Scientific Exorcisms? The Memory of the Communist Security Apparatus and its Study in Romania after 1989

• Authors: Stefano Bottoni

Abstracts

EN

This article discusses the institutional attempts to deal with the archival legacy of the Romanian communist security police, Securitate (1945–1989), during the democratic transition in post-communist Romania. The first part draws a short outline of Securitate’s history and activities as one of the main power instruments of the communist dictatorship. The second part of the article shows the development of political attitudes towards institutional attempts to deal with the communist past in the post-communist Romania. This paper describes the reluctant attitude of the ruling circles in the 1990s towards the opening of the Securitate archives and the lustration attempts. The formation of the National Council for the Study of Securitate Archives (Consiliul Național pentru Studierea Arhivelor Securității, CNSAS, legally established 1999) hardly changed the general situation: the archives of the Securitate were transferred to CNSAS with significant delays, and the 2008 ruling of the constitutional court limited its lustration competences. The establishment of the Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and the Memory of the Romanian Exile (Institutul de Investigare a Crimelor Comunismului şi Memoria Exilului Românesc, IICCMER, established 2005) and formation in 2006 of the Presidential Commission for the Analysis of the Communist Dictatorship in Romania led by renowned political scientist Vladimir Tismăneanu together with the research and legal activities of CNSAS contributed to a broader evaluation of the communist regime (although its impact seems to be limited). The paper refers also to the public debate, sparked by the activity and the final report published by Tismăneanu’s commission.

Keywords

EN

Romania; communism; Securitate; democratic transition; lustration; CNSAS; IICCMER; Vladimir Tismăneanu

• Publisher: Instytut Pamięci Narodowej, Komisja Ścigania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu
• Journal: Institute of National Remembrance Review
• Year: 2020
• Volume: 2
• Pages: 285-317

Contributors

author

Stefano Bottoni

• https://orcid.org/0000000225332250

Identifiers

DOI

10.48261/INRR200209

Biblioteka Nauki

1956328