Stalinist deportations: Flowers and candles at the “Train of Pain” memorial
The Stalinist deportations remain a painful chapter in our history, even 85 years later. In memory of the thousands of families forced into exile in distant Siberia or Kazakhstan, flowers were laid at the "Train of Pain" monument on June 13. Attendees at the rally shared stories of their grandparents and great-grandparents, who were, through no fault of their own, central figures in one of the most tragic episodes of our nation’s past.
On the night of June 12-13, 1941, thousands of intellectuals, wealthy peasants, and individuals who opposed the Soviet regime were taken from their homes and deported to Siberia or Kazakhstan. This marked the first wave of deportations, followed by two more waves. Survivors of the deportations in 1949 and 1951 attended a commemoration rally.
"Barefoot, as I was in the field, I arrived in the Altai region."
"I don’t want to remember; it’s too painful. I was four years old, and I remember everything. The flowers are in memory of those who are no longer with us—those who suffered. Let’s do something to ensure that such things don’t happen again. That’s the most important thing. We should honor the memory of those who endured."
"My parents were deported in 1949. They spent seven years in a Siberian labor camp and suffered greatly. My parents were children when they were deported; they grew up, married, and had me. We don’t want history to be forgotten; please do not forget us!"
Participants laid flowers and candles at the "Train of Pain" monument, which is located in front of the Chisinau Railway Station.
"Eighty-five years ago, the Railway Station witnessed these tragedies. People were brought here by carts and vehicles, then loaded into wagons and taken to Siberia," declared Alexandru Postica, president of the Association of Former Deportees and Political Prisoners of the Republic of Moldova.
The first wave of deportations occurred on June 12-13, 1941, as part of a political offensive in Bassarabia, which had become the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic after its annexation on June 28, 1940. A total of 22,000 people from 3,470 families were taken to Siberia and Kazakhstan.
