Securitate

Department of State Security
Departamentul Securității Statului
Agency overview
Formed	30 August 1948 (as the DGSP)
Preceding agency	Siguranța; SMERSH of Romania;
Dissolved	30 December 1989
Superseding agency	Several agencies: ; Serviciul Român de Informații, ; Serviciul de Informații Externe, ; Serviciul de Protecție și Pază, ; Serviciul de Telecomunicații Speciale, ; etc;
Type	Secret police
Jurisdiction	Romania
Headquarters	Bucharest
Employees	11,000 (1985)
Agency executives	Gheorghe Pintilie, director, (1948–63, first); Iulian Vlad, head, (1987–89, last);
Parent agency	Ministry of Interior (1948–51, 1955–89); Ministry of State Security (1951–55)
Child agency	See list;

The Securitate (pronounced [sekuriˈtate], Romanian for security) was the popular term for the Departamentul Securității Statului (Department of State Security), the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. Previously, before the communist regime, Romanian secret police was called Siguranța Statului. It was founded on 30 August 1948, with help and direction from the Soviet MGB. Following the Romanian Revolution in 1989, the new authorities assigned the various intelligence tasks of the DSS to new institutions.

The Securitate was, in proportion to Romania's population, one of the largest secret police forces in the Eastern bloc.^[2] 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.^[4] By 1951, the Securitate's staff had increased fivefold, while in January 1956, the Securitate had 25,468 employees.^[5] At its height, the Securitate employed some 11,000 agents and had half a million informers^[2] for a country with a population of 22 million by 1985.^[3] Under Ceaușescu, the Securitate was one of the most brutal secret police forces in the world, responsible for the arrests, torture, and deaths of thousands of people.^[2]

^ "DECRET nr.33 din 30 decembrie 1989 privind desfiintarea Departamentului securitatii statului". www.cdep.ro. Archived from the original on 2018-08-14. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Smith, Craig S. (December 12, 2006). "Eastern Europe Struggles to Purge Security Services". The New York Times.
^ ^a ^b Turnock 1997, p. 15
^ "Sighet Museum: Room 14 – The Security Police (Securitate) between 1948 and 1989". www.memorialsighet.ro. Memorial of the Victims of Communism and of the Resistance. 11 October 2015. Retrieved July 25, 2022.
^ Cristian Troncota, "Securitatea: Începuturile" Archived 2007-12-12 at the Wayback Machine, Magazin Istoric, 1998

[1] "DECRET nr.33 din 30 decembrie 1989 privind desfiintarea Departamentului securitatii statului". www.cdep.ro. Archived from the original on 2018-08-14. Retrieved 2016-01-23.

[smith-2] Smith, Craig S. (December 12, 2006). "Eastern Europe Struggles to Purge Security Services". The New York Times.

[turnock15-3] Turnock 1997, p. 15

[Sighet-14-4] "Sighet Museum: Room 14 – The Security Police (Securitate) between 1948 and 1989". www.memorialsighet.ro. Memorial of the Victims of Communism and of the Resistance. 11 October 2015. Retrieved July 25, 2022.

[Troncota-5] Cristian Troncota, "Securitatea: Începuturile" Archived 2007-12-12 at the Wayback Machine, Magazin Istoric, 1998

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Agency overview
Departamentul Securității Statului

Formed	30 August 1948 (as the DGSP)
Preceding agency	Siguranța SMERSH of Romania
Dissolved	30 December 1989^[1]
Superseding agency	Several agencies: Serviciul Român de Informații, Serviciul de Informații Externe, Serviciul de Protecție și Pază, Serviciul de Telecomunicații Speciale, etc
Type	Secret police
Jurisdiction	Romania
Headquarters	Bucharest
Employees	11,000 (1985)^[2]^[3]
Agency executives	Gheorghe Pintilie, director, (1948–63, first) Iulian Vlad [ro], head, (1987–89, last)
Parent agency	Ministry of Interior (1948–51, 1955–89) Ministry of State Security (1951–55)
Child agency	See list