The closing of the Museum of Soviet Occupation in Chisinau – a political order from the Kremlin
The intention of the Moldovan president, Igor Dodon, to close the Soviet Occupation Museum is part of Russia’s policies to hide the traces of communist repression, historians say.
The Soviet Occupation Museum was set up in 2015 at the initiative of the former Minister of Defense of the Republic of Moldova, Anatol Șalaru. The exhibition is dedicated to communists repressions and contains over 20 thousand museum pieces including photos, documents, objects from the Soviet occupation period, including an improvised barracks in which the victims of Stalinist deportations were held in Siberia. The exhibits were collected by the employees of the Military Museum from the citizens of the Republic of Moldova, and since then, it has managed to become an attraction, first of all for tourists, but also for students who have the opportunity to see with their own eyes the remnants of that gloomy period.
“This museum is subordinated to the Minister of Defense. Therefore he could at any time close this part of the museum or he could dismantle this wing of the museum, remove all the exhibits and send them to the warehouse and make a museum of the “liberators”, with the flag of Shoigu, with Soviet machine guns … But there is a solution: they can give a special status to this part of museum wich can be taken under the protection of the Ministry of Culture ”,
declared Anatol Șalaru for Europa Liberă
Meanwhile, historians including Ion Negrei, who support the importance of this museum, strongly condemn this intention and say that it seems to be a political order from the Kremlin.
declared Ion Negrei for Europa Liberă
A piece of our history has been harnessed and now we want to throw it out of the window? It would be inadmissible. In the Baltic States there are separate museums on this subject, and unfortunately we did not get to have even a special section within the National Museum, and now this exhibition within the Military Museum is threatened. That means it was a political order, “
In the opinion of the historian Ion Varta, all the governments that have stood at the helm of the Republic of Moldova since 1991, have merely mimicked a holy obligation or sabotaged it impertinently, obstructing the initiatives of historians and civil society representatives for the commemoration of the over one million victims of the Soviet regime.
Absolute champion of such shameful policies is President Igor Dodon, who not only vehemently denies a terrible truth to challenge with regard to the Soviet occupation, but also insults with the intentions to closure one of the few museums, dedicated to the crimes and atrocities committed by the totalitarian regime. Such reckless gestures are hard taxed by history, if not now, certainly, in the near future,
declared Ion Varta for IPAH
Journalist and historian George Damian referred to Russia’s diplomatic offensive, saying in this context that the intention of the Moldovan president, Igor Dodon, to close the Soviet Occupation Museum is part of Russia’s policies to disguise Soviet crimes.
declared Gerorge Damian for radiochisinau
“Either you oppose, or you give in to the enemy who occupied your territory. Those two attitudes have been present in Chisinau for a long time and are manifested in various forms, including by such statements like the one of President Dodon who wants to abolish the museum of Soviet occupation ”,
