After 1918, when the Great Union took place, multiple educational and scientific institutions were opened in Bessarabia and the spiritual life expended, historian Igor Sharov, rector of the Moldova State University, said in a public debate hosted by IPN.
According to him, the heyday for Bessarabia was the 22-year period, when the territory between the Prut and the Nistru was part of the Romanian state. After the Soviets came, the native population was subjected to a wave of repression and the intelligentsia was decimated.
Igor Sharov noted that in the period between 1918 and 1940, Bessarabia experienced strong economic, cultural and social development. A number of general and higher education institutions were opened. Until 1918, the year of the Great Union, in Bessarabia there was no network of educational institutions teaching in Romanian and there were not enough teachers with the necessary l training.
“After 1918, the spiritual life was intense and the fact that for many years we were deprived of the right to learn that the National Theatre was created in 1920, and the declared year was “after the war”, is nothing but a glimpse of the identity struggle. So, it was induced the idea that everything good was created after 1945, not in the interwar period. “Life of Bessarabia” of 1932 was the magazine where Constantin Stere, who dominated the interwar period with his authority, published his works. It was an extraordinary artistic and literary life. There was the magazine “Moldovan Word”. Besides the four universities that existed in the Romanian space, in Iasi, Bucharest, Cluj and Cernăuţi, the first higher education institutions were founded in Bessarabia. The one from 1927 is the Faculty of Theology of “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iasi. In 1932, the Agronomy Unit of the University of Iasi appeared and then turned into the Faculty of Agronomy of the University of Iasi in Chisinau,” said the historian.
He noted that the opening of higher education institutions in Bessarabia contributed to the creation of a new generation of intellectuals. Religion was a basic pillar of national identity and the Faculty of Theology opened in Chisinau played an important role in this regard.
“The program of study at the Faculty of Theology also included the History of Romanians, the Romanian Literature and were taught by Alexandru Boldor. It was clear l that the 106 years of Russian occupation of Bessarabia will definitely have effects. Both of the faculties played an extraordinary role. Also, Bessarabian science was organically integrated into Romanian science. There are many examples, including the Dubăsarii Vechi Observatory of Donici with his studies. Considerable efforts were made in both education and culture. We should not be afraid to speak about the heinous crimes of a regime. We went through the period between 1940 and 1952. There were three waves of deportations that deprived us of intellectuality. We remained without intellectuals,” said Igor Sharov.
The public debate entitled “Consequences of the Union and of the “Reunion-Vossoedinenie”. Comparative analysis. Part II” was the 34th installment of IPN’s project “Impact of the past on confidence and peace building processes”, which is carried out with the support of the German Hanns Seidel Foundation.