An exhibition of documents titled “Memory through the fog of times” is running at the National Library. The exhibition, which marks the 190th anniversary of the National Library, includes a wide range of formerly classified documents from the Library’s collections.
The exhibition features items from the so-called Secret Depository (Секретное хранение), banned on the claim of being “fascist” or “anti-Soviet”. This included history and geography works that concerned the Bessarabian affair, calendars, popular almanacs from 1918-1944, works of authors who became undesirable for the Soviet regime and other materials considered harmful to the regime.
According to the National Library, the censorship of content with the Secret Depository tag has “a heavy blow” to libraries across the Soviet Union that had to face the removal of valuable pieces of heritage.
After 1990, as Moldova was on the path of gaining independence, the National Library began declassifying the Secret Depository and integrating it into its collections.
The exhibition will run until September 17.
