#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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Events Archive

Scientific conference with international participation “75 years since the Operation «South»”

Chișinău, 2-3 July 2024

During July 2-3, 2024, the works of the scientific conference with international participation "75 years since the Operation «South»" took place, an event organized by the National Museum of History of Moldova, in cooperation with the Institute of History of the Moldova State University.

The first day of the conference brought together researchers from Chisinau, Bucharest and Vilnius, who presented scientific communications regarding the elucidation of the deportations of the summer of 1949 from the perspective of history and memory of the tragedy in current research, and the speakers presented aspects such as the phenomenon of deportations in the Soviet repression system (dr. Virgiliu Bîrlădeanu), the deportations from the Moldavian SSR during the compact collectivization of agriculture (dr. Valentin Burlacu), the hate speech and the ideological preparation of the deportation operation from July 5-6, 1949 (dr. hab. Elena Negru), the evolution of the concept "kulak" in the Moldavian SSR, 1940-1950 (dr. hab. Ion Şișcanu), the sovietization of the Bessarabian village: the Operation "South", the collectivization of agriculture and social policies in the Stalinist period (dr. Dumitru Lisnic), the realization of the Operation "South" in the district Edineţ, MSSR (dr. Nicolae Fuștei), the deportations of the Bessarabians in Tomsk region (Russian Federation) from the perspective of the Memory Expeditions (dr. Octavian Țîcu), the extermination of the members of the Sfatul Țării. Case study of Constantin Bivol (Natalia Mafteuță).

On the second day of the scientific event, during the plenary session, communications were presented by outstanding specialists from the Republic of Moldova, the Republic of Lithuania, and Romania, highlighting the common features of the manifestation of the totalitarian communist regime and the importance of studying the phenomenon of deportations in order not to admit it again in the future.

With a word of greeting in front of the participants of the event came the General Director of the National Museum of History of Moldova, Mr. dr. hab, prof. univ. Eugen Sava who mentioned the systematic effort undertaken by the National Museum of History of Moldova toward the scientific-museographical valorization of history and memory of the former deportees and political prisoners from the Moldavian SSR period. On behalf of the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in the Republic of Moldova, the greeting was addressed by the attaché of the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania Mr. Liudas Gintautas Dabkus, who referred to the common historical experience regarding the suffering caused by the Stalinist deportations, but also the resistance opposed to the Soviet regime of occupation, emphasizing the important role that belongs to today's society in the perpetuation of democracy, freedom, respect for human rights and the common effort in building a European culture of memory.

The proceedings of the plenary session were followed by the inauguration of the thematic exhibition of the National Museum of History of Moldova "Memory of the deportations", presented by dr. Ludmila Cojocaru.

The scientific-practical session "Narrative heritage of the Stalinist deportations: scientific-museographical valorization initiatives and exchange of good practices" convened representatives of the museographic community from the Republic of Moldova and Romania, concerned with valorizing the history and memory of totalitarian-communist deportations and repressions, who presented communications on projects, initiatives and good practices carried out by their institutions.