The National Association of Young Historians of Moldova will produce a film about Moldovans deported to Kazakhstan in the 1940s. The shooting took place one week ago during an expedition to Kazakhstan within the project “Memory Expeditions”. The historians travel to places where Moldovans were deported during the Communist period. The first expedition of the kind involved nine young people and took place on October 18-26, IPN reports.
In a news conference at IPN, scriptwriter Natalia Ghilascu said the main character of the film is Ion Rusu, 83, who was deported from Causeni. “He is an energetic man. We found him very quiet, but also very impressed as his memories are very important for us. We are glad that we found this spirit of overwhelming memories,” she stated. Ion Rusu had been separated from his wife for eight year as they were in different camps.
There will be related memories of those who went through those events. Interviews were made with relatives of deportees and historians from Kazakhstan. There will be presented sketches of deported people who later returned to Moldova. “We will present live stories, sufferings, moments of joy and sorrow of the deportees,” said Natalia Ghilascu.
Doctor of History Octavian Ticu said he was impressed by the fact that the recovery of the memories of the Soviet period is a state policy in Kazakhstan. “The first and most important thing we achieved was the establishment of a relationship with the Moldovan-Romanians who settled in Kazakhstan. The community of deported Moldovans is every great. We had access to all the things that interested us and will also have access to the archives that include the lists of deported Romanians,” he stated, adding that relations were established with different organizations and education institutions from Kazakhstan.
The young people visited places where Moldovans were deported. Sergiu Botulin, of the State University of Moldova, said they made interviews with former deportees and war prisoners, with successors of deportees and the young generation.
Andrei Antonov, who is a student of the Faculty of History of the State University “Ion Creanga”, said that they visited the cemetery and the remnants of the concentration camp in Spaskk, which was founded in 1941 and where about 67,000 people were held, including 7,000 Romanians. 827 Romanians were buried there.
Project coordinator Sergiu Musteata, who heads the National Association of Young Historians, said the project is aimed at recovering history, educating the young generation and making known the totalitarian past. The €10,000 project is supported financially by the Department for Romanians Everywhere.
The next expedition will be staged on May 31, also to Kazakhstan. According to the census taken in Kazakhstan, today there are about 20,000 Moldovans in this country.
