Moldova Venerates Memory of Jewish Writers Repressed by Stalin's Regime

Last week, the memory of 14 Soviet Jewish writers, executed by the Soviet power in Moscow in 1952, was venerated in this republic.

The anniversary arrangements gathered the representatives of Jewish organizations from all Moldovan raions, of the Israel's Consular Office in Chisinau, Department of Inter-Ethnic Relations. The meeting participants honored the memory of all victims of the Soviet regime, and then watched a music-literature concert composed of abstracts from the works of the killed writers.

Mr. Theodore Magder, Chairman of the Association of Jewish Organizations of Moldova, said that such arrangements are taking place in all Moldovan localities that have Jewish communities. "This year, we are openly venerating - for the first time ever - the memory of our writers killed by the Stalinist regime. In previous years, this tragic date used to be marked only inside a close circle of Jewish people", said Theodore Magder.

He said the 14 writers in question were the elite of the Jewish intelligentsia of the Soviet Union. During the Second World War, all of them were members of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee - an influential organization that was actively supported both in the Soviet Union and in many capitalist countries. Thank to the Committee, considerable Western financial means used to flow to the USSR Budget. After the war, Stalin accused the Committee of espionage in favor of capitalist powers. Some Committee members were executed, other were thrown to prisons or exiled.

According to the 1989 census, Jewish people constituted 1.5% of populace in Moldova. Since then, however, the Jewish population has shrunk considerably due to active emigration to Israel, the United State, and Western Europe. In 2001 alone, 954 ethnic Jews from Moldova officially emigrated to Israel. Last couple of years, however, one can observe an inverse process: having come to face difficulties at the 'historic Motherland', many Jews are returning to Moldova.