David Rennie

A Cold War card index is Romania’s best hope

David Rennie visits the secret archive of the dreaded Securitate, and hears how its full disclosure will bring much pain, but also a chance of final escape from a terrible past

Bucharest

In 1950s Romania, as Stalinist terror descended, a mania evolved for hunting down ‘foreign spies’. Early victims included former staff at the British military mission in Bucharest, some of whom were shot for their services between 1944 and 1947. Even doormen at the mission, or secretaries, were sentenced to hard labour.

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