I Must Betray You

I Must Betray You Glossary

Alimentara

The local shop where all the families of Bucharest get their supplies

Amnesty International

An international non-governmental organization founded in the 1960s to raise awareness of human-rights violations and encourage humanitarian aid

Aplaudacii

The group of Nicolae Ceaușescu's supporters who follow the leader to events and applaud him

babushka

A scarf worn around the head; Russian word for "grandmother"

Belle Époque

The pre-World War I era of French, Belgian and European history and aesthetics

"blue-eyed boys"

A euphemism for the teenage informers to the Romanian secret police

bunu

Romanian for "grandfather"

Carpathians

A European mountain range that runs through Romania

commissary

A restaurant or grocery store on a military base or prison

communism

A political and economic theory, based primarily on the works of Karl Marx, that advocates ending class-based society in favor of a society in which all property and resources are shared

cult of personality

An environment where a leader is glorified, often through unquestioning adoration and praise, often to maintain an oppressive political or religious system

Dacia

A brand of Romanian car named for the pre-Romanian occupants of the Transylvanian region

Jilava

A Romanian political prison outside of Bucharest

Kents

A brand of cigarettes used as informal currency in Bucharest

liceu

Romanian for "high school"

"parasite"

A term used for people who oppose Nicolae Ceaușescu's regime

"patriots"

A slang term for chicken and pig's feet available for the people of Bucharest, because they are "the only part of the animal that remained in Romania"

perestroika

The Soviet reform policy, primarily under Mikhail Gorbachev, of restructuring the economies and governments of Soviet states

pinafore

An apron-like garment typically worn over a young girl's dress

Pui

Romanian for "little chick." Pui is Cici's pet name for Cristian

Radio Free Europe

A United States government-funded media broadcast founded in 1950 to bring outside news to Eastern European, Central Asian, and Middle Eastern countries

şahmat

Romanian for "checkmate"

Securiate

The network of Romanian secret police and citizen informers

"the baby police"

The branch of the Romanian Securiate that uses invasive tests to document and encourage women's fertility and pregnancies with the goal of increasing the population

The Iron Curtain

The imaginary boundary dividing Europe into communist states and Western states

The Soviet Union

A transcontinental communist country that encompassed Russia, Central Asian, and Eastern European nations from 1922 to 1991

turnător

Romanian term for informers to the Securiate

Velvet Revolution

The 1989 non-violent change of power that brought Czechoslovakia out of Soviet control, establishing the Czech Republic and Slovakia

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