Moldovan PM says it Is important to remember past, learn to live in united, free Moldova

Moldova commemorates the victims of the 1946-1947 famine on the third Saturday of April. Following the drought of summer 1946, thousands of people were left to starve by the Soviet regime, as part of an organized policy through which the Communist authorities forcibly imposed exaggerated agricultural delivery quotas and confiscated all available food resources, starving our people.

An exhibition showing the causes, scale and consequences of the famine induced by the Soviet regime has been launched by the government, in collaboration with the National Archives Agency on the Great National Assembly Square of the Moldovan capital.

‘’With a deliberate, inhumane intention, the Soviet regime emptied people’s barns, taking everything down to the last grain. It is important to remember the past and learn to live in a united and free Moldova, building on the lessons of the past a future in which human dignity, respect for life and freedom are founding values,’’ said Prime Minister Dorin Recean.

The exhibition is also available online, designed as an educational and reflective resource.

Also, on April 29 -May 6, 2025, the Ministry of Education and Research has initiated the organization of Famine Commemoration Week in all general, vocational and higher educational institutions. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Culture has developed a programme at the country’s cultural institutions: museums, art ensembles, theaters.

The National Museum of Romanian Literature, with support from the Ministry of Culture, is organizing a string of cultural and educational events — public readings, testimonies, debates, alongside writer Larisa Turea, author of the Book of Famine, and local historians.

The National Museum of Ethnography and Natural History is conducting topic-related exhibitions in various settlements from Moldova: in Ivancea (Orhei), Edinet and Falesti, so that the lessons of the past reach all generations.

Local authorities throughout the country will mark this tragic chapter in the country’s history at activities held locally, with the involvement of communities from the villages and cities of Moldova.

According to historians, the documented number of those who were killed by starvation in Moldova as of December 1946 till August 1947 was about 123,000 people. Another approximately 400,000 individuals were severely hit by malnutrition.