Nicolae Moromete

Nicolae Moromete, widely known as Maromet or Maromete (13 May 1912 – ?), was a Romanian communist activist, prison official, and Securitate officer, infamous for his role in political repression under the communist regime. He was born to a poor peasant family in the west of Muntenia, and was orphaned by World War I. He worked menial jobs and had only a primary-level education. As a teenager, he joined the Romanian Land Forces, eventually becoming skilled in handling field telephones. Returning to civilian life later in the interwar, he worked as a street sweeper and as a janitor in Bucharest. He was deployed with his army unit for most of World War II: he initially served on the Eastern Front, where he earned a medal; after the anti-fascist coup of 1944, he saw action against Nazi Germany. During the mid-to-late 1940s, Moromete observed the ascent of the Romanian Communist Party, joined its ranks, and trained as a political commissar. Though interrupted by allegations of sexual misconduct, his own rise was confirmed in 1947–1948, when he entered the Securitate branches handling political prisoners. He became infamous during his time as warden of Jilava (1949–1952), when he introduced varied and widespread methods of torture, personally intervening in humiliating and beating up his captives; his criminal negligence possibly led to the deaths of various high-profile inmates, including Mircea Vulcănescu. Moromete applied similar methods as warden at Galați (1952–1954); here, he was subject to a formal investigation over claims that he had caused the deaths of many other prisoners, but the prosecutors dropped the case. In his defense, he stated allegations against other Securitate officials, suggesting that he had always been threatened by them not to show any mercy. Still subject to formal warnings, Moromete was sent to work in a secondary position at...