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#REDIRECT [[History of Bălți]] |
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== Soviet deportations and political imprisonments == |
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''We surely can add photos here.'' |
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== Holocaust == |
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'''[[Mass deportation]] of [[Jews]] in 1941-1942.''' In the three-day period following the takeover the city by the Romanian and German armies, while the troops were moving through the city in the pursuit of the Red army units, and before the Romanian administration moved in, the approximately two-dozen-strong [[SS]] [[Einsatzkommando]] unit, attached to the [[11th German Army]], hunted and assassinated over 200 [[Jew]]s from the city. The German army was strictly ordered by [[Berlin]] not to interfere in "non-military matters", and was sometimes obliged to hand in Jews in the houses of which they temporarily installed. |
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Fortunately, the majority of Jews from the city fled with the retreating Russians (many to [[Uzbekistan]]), and survived the war unharmed. By the time German troops entered, only 1,300 of the 20,000 Jews were in the city. Thousands of others simply hid in the neighboring villages, thinking they would be safe once the frontline had passed. The Romanian authorities, however, decided to deport all Jews from the territories occupied by USSR in 1940, as well as from two other Romanian counties, to [[Transnistria (World War II)|Transnistria]], across the river [[Dniester]] ([[Dniester|Nistru]]). They were motivated in this by the fact that Jews had welcomed the Russian takeover a year earlier. Although some Jews did indeed become [[Soviet]] [[Communist]] [[activist]]s, they were a tiny minority among the total Jewish population of the city, and those have certainly retreated along with the Russian troops. |
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In the towns in the north and middle of [[Transnistria (World War II)|Transnistria]]<ref>The Romanian troops stopped at the river Dnister (Nistru), and the German troops were trying to cut off the retreating Russians from the north, along the left bank of the river [[Southern Bug]], situated further east from the Dnister. This left [[Transnistria (World War II)|Transnistria]], a no-man's land. [[Hitler]] had planned, and managed to persuade [[Ion Antonescu]], [[Romanian Army]] [[Chief of staff (military)|Chief of Staff]] and [[prime minister]] since September 1940, to occupy and administrate it. This action is responsible for the further distancing of Antonescu from the Romanian democratic politicians, who refused to take part in a military-dominated government, and thus Antonescu remained considerably associated historically with Hitler. Although in the Middle Ages, when the population was much sparser, the population of [[Transnistria (World War II)|Transnistria]] consisted of Moldavians/Romanians and [[Crimean Tatars|Tatars]], by the 20th century, after much influx of population during the 19th century, [[Moldavian]] ([[Romanians|Romanian]]) villages were concentrated mostly on the left bank of Nistru (Dnister), with [[Ukrainians]] and [[Russians]] numerically dominating the region, and [[Jews]] representing a significant minority, and virtually a majority in the city of [[Odessa]].</ref> the Romanian authorities decided to deport the remaining Jewish population of [[Bessarabia]] ([[Bessarabia|Basarabia]]), Northern [[Bukovina]] ([[Bukovina|Bucovina]]), and two other counties of Romania ([[Suceava]] and [[Botoşani]]) – a total of 90,000 people. Jews were organized in columns and marched to crossing points. No regular food supply, overnight housing, transportation, or additional clothing were organized, and many died on the road, or were shot by guards on the pretext of slowing down the movement. |
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In towns such as [[Mohyliv-Podilskyi]] ([[Mohyliv-Podilskyi|Movilău]] in Romanian), [[Yampil]] ([[Yampil|Iampol]] in Romanian), [[Bershad]] and others, [[ghettos]] were fenced out, and Jews were settled in. Being deprived of the right to own agricultural land, and having very few job opportunities, often without clean water and having insufficient housing, many became ill from malnutrition and infections. Interestingly, the Jews from Romania that were not affected by the deportation were treated quite tolerantly by the Romanian authorities, and even were allowed to visit the ghettos to deliver food and clothing.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20041021095108/http://history.pedclub.ru/shoa/hfond_111.htm Ghettos and concentration camps on the territory of the Soviet Union] {{ru icon}}</ref> Unfortunately, because of fear, few ventured to do this. In several of these places the retreating German troops in 1944 shot every Jew in order to cover up the existence of the ghetto camps. |
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Despite the fact that 70% of Jews that survived on the Soviet territory under occupation during World war II were in [[Transnistria (World War II)|Transnistria]], over 70% of those deported did not survive 1944. |
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== Bălţi POW Camp == |
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From March to August 1944, the [[World War II]] frontline stabilized along a west-east curve passing 40 km south of the city. After gathering enormous quantities of troops (3.4 million) and artillery (370 units per km of frontline) the [[Red Army]] penetrated the German-Romanian defenses (600,000 troops) in the [[Battle of Romania (1944)|Iaşi-Chişinău operation]], partly surrounding them. |
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Before the operation, the Soviets had established two [[prisoner of war|POW]] camps in Bălţi, a simple camp on the location of the present-day military unit, and a [[POW camp|concentration camp]] by fencing out several streets in the southeast limits of the city, next to the small airport situated there. During the night, lights were arranged inside the camp in a way to resemble those of the airport. Heavily bombed by the German [[military aviation|aviation]], they would produce havoc inside the [[POW camp]], while the airport would be left intact. The holes produced by the bombs were used as common graves for the dying prisoners. In the outcome of the Iaşi-Chişinău operation, around 45,000 prisoners, including up to 40,000 [[Romanians]] (including many locals), 5,000 [[Germans]], 2,000 [[Hungarians]], 3,000 [[Italians]], [[Czechs]], and [[Poles]] were gathered in the POW camp in Bălţi, the main transit POW camp for this operation. Some prisoners ended in the camp as late as September-October 1944, after fighting in the Romanian army on the Allies side, but being injured, were sent to hospitals close to their homes, and were arrested by the Soviets. |
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Many POWs died in the camp from [[malnutrition]], [[infection]]s, or were shot by guards, and then were buried in the bomb holes. Prisoners were kept in the camp anywhere from two months to over a year. On one occasion, a brake was made through a wall, and a major escape took place. By the end of 1945, all surviving prisoners were moved out to the interior of the [[Soviet Union]] to work. The site of the camp was leveled, and no buildings were ever erected in the area. Rumors about the POW camp and the conditions inside it were quickly silenced, and even by the 1980s the vast majority of the inhabitants of the town did not know about its existence. Consequently, during the [[Perestroika]] time, laborers were astonished to run upon thousands of human skeletons while working on straightening a road, and were so disturbed they refused to continue the work. |
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The political changes of the end of the 1980s allowed the remaining survivors of the camp to come out and relate the truth. Fortunately for these individuals, they were originally from the north of [[Moldova]]. By simply approaching the inner [[barbed wire]] on the side facing the city, and crying out in Romanian when the guards were not near, they were able to pass the word about their fate to friends and relatives in their home villages. The latter would come to the camp – bribe and feed the Soviet guards for a spared life. Unfortunately Germans, as well as the majority of Romanian POWs who were not locals, could not use this method to escape. Many German officers died of malnutrition, refusing the [[black bread]]. The more physically fit were then transferred for work throughout the former USSR. The Soviet [[archive]]s have preserved considerable information about the POW camps in Bălţi, although they were kept a secret before 1989. Apparently, a study in 1992 on a sample of 800 POWs came up with only 13 survivors by 1953. |
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In 1992, many locals took part in the unveiling of one of the common graves. Sculs and bones were gathered in a piramid on a dry ground and covered with "fresh earth", A cross has been erected on the site on [[May 7]], 1992. The name of the first prisoner discovered in the Soviet archives was decided to be the first written on the cross: "Tudor, son of Nicolae, Glavan from the village Sofia, Drochia district", i.e happened to be a local from just 20 km north of the city. The building of an "Ossuary Church" is in progress, despite the lack of financial possibilities and political will from the still [[Communist Party of Moldova|Communist]]-dominated municipal authorities. Even the exact extent of the camp is not known, with only a small portion being unveiled so far (the field is approx. 1 km² in size). |
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== References == |
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{{reflist}} |
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== External Links == |
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[[Category:Bălţi]] |
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[[Category:History of Moldova]] |
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Latest revision as of 14:37, 12 December 2014
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