As early as 1949, Nicolschi was arguably the first Securitate senior officer to become known for his brutality outside the Eastern Bloc. This came after a Romanian refugee to France, Adriana Georgescu Cosmovici, recounted the manner in which, four years earlier, she had been tortured by a team of which Nicolschi was a member, and indicated that the latter had been one of the three to have threatened her with guns. She also detailed various torture methods (including vicious beatings of detainees) Nicolschi personally engaged in during interrogations at Malmaison Prison. According to a 1992 article for "Cuvântul", Nicolschi ordered the murder of seven prisoners (allegedly the leaders of an anti-communist resistance movement) in transit from Gherla Prison in July 1949.