Siguranța was the generic name for the successive

secret police Secret police (or political police) are intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, religious, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic of ...

services in the

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania ( ro, Regatul României) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 13 March ( O.S.) / 25 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian ...

. The official title of the organization changed throughout its history, with names including Directorate of the Police and General Safety ( ro, Direcția Poliției și Siguranței Generale), the Secret Intelligence Service ( ro, Serviciul Secret de Informații), the Special Intelligence Service ( ro, Serviciul Special de Informații) or simply the Intelligence Service ( ro, Serviciul de Informații),

History

Created in 1908, in the aftermath of a major peasant revolt, it acted as a political police, supervising, infiltrating and trying to dismantle political groupings considered undesirable by the Romanian governments. Changing its structure several times during the first half of the 20th century, it was ultimately disbanded in 1948, when Romania became a

people's republic People's republic is an official title, usually used by some currently or formerly communist or left-wing states. It is mainly associated with soviet republics, socialist states following people's democracy, sovereign states with a democratic- ...

. Siguranța's role, as well as a large part of its employees, were integrated into the newly founded Department of State Security ("Securitate"). Around 1924, Siguranța secret intelligence assassinated a leader of the militant wing of the Romanian Communist Party. The victim was also the brother of dedicated Communist Elizaveta Zarubina, soon to become one of the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

's most crucial agents. A secret policeman came to her apartment in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

later the same year to arrest her; he was subsequently shot by Zarubina, attracting the attention of top Soviet intelligence officials.

References

1908 in Romania 20th century in Romania Defunct Romanian intelligence agencies Law enforcement agencies of Romania Secret police Kingdom of Romania {{Romania-hist-stub ro:Siguranță