Suchergebnisse

THIS ARTICLE CONTINUES THE ACCOUNT OF THE POLICE STATE IN ROMANIA WHICH, IN THE LAST ISSUE OF THE JOURNAL, COVERED THE PERIOD 1948-64. IT BEGINS BY DISCUSSING CEAUSESCU'S ANTI-SOVIET STANCE WHICH ALLOWED THE PARTY TO CLAIM THAT IT WAS DEFENDING THE NATIONAL INTEREST IN 1965. IT HIGHLIGHTS ALL IMPORTANT POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS DURING THE NEXT 2O YEARS. INCLUDED ARE LISTS OF INFORMATION TAKEN FROM THE BUCHAREST MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR. THIS INFORMATION INCLUDES THE NAMES OF APPOINTEES TO MILITARY POSITIONS AS WELL DETAILS ASSEMBLED FROM ROMANIAN NEWSPAPERS PUBLISHED SINCE 1989 AND FROM PRIVATE SOURCES.

THIS IS THE FIRST OF TWO ARTICLES OUTLINING THE EVOLUTION OF THE "SECURITATE" AS IT TRACES THE HISTORY OF THE "SECURITATE" IN POST-WAR ROMANIA. IT THEN EXAMINES THE NATURE OF ITS SUBSERVIENCE TO ITS SOVIET MASTERS AND CHARTS ITS RELATIONSHIP TO THE LEADERSHIP OF THE ROMANIAN COMMUNIST PARTY. IT ARGUES THAT THE AMNESTY OFFERED IN THE 1960S MARKED THE END OF AN ERA OF POLITICAL TERROR WHICH HAD COST THE LIVES OF TENS, PERHAPS HUNDREDS, OF THROUSANDS OF ROMANIANS, FROM THE PRE-COMMUNIST POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL ELITE DOWNWARDS, BUT THE INSTRUMENT OF THAT TERROR, THE "SECURITATE, REMAINED INTACT, UNREFORMED AND UBIQUITOUS.

The first account of the secret police in Eastern Europe and after 1989, this book uses a wide range of sources, including archives, to identify what has and has not changed since the end of communism. After explaining the structure and workings of two of the area's most feared services, Czechoslovakia's StB and Romania's Securitate, the authors details the creation of new security intelligence institutions, the development of contacts with the West, and forms of democratic control.