After the 1940 occupation, Soviet authorities tried to create a society between the Prut and Dniester rivers based solely on fear and loyalty. Professional individuals were ignored if they were not loyal to the regime. This opinion was expressed by writer Iulian Ciocan during a public debate on the topic “The Double Tragedy of Refugees from 1940 and 1944,” organized by the IPN News Agency. According to the writer, the wave of refugees in 1940, when hundreds of thousands of Moldovans sought refuge in Romania, left this territory without valuable people.

The author of the novel “And in the morning the russians will come”, Iulian Ciocan, shared that in his book, he conducted an exercise of imagination, describing how the Republic of Moldova would look under Russian occupation.

“In the novel, I imagined in great detail how Chisinau would look with russian tanks entering the city. What would the people do, how some would try to save themselves, and others might welcome the russians with joy. It is always good to view dramas in a broader context. We, often focused on our own personal drama, our own deportations, and our own refugees, forget to mention that there were also the deportations of Roma to Transnistria during the war,” said writer Iulian Ciocan.

According to the writer, with the wave of refugees in 1940, the territory between the Prut and Dniester rivers was left without valuable personalities with integrity, and leadership positions were taken by individuals loyal to the Soviet regime.

“This was a problem for society, because among the refugees, there were many valuable people, individuals who, had they stayed here, would have made our society more valuable. The preferred criterion for the new Soviet authorities was loyalty. If you were valuable but did not behave loyally, your value no longer mattered. All socialist Soviet republics were built on loyalty,” said writer Iulian Ciocan.

In the context of the 1940 wave of refugees caused by the arrival of the Soviets, writer Iulian Ciocan also mentioned the crisis of Ukrainian refugees in 2022. According to the writer, the people and authorities of the Republic of Moldova acted empathetically to the Ukrainian tragedy, offering financial and logistical support.

“As many Western officials have said, the Republic of Moldova acted exemplary because it absorbed part of these refugees and provided them with conditions. Sure, there was room for improvement, but something was done. Funds were allocated, and many Moldovans even welcomed these refugees into their homes. But at one point, a sense of saturation emerged; we even saw some Moldovans upset by the arrival of these refugees. As for the attitude of the Russian state towards us, it remains constant. Russia always believes it is right, and those who disagree with it are wrong. I haven’t heard any russian official say that Russia has made any mistakes. A country that always believes it is right and represents a huge force is frightening to me,” added the author of the novel “And in the morning the russians will come”

The public debate on the topic “The double tragedy of refugees from 1940 and 1944” was organized as part of the debate cycle “Development of political ulture in public debates.” The IPN News Agency carries out this cycle with the support of the German Hanns Seidel Foundation.