(1) During the Red Terror, the Cheka carried out an estimated 250,000 summary executions of "enemies of the people."

(2) There's always been a great deal of antipathy between Cheka and Securitate, but the Securitate has to kow-tow.

(3) The creed of the ex-KGB officers who make up much of his inner circle is better described as Chekism, which takes its name from the first Soviet secret police, the Cheka.

(4) These people represent a psychologically homogeneous group, loyal to roots that go back to the Bolsheviks' first political police, the Cheka .

(5) Aug. 22, 1991: A crowd watches the statue of Felix Dzerzhinsky, founder of the Cheka (a predecessor of the KGB), being toppled in Moscow.