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Intelligence and intelligence operations in Romanian anti-partisan warfare, 1944–1958

2015; Routledge; Volume: 26; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/09592318.2014.982884

1743-9558

Andrei Miroiu,

Soviet and Russian History

AbstractThe Romanian anti-communist partisans constituted a small, scattered, diffused, and leaderless movement united only by nationalism and by the belief that armed struggle would contribute to the downfall of an illegitimate regime supported by a foreign power. This article provides an analysis of intelligence and intelligence operations used by the government to defeat these guerrillas, in a conflict that lasted a decade and a half. The sources for this study are mainly the collections of documents of Romanian secret police recently declassified and published.Keywords:: counterinsurgency; intelligence; intelligence operations; asymmetric warfare; communist Romania AcknowledgementsThe author would like to thank Dr Andrew Tan and an anonymous reviewer of this journal for their help in revising this article.Notes 1. For a narrative on the communist takeover of Romania as well as an introduction to the problems of resistance to communist rule, see CitationTismăneanu, Stalinism for All Seasons; CitationPresidential Commission, Final Report. 2.CitationPresidential Commission, Final Report, 332. 3.CitationDienerL'Autre Communisme en Roumanie, 82. 4. Report of the General Directorate of the Securitate, October 21st 1948 in Consiliul NaCitationţional pentru Studierea Arhivelor Securităţii, 'Bande, bandiţi și eroi' (hereafter BBE), Doc. 2, 46–9. 5. The most complete work on Romanian anti-communist armed groups is CitationDobrincu, Rezistenţa armată anticomunistă din România. 6. On the composition of the guerrilla groups, see a discussion in CitationDeletant, Teroarea comunistă în România. 7. Serviciul Român de InformaCitationţii, Cartea albă a Securităţii, 18. 8. This passage is based on CitationTroncotă, Istoria serviciilor secrete românești. 9. See, for instance, Note of Mărășești Gendarmes, 1 August 1948 in Chipurici and RăCitationţoi, Rezistenţa anticomunistă din sud-vestul României (hereafter RASV), Doc. 45, 84–6.10.CitationBanu, ' < Strămo¸ii> Securităţii'.11. For a general discussion of Securitate's beginnings, organization, and role in the repression, see CitationOprea, Bastionul cruzimii.12.CitationBanu, 'Utilizarea reţelei informative'.13.CitationDeletant, Teroarea comunistă în România, 101.14. See for the higher number, also used by Deletant and CitationCretzianu, Captive Rumania. For a correction, CitationBanu, 'Câteva consideraţii privind istoriografia Securităţii'.15. Report of Mehedinţi Militia, 1 November 1949 in RASV, Doc. 229, 273.16. An emerging classic on the topic is CitationStatiev, The Soviet Counterinsurgency.17. Some of these groups had been trained by the Germans in special guerrilla warfare schools in the spring and summer of 1944, see CitationBiddiscombe, 'Prodding the Russian Bear'.18. Report of the Siguranţă section in Câmpulung Moldovenesc 18 November 1944 in BrisCitation̦că and Ciuceanu, Rezistenţa armată din Bucovina (hereafter RAB), Vol. I, Doc. 14, 160.19. An analysis of these networks can be found in CitationOprea, Bastionul cruzimii.20.CitationDeletant, Teroarea comunistă în România, 98.21. Nationalist Romanian historiography often writes in xenophobic tones on this topic, trying to portray Securitate's abuses as the work of officers of Russian, Ukrainian, Jewish, and Hungarian descent. See for this, the book of CitationCristian Troncotă, himself a former Securitate officer, Istoria serviciilor secrete românești.22.CitationDeletant, Teroarea comunistă în România, 97, 98.23.Jurnale din rezistenţa anticomunistă, 14.24. Serviciul Român de InformaCitationţii, Cartea albă a Securităţii, 7.25. Consiliul NaCitationţional pentru Studierea Arhivelor Securităţii, Pseudomemoriile unui general de Securitate.26. Notes of Năsăud Gendarmerie, 31 July and 1 August 1945 in CitationCiuceanu et al.Începuturile mișcării de rezistenţă în România (hereafter IMRR), Vol. I, Docs. 10–11, 51–2.27. Note of the Ministry of the Interior, 11 October 1945 in IMRR, Vol. I, Doc. 30, 72.28. Note of 2 November 1945 in IMRR, Vol. II, Doc. 111, 288.29.CitationLiviu Ţăranu, 'Controlul corespondenţei în anii '50'.30. Report of SSI, 5 November 1945 in IMRR, Vol. I, Doc. 39, 81.31. For this as the main approach in dealing with the guerrillas, see CitationBanu, 'Metode utilizate de Securitate'; CitationMiroiu, 'Wiping out "The Bandits"'.32. For the need to recruit informers from the local hostile elements who might harbour knowledge of the rebels, see Address of Teleorman Securitate, 11 June 1951 in CătănusCitation̦ and Roske, Colectivizarea agriculturii în România, Doc. 80, 283–4.33. Siguranţă note of 3 December 1946 in Serviciul Român de InformaCitationţii, Cartea albă a Securităţii, Doc. 259, 335–6.34. See for instance CitationBodeanu and Budeancă, Rezistenţa armată anticomunistă din România (hereafter RATS), 38–9.35. Order of the General Directorate of the Securitate to the Pitești Regional Securitate, 15 September 1949 in BBE, Doc. 10, 85.36. Report of Maramureș Securitate Service, 3 April 1949 in CitationDuică, Rezistenţa anticomunistă din Maramureș (hereafter RAP), 47–8.37. For these missions and their fate, see CitationTroncotă, Istoria Securităţii, 196–7.38. Consiliul SecurităCitationţii Statului, Buletin intern pentru aparatul Securităţii Statului (hereafter BIASS), No. 3 (1968): 58–60.39.CitationDobrincu, 'Grupuri minore', 183.40. BIASS No. 2 (1968): 5.41.Securitatea, No. 3 (1973): 7.42. Report of the Suceava Militia, 11 July 1951 in RAB, Vol. II, Doc. 33, 69.43. BIASS No. 2 (1968): 6.44. For a lengthy discussion of the poor professional standards of the time, see CitationTroncotă, Istoria serviciilor secrete românești.45.CitationBanu, 'Utilizarea reţelei informative în reprimarea rezistenţei armate anticomuniste'.46.CitationDobrincu, Rezistenţa armată anticomunistă din România, 507–8.47. Report of Mehedinţi Militia, 1 November 1949 in RASV, Doc. 229, 274; Note of Cloșani Gendarmes, 20 August 1948 in RASV, Doc. 61, 96–7.48. Note of Padeș Gendarmes, 14 September 1948 in RASV, Doc. 78, 116–17; Note of Ponoarele Militia, 25 September 1949 in RASV, Doc. 208, 235.49. Note of 'Gangs' Sector I Teregova, 10 December 1951 in RASV, Doc. 297, 346–8.50. Note of Office 522, 16 January 1951 in CitationCiuceanu, Rezistenţa armată din Munţii Făgăraș (hereafter RAMF), Doc. 23, 97–8.51. PlesCitation̦a, 'Implicarea militarilor în mi¸carea de rezistenţă armată'.52. Report of Constanţa Regional Siguranţă, 12 July 1948 in CitationCojoc, Rezistenţa armată din Dobrogea, Doc. 8, 56–9.53. Note of 'A. Roman', 14 October 1945 in IMRR, Vol. I, Doc. 33, 75.54. Informative note, 12 September 1945 in IMRR, Vol. II, Doc. 95, 279.55. Document of 1 June 1946 in IMRR, Vol. II, 30.56. Document of 5 June 1946 and Note of SSI, 17 June 1946 in IMRR, Vol. II, 46, 64–5.57. BIASS No. 3 (1968): 50–7. However, based on an interview with a member of the group (Mihai Timaru), a pro-legionary blog (http://garziledecebal.blogspot.com.au/2011/11/grupul-ion-paragina-vrancea.html; accessed 18 February 2013) asserts that the capture was after a fierce fire-fight with numerous people killed, among them five Securitate troops.58. BIASS No. 3 (1968); 61–5.59. Testimony of Col. Victor Burlacu in Securitatea, No. 3 (1973); 12–13.60. Proposal of the Câmpeni Securitate Office to the Turda Regional Office, 21 February 1949 in CitationBuhoci, Rezistenţa armată din Munţii Apuseni (hereafter RAMA), Doc. 4, 55.61. Statement of Lt. Col. Iancu Bocan, 5 March 1949 in RAMA, Doc. 11, 66.62. Report of the Regional Police Inspectorate Northern Moldova, 10 January 1946 in RAB, Vol. I, Doc. 20, 175.63. Report of the Sibiu Militia, 16 September 1951 in RAMF, Doc. 61, 163–4 and n. 33–6. For the larger history of the Gavrilă group, see CitationDobrincu, 'Rezistenţa armată anticomunistă din Munţii Făgăraș'.64. RATS, 29.65. Ibid., 46–7.66. 'The history of the Popșa Group and its capture', report by Maramureş Securitate, 31 May 1949 in RAP, Doc. 24, 68–71.67.CitationDobrincu, 'Grupuri minore', 181.68.CitationBodeanu and Budeancă, Rezistenţa anticomunistă din România, 25–6.69. This entire fragment is based on CitationOana Ionel, 'Anihilarea organizaţiei'.70.CitationKitson, Low Intensity Operations.71. Siguranţă's plan for the arrest of the 'Armed Group Sinaia', 24 June 1946 in IMRR, Vol. II, Doc. 49, 73–5.72. Document of 28 June 1946 in IMRR, Vol. II, 79–80. Subsequent documents point to the discovery of other large weapons deposits.73. Report of Mehedinţi Militia, 1 November 1949 in RASV, Doc. 229, 270.74. Informative Report on the Problem of the Gangs in 1951, 15 February 1952 in BBE, Doc. 23, 130–1.75. Report on the Problem of the Gangs, 16 September 1952 in BBE, Doc. 26, 152–5.76. For the entire operation, see CitationDobrincu, 'Anticommunist Resistance Groups'.77. For a larger discussion of specific military operations, see CitationAndrei Miroiu, 'Military Operations'.