MPs held a minute's silence in memory of the victims of Stalinist deportations
A minute's silence in memory of the victims of Stalinist deportations was held at the start of Thursday's sitting of Parliament. Head of the legislature Igor Grosu spoke about the first wave of deportations, which marked the 82nd anniversary, describing it as a national tragedy.
"Thousands of people were taken by force to Siberia and Kazakhstan, where they died in concentration camps and suffered unimaginable torment, being separated forever from their loved ones. On this occasion, I would like to urge you once again, dear citizens, to talk about peace, to support in any way we can our Ukrainian neighbours, who today are going through ordeals that we all thought were a thing of the past. Not everyone has learnt the lesson of history, but our country and its people stand up for peace and justice, so that it will never again admit victims like those of the totalitarian communist regime," said Grosu.
On the night of 12-13 June 1941, tens of thousands of families were forcibly removed by the Soviet NKVD, put on trains and deported to Siberia and Kazakhstan. Some deportees managed to return home, but others did not survive the repression.
More than 22,000 people were deported. Other sources put the number of deportees at 24,360 or even 30,000.
