Through deportations and organized famine, the Soviet state committed crimes against humanity, Doctor of History Lidia Pădureac stated in a public debate hosted by IPN News Agency. According to her, the stake of the second wave of Stalinist deportations from the Moldavian SSR was to instill fear in the people so that the phenomenon of collectivization could take place without resistance from the natives.
The largest wave of Stalinist deportations from Bessarabia was that of the night of July 5 to 6, 1949, when tens of thousands of peasant families were forced to leave their homes, their property being confiscated by the Soviet regime. Historian Lidia Pădureac said that the major goal of the deportations was to take over the agricultural machinery and land, all of which were transmitted to the kolkhozes.
“When we talk about the one-party state policy, in fact, it was a policy of terror. The Soviet state committed crimes against humanity through deportations and organized starvation. The famine of 1946-1947 organized by Moscow here, in the Moldavian SSR, claimed the lives of 10% of the entire population of the Moldavian SSR, on the left and right sides of the Nistru. Although, if we refer to the number of victims on the right bank of the Nistru only, the percentage here is much higher. After the organized famine of 1947, the Moscow directives said that the lists of kulaks should be compiled. These lists were written as early as 1947. It goes to people who owned land. The Soviet state could not create kolkhozes here. The Bessarabians always had a very careful attitude towards the land, which was the main source of existence. The people died of starvation, but they did not sell their land. That’s why it was very difficult to convince them to accept the collectivization,” said the Doctor of History.
According to the historian, Bessarabia was marked by the terror of mass deportations and, for this reason, each community should have a list of deported people. Each locality should have a plaque commemorating the victims of the odious regime.
“In 1949, a new wave of deportation was organized and over 35,000 people were deported. The goal was to frighten the people, to make them faster join the kolkhozes. In 1949, the people who found out about the planned deportation tried to cede all the land, the machines they owned to the kolkhozes, but they weren’t accepted because the state policy was that those people had to be deported and their property had to be confiscated. The second wave of deportations embraced the families in all villages. Today, each locality must have the lists of those deported and at least one commemorative plaque mentioning the people who were unjustly separated from their families, had everything confiscated and were taken to Siberia or Kazakhstan where they started life all over again. In 1949, the Soviet state tried to liquidate the category of small peasant owners who supported the economy of this state,” said Lidia Pădureac.
According to the her, the Stalinist regime wanted both to take over the property of the peasants and to instill fear in the native population. The feelings of fear and submission persist in society up to now.
“The Soviet state wanted to educate the population of the Moldavian SSR in the spirit of subordination and fear. Between 60,000-70,000 people were decorated during the three waves. About 200,000 people died of hunger, but most of the population remained here. The state’s policy implanted fear of the regime in the people. The regime wanted to create collective ownership and collective thinking. The people who had private property also had private thinking potential. That’s why collectivization, and not only economic, and the induction of collective thinking were permanently in the focus of the Soviet power and propaganda worked here very intensely. The attempt to impose new values on society is still felt today,” explained Lidia Pădureac, who is the vice-rector of “Alecu Russo” State University of Balti.
The public debate entitled “Decapitation and uprooting of the nation through deportations” was the 38th installment of the project “Impact of the Past on Trust and Peace Building Processes”. IPN Agency implements this project with the support of the German Hanns Seidel Foundation.
