Creation of MSSR had tragic consequences, Mariana Taranu

The foundation of the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic (MSSR) had tragic consequences, Doctor of Historical Sciences Mariana Taranu stated for Info-Prim Neo on the occasion of 70 years of the creation of the MSSR marked on August 2, 2010. According to the historian, the decision made in Moscow in 1940 was tragic because the natives later experienced deportations, persecution and famine and were deprived of ancestors' values. Mariana Taranu said a union republic was established on August 2, 1940 without taking into account the interests of the native people, by breaking the international law and the laws existing then in Bessarabia. “The annexation by the USSR of the territories located eastward the Prut River had tragic consequences for the natives as the natural evolution of the Romanian territories occupied by the Soviets was stopped. A part of the territories were included in the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic, while the other part in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic,” Mariana Taranu said. The historian said the notion of Moldovan people, different from the Romanian one, started to be promoted after the creation of the MSSR “This notion was invented by the Soviets in order to create a stereotype of Moldovans who are different from the Romanians leaving withing the historical borders. This way, the imperial propaganda intended to destroy the national conscience of the Bessarabians, offering them in exchange Soviet education, of the international proletariat, which incited hatred for the Romanian people. Moreover, the Slavic script was introduced on March 1, 1941,” Mariana Taranu said. She denied the statements made by supporters of the Soviet regime, who say that Moldova reached the highest development stage in its history during the Soviet period. She said that though the living standards of the population improved in the 1950-1960s compared with the 1940s, the MSSR lagged behind many European countries, including Soviet republics. 'The statistical data show that the salaries paid in the MSSR were under the average level in the Soviet Union. About 48 kg of meat per capita were consumed in the USSR, while in Moldova - only 8 kg. 290 liters of milk were drunk on average in the Soviet Union, while in the MSSR – only 164 liters,” Mariana Taranu said. The historian also said that the native people in the period was subject to persecution, deportations and starvation as well as denationalization. “Churches were demolished and priests persecuted or deported. The fear and terror destroyed the personality so that the people became easily manipulable and docile,” Taranu said. Last weekend, the Communists Party's Central Committee adopted a statement on the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the MSSR. According to the statement, the decision made seven decades ago was very important and was a logical continuation of the process of restoring Moldova's statehood. Most of the historians consider the creation of the MSSR was a consequence of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact known as the Stalin-Hitler Pact, which was signed on August 23, 1939. It provided for the annexation of eastern Romanian, eastern Poland and the Baltic States to the USSR. On June 28, 1940, the Red Army crossed the Nistru and occupied Bessarbia, Northern Bucovina and the Hertsa Region. Consequently, on August 2, 1940, six Bessarabian counties - Balti, Tighina, Chisinau, Cahul, Orhei, and Soroca – and six of the 13 districts of the Moldovan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic - Tiraspol, Grigoriopol, Dubasari, Camenca, Rybnitsa, and Slobozia - were joined to the MSSR. The Romanian territories Northern Bucovina, the Hertsa Region, and northern and southern Bessarabia were included in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.