CHILDREN AND THE WAR: REFLECTIONS ON THE PERIOD OF FORCED SOVIETIZATION OF TRANSNISTRIA AND BESSARABIA

Abstract

On 28 June 1940, based on the additional secret protocol of the RibbentropMolotov Pact, the territory of Romania from the east of the Prut River was annexed to the Soviet Union. Till the end of August 1940, together with the districts on the left bank of the Dniester River, Bessarabia was declared a Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic and immediately fell under the policies of forced Sovietization, interrupted by another unprecedented scourge – World War II, the event which marked in the memory of the local communities by excessive human losses on both sides of the front.The present study aims to elucidate the mechanisms and policies of forced Sovietization of Transnistria and Bessarabia during World War II in the memory of children from the families of “enemies of the people”, later deported to the eastern regions of the USSR. The author draws attention to the importance of researching the voices long marginalized by Soviet historiography – children of the Gulag, able to reveal emotional sensitivity, dramatic feelings and strategies for negotiating with their own past by assuming the status of witnesser. The memoirs of children descended from the families of the “enemies of the people” reflect the discrepancies between the myths of Soviet propaganda about “the happy life in the USSR” and everyday realities. Their voices on the events surrounding the World War II are an important source for synthetic studies on the totalitarian past, but also for researching the impact of Soviet policies on con- temporary society of the Republic of Moldova.