PHOTO GALLERY // Republic of Moldova commemorates victims of 1949 Stalinist Deportations

The Republic of Moldova has commemorated 77 years since the second wave of Stalinist deportations from Bessarabia, which took place in July 1949. The event was held in the square of the Railway Station in Chișinău, where flowers were laid in memory of the victims of Soviet repressions. The country’s leadership, survivors of the deportations, relatives of the victims, and dozens of citizens took part in the commemoration ceremony. As a result of the July 1949 deportations, more than 11,000 families — a total of 35,796 people — were taken from their homes and forcibly deported to remote regions of the Soviet Union. Among them were 11,889 children, 14,033 women, and 9,864 men.