REVIEW: Stefan Sienerth, Bespitzelt und bedrängt – verhaftet und verstrickt. Rumäniendeutsche Schriftsteller und Geisteswissenschaftler im Blickfeld der Securitate. Studien und Aufsätzes

The present volume, German Writers and Scholars from Romania in the eyes of the State Security [Securitate], paints a picture of Romanian society during the communist period by looking at the relationship of some German writers from Romania with the Secret Police. Stefan Sienerth’s volume consists of fifteen extensive studies that provide profiles of cynical and abject members of the State Security but also of some of the writers’ informants, who were blackmailed into collaborating under threat of being arrested. All studies are based on empirical research and on analysing documents from the CNSAS Security Archive, and describe an absurd world dominated by anxiety, fear, betrayal, blackmail, as well as the unscrupulous and cynical operating methods employed by the State Security. These are very rich in information and explicit, with clear statements and very precise terminology, revealing a very experienced researcher, as well as characterizing an era through the prism of a network of destinies, some of which are implacable.