It is estimated that up to one million people were killed during communism in Eastern Europe – but there is no clear figure for those imprisoned, persecuted or spied on.
The whole issue of what to do about the past – forget, forgive, confront – is a live and contentious one in countries like Poland, Romania and the former Czechoslovakia.
And as most formerly communist countries have started to open their secret police archives, ordinary people are beginning to get a sense of how far the state intruded into their private lives.
European affairs correspondent Oana Lungescu – one of many Romanians who was watched – investigates.
(via BBC World Service Documentaries – State Secrets)