#Exhibit of the Month

The work In Memoriam. In Memory of the Heroes Who Fell at the Nistru (1992) was developed within the Center for Culture and Military History and published under the auspices of the Government of the Republic of Moldova, the Bureau for Reintegration, and the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Moldova. Authors: Gheorghe Bălan, Vitalie Ciobanu, Gheorghe Cojocaru.

This work provides a retrospective of the events that led to the outbreak of the war on the Nistru, accompanied by photographs of the heroes who lost their lives in the battles to defend the independence and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova.

On March 2, 1992, the political conflict in the Nistru region escalated into a true fratricidal war. Under the fabricated pretext of "defending Russia's southern borders," political adventurers from the former Soviet metropolis encouraged Transnistrian separatism by arming secessionist paramilitary groups. At the same time, thousands of mercenary Cossacks and prisoners released early from jails, along with tanks and missiles, were sent against Independent Moldova, in a desperate attempt to revive the fallen empire.

Russia's undeclared war against the Republic of Moldova left behind hundreds of dead and wounded, shattered families, and villages in ruins. More than 50,000 peaceful residents from the conflict zone were forced to flee their homes, seeking refuge from the horrors of war.

For the sake of freedom and the future, Moldova's defenders faced death, enduring the hardships and humiliations of war.

During the Nistru war, 198 soldiers of the National Army and 89 personnel from the Ministry of Internal Affairs lost their lives, while 40 combatants went missing without a trace, and nearly 300 were left disabled.

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Exhibitions

“CHILDHOOD IN THE GULAG”

ȚĂRII CRIȘURILOR MUSEUM – MUSEUM COMPLEX

January 16 – March 1, 2024

On January 16, 2024, the Museum of Victims of Deportations and Political Repressions of the National Museum of History of Moldova together with the Țării Crișurilor Museum - Museum Complex, in partnership with the Bihor County Council and the Oradea City Hall, in cooperation with the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania, organized the opening of the photo-documentary exhibition "Childhood in the Gulag" (curator Dr. Ludmila Cojocaru).

The exhibition "Childhood in the Gulag" presents photo-documentary images that reflect the life of Bessarabian children condemned to deportation, starvation, Russification, indoctrination and forced separation from their families based on the repressive policies of the totalitarian-communist regime in the Moldavian SSR, in the periods 1940-1941 and 1944-1953. The exhibition brings together about 180 photo-documentary images, accompanied by memories and archival documents from the collections of the National Museum of History of Moldova, the Edineț County Museum, the Museum of History and Ethnography in Soroca, the Pro Memory Institute, from the archives of the local memory communities, as well as from the family archives of the totalitarian-communist regime's victims.

The vernissage was opened by the public speeches by Prof. Dr. Gabriel Moisa, manager of the Oradea Țării Crișurilor Museum - Museum Complex, Dr. Cristina Liana Pușcaș, museographer, and via video by the curator Dr. Ludmila D. Cojocaru, Museum of Victims of Deportations and Political Repressions, branch of the National Museum of History of Moldova. Among those present at the Opening were: SE Virgil Bercea, the Greek-Catholic bishop of Oradea, deputy Ioan Mang, as well as students from the "Iuliu Maniu" Greek-Catholic High School, the "Emanuil Gojdu" National College and the Orthodox High School "Roman Bishop Ciorogariu" of Oradea.

The exhibition is hosted by the Oradea City Museum section (Emanuil Gojdu Street no. 39-41) until March 1, 2024, and can be visited from Tuesday to Sunday, between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.

The photo-documentary exhibition "Childhood in the Gulag" was made with the support of "The Development Cooperation and Democracy Promotion Programme" of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania.