We cannot speak about the Kishinev (Chisinau) Pogrom or about the Holocaust by ignoring the human causalities and also the loss of private and community property, said historian Ovidiu Creangă, according to whom both persons and their possessions were the target of the anti-Semitist actions. A part of the buildings erected by the Jewish community were destroyed, while others were turned into institutions with other purposes.
Ovidiu Creangă noted that it is absolutely essential to restitute the Jewish property or, if this is not possible, to recompense the former owners. The recognition and keeping of the Jewish property were among the issues discussed by the participants in a conference titled “120 years of the Chisinau Pogrom. Relevance of research and historical memory” which was hosted by the Moldova State University, IPN reports.
Ovidiu Creangă, historian at the Claims Conference and the World Jewish Restitution Organization based in New York, said the organization he represents and the Jewish Community of the Republic of Moldova designed a joint project centering on the cities of Chisinau, Balti, Soroca, and Orhei. “We sought to find out the local history of Jewish communities. By now, we could identify approximately 100 properties of the community. I mean churches, hospitals, places for older persons, medical intuitions that were built by the Jewish community for its members and sometimes for other persons who needed assistance,” stated Ovidiu Creangă.
The historian said that all these possessions were destroyed or their purpose was changed. If they survived World War II, they were nationalized and their purpose was changed. The Moldovan state possesses all those properties “inherited” from the Soviet authorities. Those possessions were nationalized and are owned by the authorities of the Republic of Moldova. Most of the buildings do not yet exist but could be found in archives. “This inheritance can be a critical element for education and for strengthening the socio-democratic values. The lessons of the Kishinev Pogrom and the lessons of the Holocaust are practically written on the walls of these buildings,” stated Ovidiu Creangă.
The historian said that by restituting and maintaining the Jewish property, tolerant societies can be cultivated. “The inheritance of the Jewish community in Moldova needs to be protected not only by the state. We should all become involved. We saw what is happening in other countries. The Jewish property is being restituted or, if those properties no longer exist, the owners are compensated,“ noted Ovidiu Creangă.
The event was organized by the Jewish Community of the Republic of Moldova in partnership with the Moldova State University with support from the Government of the Republic of Moldova, the Embassy of Israel in Moldova, Italy’s Embassy in Moldova, the World Jewish Restitution Organization.
The Kishinev Pogrom or Kishinev massacre was an anti-Jewish riot that took place in Chisinau. About 110,000 people lived in Chisinau then and approximately 50,000 of them were Jews. The Pogrom in which 49 Jews dead and more than 500 injured, 700 houses looted and destroyed, 600 businesses looted, and 2,000 families left homeless aroused universal condemnation and protest. Those events amplified a new wave of emigration of the Jews from Eastern Europe to Western countries.
