( MCMXLVIII) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 The NKVD ( НКВД, ru Народный Комиссариат Внутренних Дел ''Narodnyy Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del'') or People's Commissariat The President of Romania is the Head of state of Romania. The President is directly elected by a Two-round system for a five-year term (since 2004 Nicolae Ceauşescu (nikoˈlaje tʃauˈʃesku (January 26 1918 – December 25 1989 was the communist dictator of Romania from 1965 until December 1989 when a revolution

The Securitate was, in proportion to Romania's population, one of the largest and most brutal secret police forces in the Eastern bloc. During the Cold War, the term Communist Bloc (or Soviet Bloc) was used to refer to the Soviet Union and countries it either controlled or that were [1] The first budget of the Securitate in 1948 stipulated a number of 4,641 positions, of which 3,549 were filled by February 1949. By 1951, the Securitate's staff had increased fivefold, while in January 1956, the Securitate had 25,468 employees. [2] Under the regime of Nicolae Ceauşescu, the Securitate employed some 11,000 agents and a half-million informers. [1] (By way of comparison, as of September 2001, the CIA numbered about 18,000 employees. near as long as it used to be several months ago It has been actively summarized and split into sub-articles and there is a dynamic talk page discussion of all [3])

Contents

History

Founding

The General Direction for the Security of the People (Romanian initials: DGSP, but more commonly just called the Securitate) was officially founded on August 30, 1948 by Decree 221/30 of the Presidium of the Great National Assembly. Events 1363 - Beginning date of the Battle of Lake Poyang; the forces of two Chinese rebel leaders— Chen Youliang and Year 1948 ( MCMXLVIII) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Great National Assembly (Marea Adunare Naţională MAN was the Legislature of the Romanian People's Republic and the Socialist Republic Romania [2] However, it had effectively existed since August 1944, when communists began to infiltrate the Ministry of Internal Affairs on a large scale. Communism is a Socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless Society based [2] Its stated purpose was to "defend democratic conquests and guarantee the safety of the Romanian Peoples' Republic against both internal and external enemies. Democracy is a form of government in which the supreme power is held completely by the people under a free electoral system "

The Securitate was created with the help of SMERSH, an NKVD unit charged with demolishing existing intelligence agencies and replacing them with Soviet-style bodies in the Soviet-occupied countries of Eastern Europe. SMERSH (acronym of SMERt' SHpionam, Russ СМЕРть Шпионам Eng Death to Spies) were the counter-intelligence departments in The NKVD ( НКВД, ru Народный Комиссариат Внутренних Дел ''Narodnyy Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del'') or People's Commissariat The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 Eastern Europe is a general term that refers to the Geopolitical region encompassing the easternmost part of the European continent. The SMERSH unit in Romania, called Brigada Mobilă (The Mobile Brigade), was led until 1948 by the NKVD colonel Alexandru Nicolschi. Alexandru Nicolschi (born Boris Grünberg, his chosen surname was often rendered as Nikolski or Nicolski; Russian: Александр Сергеевич The first Director of the Securitate was the NKVD general Gheorghe Pintilie (born Panteleymon Bondarenko, nicknamed Pantiuşa). The NKVD ( НКВД, ru Народный Комиссариат Внутренних Дел ''Narodnyy Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del'') or People's Commissariat Gheorghe Pintilie (born Pantelei Bodnarenko, also rendered as Pintilie Bodnarenco, and nicknamed Pantiuşa; 1902 &ndash August 11, 1985 Alexandru Nicolschi (by then a general) and another Soviet officer, Major General Vladimir Mazuru, held the deputy directorships. Major General or Major-General is a Military rank used in many countries Wilhelm Einhorn was the first Securitate secretary.

As Vladimir Tismăneanu says, "if one does not grasp the role of political thugs such as the Soviet spies Pintilie Bondarenko (Pantiuşa) and Alexandru Nikolski in the exercise of terror in Romania during the most horrible Stalinist period, and their personal connections with Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej and members of his entourage, it is difficult to understand the origins and the role of the Securitate". Vladimir Tismăneanu (b July 4, 1951) is a Romanian and American political scientist sociologist and professor at the University of Maryland Stalinism is the political regime named after Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union from 1929–1953 Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (born Gheorghe Gheorghiu; November 8 1901, Bârlad - March [4]

Initially, many of the agents of the Securitate were former Royal Security Police (named General Directorate of Safety Police—Direcţia Generală a Poliţiei de Siguranţă in Romanian) members. However, before long, Pantiuşa ordered anyone who had served the monarchy's police in any capacity arrested, and in the places of the Royal Security Policemen, he hired ardent members of the Communist Party, to ensure total loyalty within the organisation. A Political party described as a communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of Communism through a communist form of

The first budget of the Securitate in 1948 stipulated a number of 4,641 positions, out of which on February 11, 1949, 3,549 were filled: 64% were workers, 4% peasants, 28% clerks, 2% persons of unspecified origin, and 2% intellectuals. Events 660 BC - Traditional founding date of Japan by Emperor Jimmu. Year 1949 ( MCMXLIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A peasant is an agricultural worker who subsists by working a small plot of ground Clerk, the vocational title commonly refers to a White-collar worker who conducts general office or in some instances sales tasks An intellectual (from the adjective meaning "involving thought and reason" is a person who tries to use his or her Intelligence and analytical thinking,

Methodology

In the 1980s, the Securitate launched a massive campaign to stamp out dissent in Romania, manipulating the country's population with vicious rumors (such as supposed contacts with Western intelligence agencies), machinations, frameups, public denunciations, encouraging conflict between segments of the population, public humiliation of dissidents, toughened censorship and the repression of even the smallest gestures of independence by intellectuals. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. A rumour or rumor (see spelling differences) is often viewed as "an unverified account or explanation of events circulating from person to person and The term Western world, the West or the Occident ( Latin: occidens -sunset -west as distinct from the Orient) can have multiple meanings A frameup is an American term referring to the act of framing someone that is providing false evidence or False testimony in order to falsely prove Denunciation refers to the announcement of a Treaty 's termination Censorship is the suppression of speech or deletion of communicative material which may be considered objectionable harmful or sensitive as determined by a censor Often the term "intellectual" was used by the Securitate to describe dissidents with higher education, such as University or College students, writers, directors and scientists who opposed the philosophy of the Communist party. For example, assassinations were also used to silence dissent, with the attempt to kill high-ranking defector Ion Mihai Pacepa being well known among intelligence officials. Ion Mihai Pacepa (born 28 October 1928 in Bucharest, Romania) is the highest-ranking intelligence official ever to have defected In the 1980s, Securitate officials hired Carlos the Jackal to assassinate Pacepa, but the attempt failed. Ilich Ramírez Sánchez (born) is a Venezuelan born leftist Revolutionary.

Forced entry into homes and offices and the planting of microphones was another tactic the Securitate used to extract information from the general population. A home is a place of Residence or Refuge. It is usually a place where an individual or a family can rest in and be able to store Personal property. An office is generally a room or other area in which people work, but may also denote a position within an Organization with specific duties attached Telephone conversations were routinely monitored, and all internal and international fax and telex communications were intercepted. Securitatea's methods were largely similar to those of the Stasi and the KGB and often similar technology was used in accomplishing the tasks needed. For the regular police in East Germany see Volkspolizei. The Ministerium für Staatssicherheit ( Ministry for State Security KGB ( Transliteration of "КГБ" is the Russian abbreviation of Committee for State Security ( Komityet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosty

Downfall

The Securitate was abolished in late 1989, after the Communist dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu was ousted. Nicolae Ceauşescu (nikoˈlaje tʃauˈʃesku (January 26 1918 – December 25 1989 was the communist dictator of Romania from 1965 until December 1989 when a revolution

Until 2005 it was generally accepted that to the very end of Nicolae Ceauşescu's rule, the Securitate was fiercely loyal to the government. Allegations were also made that at a speech by Ceauşescu to a handpicked crowd of 100,000, the Securitate opened fire on the defenceless crowd after some anti-Ceauşescu shouts were heard.

However, articles published in Romanian newspapers after the post-communist leader Ion Iliescu ended his second presidential mandate suggest that large segments of the Securitate were actually involved in Ceauşescu's fall. Ion Iliescu (born March 3, 1930) is a Romanian politician He was the elected President of Romania for eleven years (three terms from 1990 This is a theory supported by the fact that there was a strong anti-Ceauşescu movement in the Securitate (see Ion Mihai Pacepa). Ion Mihai Pacepa (born 28 October 1928 in Bucharest, Romania) is the highest-ranking intelligence official ever to have defected

Today a number of millionaires in Romania are suspected or confirmed to have been high-ranking members or collaborators of the Securitate.

The DSS lived on until 1991 when Parliament approved a law reorganizing the DSS into a few special and secret services like the SRI (Romanian Intelligence Service) (with internal tasks such as counterespionage), the SIE (Foreign Intelligence Service), the SPP (Protection and Guard Service) (the former Directorate V), the STS (Special Telecommunications Service) (the former General Directorate for Technical Operations), etc. Serviciul Român de Informaţii (SRI is the Romanian domestic intelligence service. The Foreign Intelligence Service, or Serviciul de Informaţii Externe (SIE in Romanian is under Law no Serviciul de Protecţie şi Pază (Protection and Guard Service SPP is an institution of the Romanian state Serviciul de Telecomunicaţii Speciale (Special Telecommunication Service STS is one of the Romanian secret services

Subdivisions

General Directorate for Technical Operations

The General Directorate for Technical Operations was a key part of the Securitate. Created with Soviet assistance in 1954, it monitored all voice and electronic communications in and out of Romania. Year 1954 ( MCMLIV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1954 Gregorian calendar) Communication is the process of conveying information from a sender to a receiver with the use of a medium in which the communicated information is understood the same way They bugged telephones and intercepted all telegraphs and telex messages, as well as placing microphones in both public and private buildings. Basic principle A traditional landline telephone system also known as "plain old telephone service" (POTS, commonly handles both signaling and audio information A teleprinter ( Nearly all conversations conducted in Communist Romania would be listened to by this department.

Directorate for Counterespionage

The Directorate for Counterespionage surveyed all foreigners in Romania, and did their utmost to impede contact between foreigners and Romanians. This article is a subset article of Intelligence cycle security. Contact that was impossible to stop was instead monitored. It enforced a variety of measures to prevent Romanians living with foreign nationals, one of these being the requirement to report any known foreigners to the Securitate within 24 hours. The hour (symbol h) is a unit of Time. It is not an SI unit but is accepted for use with the SI This Directorate also stopped Romanians seeking asylum in foreign embassies. According to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee is a person who owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race A diplomatic mission is a group of people from one State or an international Inter-governmental organization (such as the United Nations) present in

Directorate for Penitentiaries

The Directorate for Penitentiaries operated Romania's prisons, which were notorious for their horrendous conditions. Prisoners were routinely beaten, denied medical attention, had their mail taken away from them, and sometimes even administered lethal doses of poison. Medicine is the art and science of healing It encompasses a range of Health care practices evolved to maintain and restore Human Health by the Mail, or post, is a method for transmitting information and tangible objects wherein written Documents typically enclosed in Envelopes and also In the context of Biology, poisons are substances that can cause damage, Illness, or Death to Organisms usually by

Directorate for Internal Security

The Directorate for Internal Security was originally charged for ensuring proper activity going on in the PCR. But after Ion Mihai Pacepa's defection in 1978 and claims to expose details of Ceauşescu's regime, such as collaboration with Arab terrorists, massive espionage on American industry and elaborate efforts to rally Western political support, international infiltration and espionage in the Securitate only increased, much to the infuration of Ceauşescu. In order to solve this problem the entire Division was reorganized and was charged with rooting out dissent in the Communist Party itself. It almost acted as a Securitate for the Securitate, and was responsible for bugging the phones of other Securitate officers to ensure total loyalty.

National Commission for Visas and Passports

The National Commission for Visas and Passports controlled all travel and emigration in and out of Romania. A visa (short for the Latin carta visa, lit "a document that has been seen" is a document issued by a Country giving an individual A passport is a document issued by a national government which certifies for the purpose of international travel the identity and nationality of its holder Travel is the change in location of people on a trip through the means of Transport from one location to another "Emigrant" redirects here For the Butterflies, see Catopsilia. In effect, emigration was impossible for anyone but highly placed Party officials, as any normal Romanian who applied for it would immediately be placed under surveillance. Many Jews and Germans were given passports and exit visas through tacit agreements with the Israeli and West German governments, whereby Romania would receive a payment of 5 to 10 thousand USD per exit visa. The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been Regular people who were not Jewish, German, Baptist, or highly placed Party Members were also able to apply for emigration to the West. The drawback was that the average waiting period was 3 to 4 years between an application to emigrate was filed and until a Romanian passport was issued. This waiting period amounted to nothing more than a light prison sentence as applicants would be immediately fired from their jobs, thus deprived of their right to earn a living, and were subject to harassment by Securitate personnel. When laws related to travel abroad were relaxed in 1988, 40,000 Romanians went to Hungary refusing to return home. Year 1988 ( MCMLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar) Hungary (Magyarország 'mɔɟɔrorsaːg) officially in English the Republic of Hungary ( Magyar Köztársaság, literally Magyar (Hungarian Republic

Directorate for Security Troops

The Directorate for Security Troops acted as a 20,000 strong paramilitary force for the government, equipped with artillery and armoured personnel carriers. A troop is a Military unit, originally a small force of Cavalry, subordinate to a Squadron and headed by the troop leader A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military force but which are not regarded as having the same status Artillery (from French artillerie) is a military Combat Arm which employs any apparātus machine Armoured personnel carriers (APCs are Armoured fighting vehicles developed to transport Infantry on the Battlefield They usually have only a Machine They guarded television and radio stations, and Party buildings. Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic Radio is the transmission of signals by Modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible Light. To ensure total loyalty amongst these crack troops, there were five times as many political officers in the Directorate for Security Troops than there were in the regular army. A political commissar, or politruk, is an officer appointed by a government to oversee a unit of the military The Land Forces, Air Force and Naval Forces are collectively known as the Romanian Armed Forces ( Romanian: Forţele Armate Române In the event of a coup, this Directorate would be called in to protect the regime. Security troops enjoyed special treatment, and often lived in far superior conditions to their countrymen.

After the Revolution, the Directorate for Security Troops was disbanded and replaced first by the Guard and Order Troops (Trupele de Pază şi Ordine), and in July 1990 by the Gendarmerie. The Romanian Revolution of 1989 was a week-long series of increasingly violent riots and fighting in late December 1989 that overthrew the Communist regime of Nicolae Jandarmeria Română (ʒandarme'ria ro'mɨnə is the military branch of the two Romanian Police forces (the civil force being the

Directorate for Militia

The Directorate for Militia controlled Romania's standard police force, carried out tasks such as traffic control. Police are agents or agencies usually of the executive, empowered to enforce the law and to effect public and social order through the legitimatized use of force Traffic on Roads may consist of Pedestrians ridden or herded Animals Vehicles Streetcars and other Conveyances either singly In 1990 it was replaced by the Romanian Police. The Romanian Police (Poliţia Română po'litsia ro'mɨnə is the national police force and main civil law enforcement agency in Romania.

Directorate V

Directorate V were bodyguards for important governmental officials. A bodyguard (or "close protection officer" is a type of Security guard or government agent who protects a person—usually a famous wealthy or politically

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Craig S. Dumitru Burlan (born May 11, 1939, Licurici, Gorj County) is a Romanian security officer Nicolae Ceauşescu (nikoˈlaje tʃauˈʃesku (January 26 1918 – December 25 1989 was the communist dictator of Romania from 1965 until December 1989 when a revolution Matei Pavel Haiducu ( May 18, 1948 -2003 was a Romanian secret agent who defected to France in 1981 This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Ion Mihai Pacepa (born 28 October 1928 in Bucharest, Romania) is the highest-ranking intelligence official ever to have defected The United States of America —commonly referred to as the This is a list of senior Securitate officers. The General Direction for the Security of the People, better known by its Romanian abbreviation Securitate Smith, "Eastern Europe Struggles to Purge Security Services", The New York Times, December 12, 2006
  2. ^ a b c Cristian Troncota, "Securitatea: Începuturile", Magazin Istoric, 1998
  3. ^ Tom Clancy, "How We Got Here", The Wall Street Journal, September 18, 2001
  4. ^ Stalinism for All Seasons: A Political History of Romanian Communism (University of California Press, Berkeley, 2003). Events 627 - Battle of Nineveh: A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeats Emperor Khosrau II 's Persian Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Thomas Leo Clancy Jr (born April 12 1947) is an American author best known for his technically detailed espionage and Military science storylines Events 96 - Nerva is proclaimed Roman Emperor after Domitian is assassinated Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. University of California Press, also known as UC Press, is a Publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in Academic ISBN 0520237471 p. 20

External links

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic