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
