The Soviets brought their own people to Bessarabia, whom they installed in key positions in the administration of the region because they did not trust the native population, Dumitru Lisnic, Ph.D. of history, researcher at the Institute of History of the Moldova State University, lecturer at the Balti State University, stated in a debate staged by IPN News Agency. According to him, the Red Army in World War II took over 250,000 men from Bessarabia to the front and a fifth of them died on the battlefield.
The historian noted that the native population of Bessarabia suffered a lot because of the Soviets in World War II. About 50,000 Bessarabian men taken to war did not return from the front.
“From Bessarabia, over 250,000 men born between 1900 and 1927 were recruited to the Red Army. Of these, every fifth fell in battle. Many came back mutilated, with various health problems. The recruitment was a forced one. According to available data, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the MSSR identified almost 30,000 deserters, people who were evading conscription into the army. On the territory of Bessarabia, there were two types of Soviet camps - armed camps and the NKVD camps. The armed camps were fenced areas around the front, where soldiers taken captive were taken. From those camps, they were taken in stages to the NKVD camps that were behind the front. These were managed by the NKVD and in those camps the prisoners were used to remove the ruins from cities, to rebuild cities. On the territory of the MSSR, there were three prisoner camps of the NKVD - in Balti, Tighina/Bender, Chisinau,” said historian Dumitru Lisnic.
According to him, the Soviet power installed in Bessarabia people brought to key positions as the native population was not entrusted with leadership positions. The elite of the MSSR was created, for the most part, from Soviets who obeyed the regime.
“Like all empires, the Soviet state brought to Bessarabia already trained people, bureaucrats from the old territories of the Soviet Union, to administer the region. On the other hand, these people did not have the necessary knowledge to administer an entirely new territory. Because of this, the Bessarabians who did not instantly become members of the Communist Party were recruited to the lower echelons of the administration. This happened after due diligence. During the collectivization period, the number of party recruits increased. The Bessarabians reached the top echelons in the 1980s. The locals were disadvantaged, regardless of their ethnicity, because the Soviets did not trust anyone. This is how the elite that administered the MSSR was formed. The Bessarabians were disadvantaged in occupying positions and in self-administration because they became part of an empire that brought its people to install them in key administrative posts,” said the doctor of history.
According to him, the events of August 1944 are still a source of propaganda and disinformation. Russian narratives continue to present the Soviets as liberators of the territory between the Prut and the Nistru.
“Propaganda is an intentional link between two things that logically are not connected between them. On the one hand, it goes to the image of an enemy. On the other hand, it goes to people’s fears, including the fear of strangers coming, raping your sister or taking your job. During the Soviet period, a connection was made between all the sufferings that took place on August 23, 1944, before and after, and the Soviets appeared as great defenders who allegedly saved us,” said Dumitru Lisnic.
The public debate entitled “Effects of the Iasi-Chisinau Operation 80 years later” was the 40th installment of IPN’s project “Impact of the past on confidence- and peace-building processes”. IPN Agency implements the project with support from the German Hanns Seidel Foundation.
