Gheorghe Pintilie
Encyclopedia
Gheorghe Pintilie was a Soviet
intelligence
agent, Romania
n communist activist, and the first Director of the Securitate
. As such, he was one of the main organizers of the repression in Communist Romania
, responsible for the arrest, deportation, and internment of around 400,000 people.
He was born in Tiraspol
, Russian Empire
(now in Transnistria
, Moldova
). As an adolescent, he fought with the Red Army
in the Russian Civil War
. Subsequently, he was recruited by Soviet intelligence to carry out espionage
and sabotage
actions in Romania
. He was caught, and incarcerated at the Doftana
and Caransebeş
prisons, where he befriended Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej
, who was to become the General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party
(PCR) in 1945.
After the War
, Pintilie married Ana Toma, a top aide to Ana Pauker
. The couple adopted two children (Radu and Ioana). Between 1945 and 1948, he was the chief of Gospodăria de partid, in control of all property of the PCR.
In June, 1945, he led a squad that kidnapped Ştefan Foriş
, the previous General Secretary
of the PCR. A year later, after a confidential vote at the top of the party, Pintilie beat Foriş to death with a crowbar.
At the founding of the Securitate
on August 30, 1948, Gheorghe Pintilie became the first Director of this organization (the positions of Deputy Directors went to Alexandru Nicolschi
and Vladimir Mazuru). In this capacity, he was directly implicated in the Piteşti prison
"experiment". The majority of deportations to the forced labor camps at the Danube-Black Sea Canal
(referred to as the "graveyard of the Romanian bourgeoisie" by the Communist authorities) were approved by Pintilie and his deputies.
Pintilie played a considerable role in the establishment of a communist terror apparatus in Romania. As Vladimir Tismăneanu
argues, "if one does not grasp the role of political thugs such as the Soviet spies Pintilie Bondarenko (Pantiuşa) and Alexandru Nikolski in the exercise of terror in Romania during the most horrible Stalinist period, and their personal connections with Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej and members of his entourage, it is difficult to understand the origins and the role of the Securitate".
He stayed as general director of the Securitate and as an adjunct minister in the Ministry of the Interior
until his retirement in 1963. In 1968, he was excluded from the Communist Party; nevertheless, he was decorated in 1971 by Nicolae Ceauşescu
with the "Tudor Vladimirescu" medal.
Pintilie died in Bucharest
in 1985. He was buried with full honors at the Ghencea Military Cemetery.
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
intelligence
Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies
There was a succession of Soviet secret police agencies over time. The first secret police after the Russian Revolution, created by Vladimir Lenin's decree on December 20, 1917, was called "Cheka"...
agent, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n communist activist, and the first Director of the Securitate
Securitate
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...
. As such, he was one of the main organizers of the repression in Communist Romania
Communist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
, responsible for the arrest, deportation, and internment of around 400,000 people.
He was born in Tiraspol
Tiraspol
Tiraspol is the second largest city in Moldova and is the capital and administrative centre of the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic . The city is located on the eastern bank of the Dniester River...
, Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
(now in Transnistria
Transnistria
Transnistria is a breakaway territory located mostly on a strip of land between the Dniester River and the eastern Moldovan border to Ukraine...
, Moldova
Moldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...
). As an adolescent, he fought with the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
in the Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
. Subsequently, he was recruited by Soviet intelligence to carry out espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
and sabotage
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
actions in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. He was caught, and incarcerated at the Doftana
Doftana prison
Doftana was a Romanian prison. Built in 1895, it was used in the 1930s to detain political prisoners, among them the future president Nicolae Ceauşescu. It is situated close to the village with the same name, in the Telega commune...
and Caransebeş
Caransebes
Caransebeş is a city in Caraş-Severin County, part of the Banat region in southwestern Romania. It is located at the confluence of the river Timiş with the river Sebeş, the latter coming from the Ţarcu Mountains. To the west, it is in direct contact with the Banat hills...
prisons, where he befriended Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej was the Communist leader of Romania from 1948 until his death in 1965.-Early life:Gheorghe was the son of a poor worker, Tănase Gheorghiu, and his wife Ana. Gheorghiu-Dej joined the Communist Party of Romania in 1930...
, who was to become the General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party
Romanian Communist Party
The Romanian Communist Party was a communist political party in Romania. Successor to the Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave ideological endorsement to communist revolution and the disestablishment of Greater Romania. The PCR was a minor and illegal grouping for much of the...
(PCR) in 1945.
After the War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Pintilie married Ana Toma, a top aide to Ana Pauker
Ana Pauker
Ana Pauker was a Romanian communist leader and served as the country's foreign minister in the late 1940s and early 1950s...
. The couple adopted two children (Radu and Ioana). Between 1945 and 1948, he was the chief of Gospodăria de partid, in control of all property of the PCR.
In June, 1945, he led a squad that kidnapped Ştefan Foriş
Stefan Foris
Ştefan Foriş was a Romanian communist activist and journalist who served as general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party between 1940 and 1944....
, the previous General Secretary
General Secretary
The office of general secretary is staffed by the chief officer of:*The General Secretariat for Macedonia and Thrace, a government agency for the Greek regions of Macedonia and Thrace...
of the PCR. A year later, after a confidential vote at the top of the party, Pintilie beat Foriş to death with a crowbar.
At the founding of the Securitate
Securitate
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...
on August 30, 1948, Gheorghe Pintilie became the first Director of this organization (the positions of Deputy Directors went to Alexandru Nicolschi
Alexandru Nicolschi
Alexandru Nicolschi was a Romanian communist activist, Soviet agent and officer, and Securitate chief under the Communist regime...
and Vladimir Mazuru). In this capacity, he was directly implicated in the Piteşti prison
Pitesti prison
The Pitești prison was a penal facility in Pitești, Romania, best remembered for the brainwashing experiment carried out by Communist authorities in 1949-1952...
"experiment". The majority of deportations to the forced labor camps at the Danube-Black Sea Canal
Danube-Black Sea Canal
The Danube – Black Sea Canal is a canal in Romania which runs from Cernavodă on the Danube to Agigea and Năvodari on the Black Sea...
(referred to as the "graveyard of the Romanian bourgeoisie" by the Communist authorities) were approved by Pintilie and his deputies.
Pintilie played a considerable role in the establishment of a communist terror apparatus in Romania. As Vladimir Tismăneanu
Vladimir Tismaneanu
Vladimir Tismăneanu is a Romanian and American political scientist, political analyst, sociologist, and professor at the University of Maryland, College Park...
argues, "if one does not grasp the role of political thugs such as the Soviet spies Pintilie Bondarenko (Pantiuşa) and Alexandru Nikolski in the exercise of terror in Romania during the most horrible Stalinist period, and their personal connections with Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej and members of his entourage, it is difficult to understand the origins and the role of the Securitate".
He stayed as general director of the Securitate and as an adjunct minister in the Ministry of the Interior
Ministry of Administration and Interior of Romania
The Ministry of Administration and Interior of Romania is one of the fifteen ministries of the Government of Romania.From 23 August 1944 to 18 March 1975 the minister held the title of Minister of Internal Affairs, between 2004 and 2007, held the title of Minister of Administration and Interior,...
until his retirement in 1963. In 1968, he was excluded from the Communist Party; nevertheless, he was decorated in 1971 by Nicolae Ceauşescu
Nicolae Ceausescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian Communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and as such was the country's second and last Communist leader...
with the "Tudor Vladimirescu" medal.
Pintilie died in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
in 1985. He was buried with full honors at the Ghencea Military Cemetery.
External links
- The Security Police (Securitate) between 1948 and 1989 at The Memorial of the Victims of Communism and of the Resistance "Politica si servicii secrete", interview of Viorel Patrichi with General (retired) Nicolae PleşiţăNicolae PleşiţăNicolae Pleşiţă was a Romanian intelligence official and secret police investigator. From 1980 to 1984, he led the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Securitate, the secret service of Communist Romania...
, LumeaLumeaLumea is a monthly magazine on international politics, published in Bucharest, Romania....
Gabriel Catalan, Mircea Stănescu, Scurtă istorie a Securităţii ("Short history of the Securitate"), Sfera PoliticiiSfera PoliticiiSfera Politicii is a monthly political science magazine, published in Romania since 1992. Its articles, written in both English and Romanian, deal with diverse issues in local and international politics....
, Nr. 109 (2004), pp. 38–53.