The National Library of the Republic of Moldova has mounted a thematic exhibition that aims to elucidate the historical truth about the phenomenon of deportations through the testimonies of those who suffered unjustly, survivors of the Gulag or their descendants, to present and popularize documentary works and memories from the collections of the library institution. The exhibition is held on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the second and largest deportation operation on the current territory of the Republic of Moldova, IPN reports.

The exhibition entitled “Deportations from Bessarabia, times of sad memories” consists of about 100 documents, including the memories of Eufrosinia Kersnovski, a boyar from Soroca who was deported to Siberia in 1941, a book signed by Vadim Ștefan Pirogan, co-founder of the Association of Former Political Prisoners and Veterans of the Romanian Army in the Republic of Moldova, a memoir about the hell of the Gulag. The exhibition presents the volumes “Archives of Memory” about the historical recovery and valorization of the memory of the victims of the totalitarian-communist regime in the MSSR and contain researches carried out in the localities of the Republic of Moldova.

Through moving testimonies, archive images and in-depth analyses of various documents present in the collections of the National Library of the Republic of Moldova, the events and consequences of those dramatic events are brought to the fore.

The mass deportation of July 6-9, 1949 is the largest deportation from the current territory of the Republic of Moldova, as a result of which 36,000 people or over 11,000 families suffered. The houses, land and belongings of the deportees were transferred to the kolkhozes and some were stolen and sold. As many as 3,071 trucks and 1,736 wagons were used for the operation.

The exhibition can be visited until August 5, in the central block of the National Library.