Ion Șerb, also Ioan Șerb (January 11, 1926 – January 5, 2004) was a general of the

Socialist Republic of Romania The Socialist Republic of Romania (, RSR) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist One-party state, one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989 (see Revolutions of 1989). From 1947 to 1965, the state was ...

accused of espionage for the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. Full version was published in: Armata României și politica națională. Studii și comunicări prezentate la Sesiunea națională de comunicări științifice Pitești-Mioveni, 24 July 2015, Editura Istros, Brăila, 2015, pp. 213–218. Șerb was born in

Malu cu Flori Malu cu Flori is a commune in Dâmbovița County, Muntenia, Romania with a population of 2,484 people as of 2021. It is composed of five villages: Capu Coastei, Copăceni, Malu cu Flori, Micloșanii Mari, and Micloșanii Mici. The commune is loca ...

Dâmbovița County Dâmbovița County (; also spelt Dîmbovița) is a county () of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Târgoviște, the most important economic, political, administrative and cultural center of the county. It is a traditional administra ...

. After the August 1944 coup d'état, he volunteered for service in the Tudor Vladimirescu Division; promoted to sergeant, he was awarded after the war the

Medal of Faithful Service The Medal of Faithful Service () was instituted by King Carol I in April 1878. History The medal was worn until 1932 on a light blue ribbon with a yellow central stripe on the left side of the chest. From 1932, the award was presented on a light ...

with swords, 3rd class. He then became a non-commissioned officer in the Muscel Gendarmerie Legion (1947–1948). From 1948 to 1949, he attended the M.A.I. Officers' School no. 1 in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, in the border guard specialty. On August 23, 1949, he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant and assigned to the Border Guard Training Center in

Rădăuți Rădăuți (; ; ; ; , ''Radivtsi''; ''Radevits''; ) is a town in Suceava County, north-eastern Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Bukovina. According to the 2021 census, Rădăuți is the second largest urban settlement in the ...

, in the position of political deputy of a company commander. Between November 1950 and July 1952, captain Șerb was sent by the Communist authorities to study at the K. Е. Voroshilov Higher Military Academy in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. On July 30, 1955, colonel Șerb was promoted to major general, at the age of 29. In 1969, he advanced in rank to lieutenant general and was appointed commander of the Second Army (

Muntenia Muntenia (, also known in English as Greater Wallachia) is a historical region of Romania, part of Wallachia (also, sometimes considered Wallachia proper, as ''Muntenia'', ''Țara Românească'', and the rarely used ''Valahia'' are synonyms in Ro ...

) and of the Bucharest garrison. A declassified

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

document states the following. Romanian counter-intelligence monitored several high-rank officers suspecting them in sympathies for the Soviet Union. In 1971 unauthorized documents were found during the search of the house of Ion Șerb, and in subsequent interrogations he confessed he was recruited by the Soviet

military attaché A military attaché or defence attaché (DA),Defence Attachés
''Geneva C ...

to Romania, Aleksandr Fyodorovich Musatov, a known

GRU Gru is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the ''Despicable Me'' film series. Gru or GRU may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * Gru (rapper), Serbian rapper * Gru, an antagonist in '' The Kine Saga'' Organizations Georgia (c ...

officer. In order to avoid confrontation with the Soviet Union, Șerb was not prosecuted, but demoted to the rank of private.A CIA document dated 5 November 1971, declassified in 2006
/ref> After the

Romanian Revolution The Romanian revolution () was a period of violent Civil disorder, civil unrest in Socialist Republic of Romania, Romania during December 1989 as a part of the revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several countries around the world, primarily ...

of December 1989, he joined the

Socialist Party of Labour The Socialist Party of Labour (, PSM) was a Left-wing nationalism, left wing-nationalist List of political parties in Romania, political party in Romania. The party was labelled as neo-Communism, communist. It was founded on 16 November 1990. The ...

, founded by the former communist prime minister

Ilie Verdeț Ilie Verdeț (; 10 May 1925 – 20 March 2001) was a Romanian communist politician who served as Romania’s Prime Minister from 1979 to 1982. Biography Born in Comănești, Bacău County, and a miner from age 12, he joined the Romanian Com ...

and, in June 1996, he was elected mayor of Malu cu Flori. He died in his native commune in 2004.

References

Further reading