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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

"Memory of War"

(May 6 – June 28, 2010)

The Second World War is one of the most tragic pages in the history of mankind. It brought to death millions of people and caused incalculable material losses. Moldova also took many hardships of the war. Thousands of the Moldavians have been killed by enemy bullets on the fronts of the war; thousands of villages, houses, industrial buildings, farms have been erased to the ground during the bombing and military operations.

The best gesture of gratitude of the contemporaries to the generation that passed through the crucible of war, and especially to those who have fallen in battles, would be to keep the memory, to transmit from generation to generation their names and deeds.

The exhibition “Memory of War” is dedicated to the 65th anniversary of the Victory over fascism and is to commemorate all the victims of the war irrespective of which side of the barricades they were. In it some museum items are exhibited for the first time: photographs, books, posters, military uniforms, weapons, soldiers’ personal belongings, front letters, war trophies, awards, etc. – the historical relics aimed to reconstruct the tragic events of the Second World War, crimes of fascism, the brotherhood in arms and the joy of victory.

Most of the exhibits are from the collections of the National Museum of Archaeology and History of Moldova and are divided into several conventional sections: The Beginning of War, The “New Order” instituted by the fascists in Europe, The Creation of Antifascist Coalition, The Liberation of the Peoples of Europe from the Fascist Occupation, The Fall of Fascism, and The Nuremberg Trials.

A special section of the exhibition includes photographs, documents and personal belongings of our citizens who participated in the biggest military operations during the war and were decorated with high military honors for heroism on the battlefields (D. Calaras, I. Coval, N. Lebedenko, I. Soltas, F. Zharchinsky, V. Ermuratsky, G. Odobescu, and others).

The exhibition is complemented by a collection of posters of the time and works of art on the military subjects created by the prominent painters (I. Toidze, M. Grecu, A. David, A.Vasiliev, V. Obuh, and others), as well as books on the history of the Second World War.

#Exhibit of the Month

The Album ”In Memoriam. In Memory of the Heroes Who Fell at the Nistru (1992)”, Chișinău, 2012

"Memory of War"

(May 6 – June 28, 2010)

#Exhibit of the Month