The occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina by the Soviets in 1940 was marked by a massive wave of refugees and numerous tragedies, Anatol Petrencu, habilitated doctor in history, stated in a public debate hosted by IPN News Agency. According to the historian, the Bessarabians and the North Bukovinians who left their homes for fear of the Soviet power were received by the Romanian authorities with empathy. From the beginning, Romania provided the refugees with trains to facilitate their arrival on the right side of the Prut.
According to the historian, the Soviet government's occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina in 1940 was marked by a massive exodus of the population. It weas estimated that the number of Bessarabians and North Bukovinians refugees stands between 100,000 and 200,000. Anatol Petrencu explained that the Romanian authorities allocated funds for the refugees' food and later made efforts to facilitate their integration into the community.
"The Bessarabians and North Bukovinians who took refuge in Romania were warmly welcomed by both the population on the other side of the Prut and by the authorities. A Commissariat of Refugees from Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina was created; state institutions, the church, political parties were involved, and the Bessarabians were received in humane conditions. Many of them were employed. This solidarity of the Romanians and the Romanian authorities with the Bessarabian refugees must be mentioned. In 1940, when the Russians came, they declared the Bessarabians Soviet citizens. The Russians considered that until 1918 there was Soviet power here, and when the Romanians entered in 1918, the Soviet power was overthrown. That is why Soviet legislation was applied to these people. The fate of the Bessarabians who wanted to take refuge and were stopped was different. Some were allowed to cross the Prut River, others were not. There were thousands of cases when Bessarabians willing to take refuge were sent to Siberia between 1940 and 1941. The first year of Soviet occupation brought many tragedies," said the doctor habilitate in history.
Starting with June 28, 1940, the Romanian military and administrative bodies were evacuated from the occupied territories. Anatol Petrencu explained that out of fear of the Soviets, people who could be considered hostile to the regime fled from Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina.
"The first to withdraw were the military. There was an order to withdraw and they were the first to leave. The wealthy people were the next who had the opportunity to cross the Prut River. Some of them were ethnic Jews who found out earlier than the Romanians that the Russians would attack Romania, and they had possibilities. They were already in Suceava and Câmpulung Moldovenesc before the Russian tanks came here. The mayors were the next. Both mayors who were in office, but also former mayors because they were also considered hostile to the Soviet power. The members of the People’s Council, those who voted for the Union with Romania, left. The prominent people in Romania did everything they could to help the Bessarabian refugees to take shelter. Trains were made available to refugees and hospitals were made available to the sick," said the historian.
He also said that in 1940, tens of thousands of Jews fled from Romania to Bessarabia, thus trying to save themselves from the anti-Semitic policy of the Romanian authorities at the time.
"On the other side, from Romania, 50,000 ethnic Jews came to Bessarabia believing that this was heaven on earth. In Romania, there was anti-Semitic legislation, anti-Semitic propaganda and a pro-German attitude. The fear of the Jews persisted. They thought they were coming to the Soviet Union, which spread over Bessarabia, and they would be saved. However, the attitude of the Soviet authorities towards the Jews was different. There were some sorting camps to which they were taken and in 1941, when the war began, most of the Jews were evacuated to the interiors of the USSR," explained Anatol Petrencu.
The public debate entitled “Double tragedy of refugees of 1940 and 1944" was staged within the cycle of debates "Development of political culture through public debates". IPN Agency stages this cycle with support from the German Hanns Seidel Foundation.
