Memoria Park

In my last blog I referred to a park that the Moldova government had recently renovated, a park that basically celebrates the victory of the USSR over Moldova itself in WWII. The centerpiece of the park is a giant tripod within which burns an "eternal flame". It is to commemorate the lives of the Russian soldiers who died fighting the Germans in WWII.

Now, I know full well that the Russian resistance to the Nazi advance was extremely courageous and that many brave Russian men lost their lives in the war. I lean towards the belief that it was, in fact, Russia that won World War Two. And, I have no problem with a park built to commemorate the lives of those who died fighting evil. But, there are two important points to consider.

First, the Russians were not necessarily fighting Nazi Germans in Moldova, but rather Romanians. For most of its history, Moldova has shared a common political and cultural heritage with Moldova. It was only in 1812, at the conclusion of the Russo-Turkish war, that half of the principality of Moldavia (that is, modern day Moldova) was annexed by the Russian Empire. In 1918, Moldova declared independence and reunited with Romania. In 1940, the USSR reclaimed Moldova. To reclaim its land, then, Romania sided with Germany and, in 1941, joint forces from Germany and Romania recaptured Moldova. Moldova was maintained as part of Romania until 1944, when the area was again conquered and reoccupied by the USSR. The battles waged by the Russians in Moldova, then, had nothing to do with defending the Motherland from the evil Nazi horde. Rather, those Russian soldiers who died in Moldova, fighting Romanians and probably even Moldovans themselves, fell only as pawns in the game of imperialism.

Second, it is questionable at best the decision to renovate a park that merely stands to remind the ethnic Moldovan population that they were conquered by and assimilated into the USSR. As in other conquered Eastern European nations, thousands upon thousands of Moldovans were rounded up in the villages and sent to Siberia, even women and children, often in the dead of night. Many were forced to endure a two week train ride, standing in cattle cars, in the clothes they wore when collected - or to die trying. While a significant minority of the population of Moldova is Russian, approximately 13 %, it seems unconscionable to maintain and renovate a site that must be a dim reminder to the majority of the population.

Ultimately, of course, it comes down to the game of politics. The communist party has maintained rule over Moldova since independence, and thus Moldova's leaders strive to maintain close connections with their Russian cronies. While there may be many other public institutions that need renovation more than the Memoria Park - schools, hospitals, and the utilities for example - and while Moldova holds the distinction of being the poorest country in Europe, a country so poor that 1/4 the population (so I have read) has had to leave the country to find work, pouring the country's resources into a park designed to commemorate the USSR has one distinct purpose: it says to Russia, "We hope there are no hard feelings about that whole post-perestroika independence stuff. See, we still are part of Russia, at least in spirit. Please, don't abandon us; we're really still part of you!"

Unfortunately, it seems to be a message Russia is not hearing. A few months ago, Russia banned Moldovan wine imports - probably the biggest source of international revenue in the country - on the spurious grounds that Moldovan wines are not hygienic enough.

Well, at least the Moldovans have a nice park now!