#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.

Virtual Tour

Exhibitions

„Homage to Captain Conan”

November 11th - December 13th, 2015

The travelling photo-documentary exhibition „Homage to Captain Conan" displayed at the National Museum of History of Moldova is organised by the French Institute of Bucharest in partnership with the National Archives of Romania and the Municipal Library from Dinan (France) commemorating the beginning of World War I.

The exhibition invites everyone to discover one of the symbolic novels of World War I: „Captain Conan" written by French writer Roger Vercel (Goncourt Prize laureate in 1934) who fought on the Eastern front.

Mobilised in 1914, then sent to the Eastern front in 1918, Roger Vercel fought against Bulgaria, marched in Bucharest on Armistice Day, fought with Bolsheviks in Bessarabia and was the rapporteur of the War Council before his return to France. The months spent in Central and Eastern Europe marked him deeply and inspired in writing three novels: „Our ancestor Traian", „Captain Conan" and „Léna". The novel „Captain Conan" is the story of French soldiers mobilised to fight the war against the Bolsheviks. With barracks in Bucharest, they have difficulties in complying with the laws of civil life in Romania. With this novel, Roger Vercel offers a picture of events in the country at the end of the war, the relations between the Romanian population, barely freed from German occupation, and French soldiers who cannot return to the motherland.

The exhibition tells the story of the novel, from the moment of its writing to Bertrand Tavernier's film adaptation in 1996, based on Dinan Municipal Library archives. Also, the exhibition sends us in Roger Varcel's Bucharest of 1918-1919 years, due to descriptions and documentations made in collections of the National Archives of Romania. The reproductions of photos that represent Vercel in his homeland along with different French personalities, arranged on eight stands, are combined with illustrated postcards from the National Archives of Romania depicting aspects of city life described by the French author in his book.

The display is complemented with original pieces from World War I - photos, newspapers, postcards, prints, weapons, etc. - held in the collections of the National Museum of History of Moldova and private collections.

The exhibition is accompanied by the screening of "Capitaine Conan" directed by Bertrand Tavernier.