Moldovan government announces end of exhibition Bessarabians in Gulag in Great National Assembly Square

Chisinau, Aug. 1 /MOLDPRES/- Tens of thousands of people from the country and abroad, including our diaspora citizens who have returned home, the country's leadership and foreign diplomats visited on July 9-30 the exhibition Bessarabians in Gulag, held in the Great National Assembly Square, in memory of the victims of the Stalinist deportations. In two wagons, similar to those in which tens of thousands of Bessarabians were deported to Siberia, several objects belonging to the deportees, a collection of thematic books and archival materials were exhibited, the government's communication and protocol department has reported.

Every day, between 8:30 a.m. and 9:00 p.m., 31 historians - university professors, scientific researchers, specialists and inspectors from 9 archival, museum, higher education and pre-university institutions, as well as 26 volunteers were on duty in the two carriages along with the visitors.

"Thank you to everyone who contributed to the good organization of the exhibition, and the large number of visitors. Through such concrete actions we honor the memory of those deported to icy Siberia, preserve history and pass on to future generations the memory of those dramatic events. We must ensure that our past is not forgotten and that these atrocities are not repeated. We requested the responsible institutions to work in a coordinated manner for the inauguration of a Museum of Memory and the organization of actions to commemorate the victims of the repressions in the localities of the country", said Prime Minister Dorin Recean.

"We anticipate that an exhibition in wagons will most faithfully convey the atmosphere and condition that tens of thousands of deportees went through in Siberia and Kazakhstan: misery, thirst, hunger and unbearable heat. The reality, however, exceeded all expectations. Many visitors wept, not necessarily those who were reliving the nightmare of deportations, but also the younger ones who had or did not have deported people in their family. In a word, the exhibition had a healing effect on people of many faiths, languages spoken, religion or ethnicity, because the archival data shows without a doubt that the Soviet mass deportations did not differentiate between people based on their identity social, national or of another nature", said Igor Cașu, director of the National Archives Agency and coordinator of historians on duty.

Visitors left hundreds of messages in the impression books about these tragic events of our nation.

Due to public interest, the exhibition will soon become permanent, in a location to be announced later by the authorities.

The exhibition was organized by the Government of the Republic of Moldova, the State Chancellery and the Ministry of Culture, with the support of the National Archives Agency, the National Museum of History and the National Library. Its unique format was made possible thanks to the support of the Moldova Railway State Enterprise, which provided the two carriages, installed in the Great National Assembly Square with the support of ANTA and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Photo: Government