MPs commemorated victims of deportations

MPs commemorated the victims of the Stalinist deportations, which took place on the night of June 12 to 13, 1941. During the plenary session, Speaker Igor Grosu emphasized the importance of historical memory and the responsibility to prevent the recurrence of such atrocities.


“Eighty-four years ago, the Soviet regime removed over 30,000 people from their homes, loaded them into freight trains, and sent them far from home. Many of these people never returned. The tragedy of the deportations is the tragedy of our people. (...) It is our duty not to allow regimes to commit such crimes again. Human life is above any imperialist fantasy,” Grosu declared.


Additionally, the speaker announced that recently, the National Archives Agency received a new batch of about 20,000 files of deportees from the Soviet era. The process of acquiring these documents started in 2010, and the list of files will also be available online on the agency's website.


“All citizens, regardless of where they are, will be able to check the existence of a file online, without needing to physically visit the archive location,” Grosu said.


MPs held a minute of silence in memory of the victims of the Stalinist deportations.

The first wave of Stalinist deportations began on the night of June 12 to 13, 1941. Tens of thousands of people from Bessarabia and northern Bukovina were loaded into freight trains and forcibly taken to Siberia and Kazakhstan, most of them so-called “kulaks,” priests, intellectuals, and party members. Many did not survive the harsh conditions, and their families were separated and treated inhumanely.