An exhibition of photographs in memory of the deportations of the 1940s was opened Wednesday at the National Museum of Ethnography and Natural History in Chisinau. The works were selected by three graduates of the Political Leadership School of the Institute for Development and Social Initiative (IDIS) “Viitorul”, Info-Prim Neo reports. “The deported persons have not been forgotten. We are interested in what they did. We are the generation that can still see the former deportees alive, can find out about the horrors they experienced and what problems they faced,” said Ion Bargan, one of the three graduates. “The hopes of thousands of people were ruined when they were humiliated and forced to go to Siberia. The then Communist regime tried to erase the memory of these people, to hide that Moldova had scientists and working people that could gather property by the sweat of their brow,” Ion Bargan added. “Soon, it is 68 years of the deportations of 1941, when over 20,000 people were forced to leave their homes. On July 6, it is 60 years of the second wave of deportations, when over 40,000 people were deported. It is very important that the future generations do not forget these tragic events that marked the lives of their grandparents,” said Gloria Jigau, leader of the initiative group. Valentina Sturza, president of the Association of Former Deportees and Political Prisoners, was deported to the deserts of Kazakhstan together with her parents and grandparents on June 13, 1941. “When we returned home, we were not accepted. They called us people’s enemies and continue to call us so. We did not get back our property. The laws adopted by the Communist regime are of no use. “We went through hunger, humiliation, cold. We lived in a reed hut and the snakes crawled up on us. We were persecuted, not allowed to go to take water from the only artesian well existing there. We took water from down the precipice, where the Kazakhs washed their clothes, the children bathed and the donkeys drank water,” Valentina Sturza recalled. The photo exhibition titled “In Memory of Deportations” is the product of the final internship of the Political Leadership School of IDIS “Viitorul”. During ten months, a group of 20 young persons were trained by national and international experts in political, administrative and communication matters. The participants learnt to organize and conduct social campaigns.