Prime Minister: Memory of deported obliges us to build society in which such tragedies never again possible

The deportations were a crime against innocent people, an attempt to destroy communities, identities and destinies. The memory of the deported obliges us to build a society in which such tragedies are never again possible. The message was delivered by Prime Minister Alexandru Munteanu, on the occasion of the 85th anniversary of the first mass Stalinist deportation operation from Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina.


“Today we mark 85 years since the first mass Stalinist deportation operation from Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina. Over 22,000 people were torn from their homes and sent to Siberia and Kazakhstan. Families were separated, destinies were broken and innocent lives were cut short,” wrote Alexandru Munteanu.


Prime Minister Munteanu noted that it is important to know our history and pass it on to our children, because by speaking about these tragedies, we better understand how precious freedom, dignity and every person’s right to live in safety truly are.


“Today we commemorate all those who suffered as a result of Stalinist repressions. We keep their memory alive. The deportations were a crime against innocent people, an attempt to destroy communities, identities and destinies. We must know our history and pass it on to our children. By speaking about these tragedies, we better understand how precious freedom, dignity and the right of every person to live in safety are. The memory of the deported obliges us to build a society in which such tragedies are never again possible.


The official underlined that for many of us this tragedy is part of our family history.


“My grandfather, my father’s father, was deported. I never had the chance to meet him. He returned home gravely ill, after years of suffering and forced labor, and died far too young. As in my family, there are thousands of other families in the Republic of Moldova with such stories that are passed down from generation to generation,” said Alexandru Munteanu.


The mass deportation operation from the Moldavian SSR during the night of June 12–13, 1941 included 18,392 people, and was part of a broader action to “cleanse” the new territories occupied by the USSR in 1939–1940, as a consequence of the Ribbentrop–Molotov Pact. The mass deportation of July 6–9, 1949 was the largest on the current territory of the Republic of Moldova. The operation targeted over 11,000 families, with the contingent of those forcibly relocated in cattle wagons numbering 35,796 people, including 11,889 children, 14,033 women and 9,864 men.

In the context of the 85th anniversary of the first mass Stalinist deportation operation from Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, the fourth edition of the wagon exhibition “State Terror in Soviet Moldova: Scope, Victims and Perpetrators” was inaugurated today in the Great National Assembly Square. Through documents, photographs, period objects and testimonies, it reconstructs the suffering of deported families and the memory of those who went through the experience of Soviet state terror.