What is it like to be under secret police surveillance? On 10 March 1983, 12-year-old Carmen Bugan returned from school to find Romanian secret police in her living room. Her father’s protest against the regime had changed her life forever. 

In recent years Carmen gained access to the files of the Romanian secret police. She herself is surprised by the intimacy of the surveillance. Forgotten conversations, love letters, and arguments are all laid bare via the detailed notes taken by the Securitate. We hear the sadness of discovering friends and family members were involved in informing on them too.  

Carmen and I discuss the “language of oppression”, the subtle and not-so-subtle methods used to try and ensure a compliant population but still thwarted by humanity even in the darkest recesses of the Romanian prison system. 

It’s a warning from history and the meaning of freedom in current times.

0:00 Introduction of guest Carmen Bugan and her experience with the Romanian secret police

4:08 Carmen's first experience with the secret police at the age of twelve

10:55 Initial reactions to reading the secret police files and seeing recorded intimate details

18:28 Carmen's discovery of surveillance files and their impact

24:12 Carmen reads out a transcript from the files

33:57 Carmen on the conflicts stirred by the files

41:17 Carmen elaborates on why the secret police needed justifications for arrests

49:21 Carmen discusses how family members justified their involvement with the secret police

1:02:28 Carmen talks about the power of language to harm and inspire

1:13:33 Ian Sanders introduces Carmen Bugan's book and previous episode

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Buy the book here Carmen Bugan Books UK Listeners

Carmen Bugan books US listeners

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I am delighted to welcome back Carmen Bugan to our Cold War conversation…

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Don't miss Carmen's previous episode " A Childhood under the eye of the Secret Police" here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode147/

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