On the occasion of the 27th anniversary of the declaration of Moldova’s Independence, IPN News Agency challenged young and older ones to write a letter to the country. Bellow you can see the letter of Doctor of History Valentin Constantinov.
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I remember how everything started. Being a country boy, as any other boy from the provinces, I wanted to leave my native place and to settle in Chisinau, where it was fine and the people were civilized. But it was hard to settle in Chisinau. It was easier to settle here if you was from Tambov or Tula, than from Straseni, Stefan Voda (then Suvorov) etc. The ‘registration/residence’ system was applied and if one didn’t become employed during a month, the Penal Code envisioned punishment for idleness.
It was a kind of tying to the native place so that everyone worked there were they were born, which is in the provinces. This way our villages became overpopulated and no one knew when this situation would explode.
The then country, the USSR, was indeed big and the people had a separate feeling that no one can remove even after a quarter of a century. But then too, the people cared about what was theirs, Moldovan, and the feeling that something that belonged to you was taken away from you was powerful.
I think few could imagine at the beginning that Moldova, separated from the sea and the Danube, can be an independent state. Bu there are few states where everything works properly. Now many things appear differently. It looks as if we are in the CIS and, if you want to travel to St. Petersburg, for example, you are welcomed like a familiar person there.
During several years we have travelled freely in the EU with our biometric passports, but the lines to get Romanian passports continue to expand. The lines grow, but our Moldovans do not want the Union with Romania and this is strange perhaps.
What I wanted when I was 18 came true. The fact that other thoughts appeared at the age of 21, 22 and so on is something different. The future?! Yes. The future will put things right. What is important is to be healthy!
Valentin Constantinov, Doctor of History
On the same theme:
“Letter for Moldova”: Cultural unity will always keep You alive, always fighting
“Letter for Moldova”: It’s a pity you are forgotten, as the mother who is always away is
