Moldovan president's message on famine caused by Stalinist regime

Chisinau, April 20 /MOLDPRES/- Every third Saturday of April a great tragedy in the history of our country - the famine caused by the Stalinist regime in 1946-1947 - is commemorated. President Maia Sandu conveyed a message to this end.

"The Soviet power forbade people to talk about the famine. For generations, the survivors had to mourn their losses in silence. In memory of our grandparents and ancestors, in front of our parents, we owe it to not forget this tragedy, to talk about it, about those responsible for this crime and to commemorate the innocent victims," the head of state said.

The President's message states that, according to historians, between December 1946 and August 1947, more than 123 thousand people were starved to death in the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic. Also, 400 thousand were severely affected by malnutrition, and in the following years many of them lost their lives. The worst affected region was the south of the country, with some Gagauz villages reportedly losing up to half of their inhabitants. In Moldova, almost 450 people died of famine every day, regardless of their ethnicity: Moldovans, Romanians, Russians, Gagauz, Jews, Roma or Bulgarians.

"We bow with gratitude to our peasants on both sides of the Dniester, regardless of their ethnicity, who went through those sacrifices, but survived with their heads held high, resisted and gave life to new generations. It is a painful past for all of us who have inherited this land, a past from which we must learn in order to build together a good future, a future in which our country no longer suffers such hardships", Maia Sandu said.