Officials and deportees in the morning of June 13 laid flowers at the monument to the victims of the Communist deportations, commemorating the persons deported within the first wave in 1941. Even if it is 73 years of those tragic events, the deportees cannot relate the terrors through which they went then without tears in their eyes, IPN reports.
“My father was the first who was deported. I do not remember him. My mother was taken on August 24, 1944. She left six children behind. They said then that the children do not remain alone, without mothers. I became an orphan and had to look after two younger sisters. In 1949, we went to my father’s sister in Pohoarna village, but she didn’t want to bring us up and gave us to strangers. We could not go to our native village later. I’m old now, but I still miss the parental warmth,” said Feodosia Fedos.
Ana Pelin, from Cojusna, said that her mother was deported to Kazakhstan, while her father was killed in the war. “We were included in the list of those who were to be deported because we had too much land. They took 100 hectares of land from us. We were deported to Siberia also because of our religion and because we supported the Latin script. We were named economic and politic partisans,” stated the deportee.
Head of the Association of Former Deportees and Political Detainees Valentina Sturza said the Government does what it can to help the deportees. The confiscated property is restored when ownership documents are presented. This year the allowance for deportees was raised by 200 lei to 700 lei. All the deportees will get such a sum by the end of this month.
Head of Parliament Igor Corman said that the first deportation wave represents a black page in the history of Moldova as thousands of people were transported in inhuman conditions to Siberia. “We came here to commemorate those who went through the Stalinist ordeal. We must not forget what happened then and must appreciate what we have today. We must know the difference between dictatorship and democracy,” he stated.
Prime Minister Iurie Leanca and President Nicolae Timofti also laid flowers at the monument to the victims of deportations.
On the night of June 13, 1941, there were deported over 22,000 people. There were three deportation waves - in June 1941, July 1949, and April 1951. The number of deportees amounted to about 58,000. Only approximately 8,000 of them are now alive.
