A group of intellectuals, consisting of historians, writers and singers, says that August 23-24 should be days of “mourning, during which the national tragedy shall be commemorated, instead of noisy actions that are being planned by president Igor Dodon”. In their opinion, “by organizing these thoughtless actions Igor Dodon aims, on one hand, at denigrating the memory of thousands of Bessarabians who became the victims of the Soviet occupation administration. On the other hand, he would like to praise and glorify the Soviet regime that was established in Bessarabia after the military operations carried out in summer 1944”. At a press conference, the group has launched a public appeal inviting citizens to a commemorative rally to be held on 26 August.
“On August 23, 80 years are marked from signing of the odious the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and of the secret additional Protocol, documents by which the two tyrants of the that time – Nazi Germany and communist Soviet Union – divided their spheres of influence in the Central and South-Eastern Europe. Among other things, Romania was also envisaged as a target in the Soviet-Nazi conspiracy. Generally speaking, Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact gave green light to the outbreak of World War II, the largest and the bloodiest conflagration in the history of mankind. On 28 June 1940, in full agreement with Hitler’s Germany, the USSR annexed Bessarabia, North of Bucovina and Herța County, promoting repressive policies against the population in these territories and organising various nationalisation, sovietization, denationalization and deportation activities”, historian Anatol Petrencu said, quoting from the public appeal.
The historian also mentioned that “in the middle of the military operations of the World War II, on 24 August 1944, the USSR re-annexed the territories occupied in June 1940, resuming its criminal policy of repression and denationalization and adding new forms of civil population persecution such as starvation, mass deportation, etc.”. “I believe it is natural that this day of 24 August should be a mourning day. In 1939, in Bessarabia there have been registered 5,2 million inhabitants, while in 1952, only 2,5 million out of these remained. Thus, half of the population had disappeared. And what do we celebrate on 24 August? As if we were dancing at this announced holiday on the graves of over two million of our citizens who disappeared during that time”, writer Nicolae Dabija said.
Historian Ion Negrei mentioned that this appeal is dictated by the fact that the authorities of the Republic of Moldova, although an independent state, continued the Soviet practices. “This day of 24 August 1944, when on the territory between Prut and Nistru rivers, the totalitarian Soviet communist regime had been re-established, becomes a day of public opinion manipulation. Becomes a day of desecration of historical memory, a day when the local population, the victims of this nation are humiliated, denigrated and devalued because large propaganda campaigns presenting things in a distorted manner are being organized”, the historian added.
“We deem any further distortions of history, following the Tzarist, Soviet model, any attempts to deprive the young generation of truth about what happened over time, in particular after 28 June 1940 until now, shall be avoided”, Alecu Reniță, chairman of Ecological Movement maintained.
Daniela Vacarciuc, drector of “Vasile Alecsandri” Lyceum, declared that Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact “represents a diabolic intention of some criminal minds from 1939”. It’s extremely important for historians to raise community’s awareness in order to condemn these atrocities.
Singer Zinaida Bolboceanu called upon her colleagues to refuse to appear on stage on 24 August, at the concert organized by Igor Dodon.
“Every time I say that those who don’t know their past risk to experience it once again”, Vasile Costiuc, the leader of Democracy at Home, mentioned. “That’s why it’s important to be well informed and to listen to what happened to our people”, the politician urged.
The commemorative meeting will be organized in the Europe Square in Chisinau, starting at 12:00.
