Securitate

The Securitate (, Romanian for Security, was the popular term for the Departamentul Securității Statului (Department of State Security). The Securitate was the secret police agency of Communist Romania. Previously, the Romanian secret police was called Siguranţa Statului. Founded on August 30, 1948, with help from the Soviet NKVD, the Securitate was abolished in December 1989, shortly after President Nicolae Ceaușescu was ousted.