Former Securitate HQ

Former building of the Romanian Securitate. After the fall of Communist Romania it was demolished but the lower remaining site survived and a new modern block was built on it. Today it houses the Union of Romanian Architects.

The Securitate (pronounced [sekuriˈtate], Romanian for Security; official full name Departamentul Securității Statului, Department of State Security) was the secret service of Communist Romania. Previously the Romanian secret police was called Siguranța Statului (State Security). 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.


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. By 1951, the Securitate's staff had increased fivefold, while in January 1956, the Securitate had 25,468 employees. Under the regime of Nicolae Ceaușescu, the Securitate employed some 11,000 agents and a half-million informers for a country with a population of only 22 million by 1985. Under Ceaușescu, the Securitate was one of the most brutal secret police forces in the world, responsible for the arrests and deaths of thousands of people.

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