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Securitate

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Securitate

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Also known as Securitatea statului, DSS, Securitate (Department of State Security)

The Department of State Security (), commonly known as the Securitate (, ), was the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. It was founded on 30 August 1948 from the Siguranța with help and direction from the Soviet MGB.

Key facts

Government agency.agency_name
Department of State Security
Government agency.nativename
Departamentul Securității Statului
Government agency.logo
Coat of arms of Romania (1965–1989).svg
Government agency.logo_width
190px
Government agency.logo_caption
Coat of arms of Romania (1965–1989)
Government agency.formed
30 August 1948 (as the DGSP)
Government agency.preceding1
Siguranța
Government agency.preceding2
SMERSH of Romania
Government agency.preceding3
Mobile Brigade
Government agency.dissolved
30 December 1989
Government agency.superseding1
Romanian Intelligence Service
Government agency.superseding2
Foreign Intelligence Service
Government agency.superseding3
Protection and Guard Service
Government agency.superseding4
Special Telecommunication Service
Government agency.jurisdiction
Romania
Government agency.headquarters
Bucharest
Government agency.chief1_name
Gheorghe Pintilie, director
Government agency.chief1_position
(1948–1959, first)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Official name
Departamentul Securităţii Statului
Employees
11000
Show 5 more facts
inception
1948-00-00
dissolved, abolished or demolished date
1990-00-00
native label
Departamentul Securităţii Statului
street address
Piaţa Revoluţiei, Bukareszt
Commons category
Securitate
Sources (4)

via Wikidata · CC0

~19 min read

Article

21 sections
Contents
  • History
  • Founding
  • Method
  • Downfall
  • Subdivisions
  • General Directorate for Technical Operations
  • Directorate for Counterespionage
  • Directorate for Foreign Intelligence
  • Directorate for Penitentiaries
  • Directorate for Internal Security
  • National Commission for Visas and Passports
  • Directorate for Security Troops
  • Directorate for Militia
  • Directorate V
  • Directors
  • Funding
  • IKEA
  • See also
  • Notes
  • References
  • External links

The Department of State Security (), commonly known as the Securitate (, ), was the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. It was founded on 30 August 1948 from the Siguranța with help and direction from the Soviet MGB.

The Securitate was, in proportion to Romania's population, one of the largest secret police forces in the Eastern bloc. The first budget of the Securitate in 1948 stipulated a number of 4,641 positions, of which 3,549 were filled by February 1949: 64% were workers, 4% peasants, 28% clerks, 2% persons of unspecified origin, and 2% intellectuals. By 1951, the Securitate's staff had increased fivefold, while in January 1956, the Securitate had 25,468 employees. At its height, the Securitate employed some 15,000 agents and almost half a million informants for a country with a population of 23 million by 1989. Following the Romanian Revolution in 1989, the new authorities assigned the various intelligence tasks of the Securitate to new institutions.

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