Antisemitism in Moldova

At the turn of the XX - XXI centuries. manifestations of anti-Semitism have intensified in almost all countries of the European continent. Synagogues are burning again, acts of vandalism at Jewish cemeteries have become more frequent, monuments to the victims of the Holocaust are being desecrated, neo-fascism is becoming more active. What place does Moldova occupy in this "line"?

According to the data of the first General Population Census in 1897, there were 228.2 thousand Jews in the Bessarabian province - the third place after the Moldovans and Ukrainians. According to the data of the 1989 General Census, only 22.5 thousand Jews already lived on the territory of Moldova. Today, oddly enough (taking into account emigration, the evacuation of 1,400 Jews in 1992 during the Transnistrian conflict, aliyah), from 15 to 30 (!) thousand inhabitants of the republic consider themselves Jews. On the one hand, this can be associated with the growth of Jewish self-consciousness, when Jewish roots are not hidden, but, on the contrary, are sought. On the other hand, it is no secret that in an impoverished country with hundreds of thousands of unemployed and salaries that often do not provide a living wage, the opportunity to receive even small but constant charitable assistance from a well-established network of Hasedim in the republic is very attractive... And they are looking for Jewish roots to 4th knee.

Does this mean that anti-Semitism is done away with in Moldova? With the state, perhaps, yes. But real political and civil freedom, which began its triumphal procession in the republic in 1989, opened the floodgates not only to the growth of national self-consciousness among more than 100 ethnic groups inhabiting Moldova, but also activated ardent admirers of the idea of ​​national exclusivity of the indigenous population. These are, first of all, members of the Christian Democratic People's Party (PPCD), headed by its chairman, Iurie Rosca, the party's print organ of the newspaper "Tzara" and the mouthpiece of the Writers' Union of Moldova, the weekly "Literatura shi Arta" (editor-in-chief - N. Dabizha )... This is where inter-ethnic tension comes from, which, intensifying, has been felt in society over the past 10 years.

In 1996, for the fifth time, an act of vandalism was committed at the Jewish cemetery in Tiraspol - more than 20 monuments were smashed to smithereens. What does the newspaper "Literatura shi arta" (N 9, 96) write about this case? Addressing the then chairman of the Jewish community Mikhail Shekhtman, the author of the article exclaims: “The time has come to open the eyes of all our compatriots from everywhere, who, during the Dniester conflict, were almost convinced that I. Smirnov (president of the unrecognized PMR. - L.K.) and his henchmen want to create a Jewish Republic along the Dniester, but that's not the truth!"

In 1997, the press organ of the Socialist Party of Moldova, the newspaper "Dreptate" ("Justice") (N 15), published an anti-Semitic article by A. Nemtsev, a deputy of the then parliament of the Republic of Moldova. You see, it’s getting more and more difficult for him to breathe fresh air: “It gives off some vile smell of former Bundist aggressive intrigues,” writes a socialist of a new formation. ...

The manifestations of anti-Semitism in Moldova are facilitated by the shortcomings and superficiality of the democratic culture of politicians, the lack of historical culture among journalists. Thus, on November 7, 1999, several public organizations held a "round table" in the Department of National Relations in connection with the 51st anniversary of Kristallnacht. And in the evening newscast of the Moldovan National Television, this event was called "a holiday that will now be celebrated annually"...

It is surprising, but true: in Moldova, not a single school or university history textbook mentions the Holocaust. But on the territory of Bessarabia, during the genocide of Jews, as a rule, the hands of the Romanian fascists were destroyed, according to various sources, from 300,000 to 400,000 people.

But in the monograph of the historian A. Petrencu "Romania and Bessarabia in the Second World War" a portrait of the executioner of the Jews I. Antonescu is published and his policy in resolving the "Jewish question" is rehabilitated.

The autumn of 2001 and the spring of 2002 are marked by the activation of the PPCD. They attract high school students and university students to the so-called protest actions held on the Great National Assembly Square. Outraged by the nationalist slogans heard at these demonstrations, as well as by a number of publications in the PPCD newspaper Tzara, which distort the truth about the Holocaust, several non-governmental organizations representing national minorities are turning to the world community with a declaration. It is published under the heading "CDPP Accused of Anti-Semitism" in the government newspaper "Nezavisimaya Moldova" on April 2, 2002. The authors of the Appeal are particularly indignant at the books of Antonescu's defender A. Petrencu. He, the document says, "mobilized everything he could find in anti-Semitic literature to show that the Jews are the 'fifth column' operating behind the backs of the Romanian army ... this vile, corrupt tribe, etc." "We believe," the Address reads further, "that politicians of any level should be aware that the unpunished manifestation of xenophobia, genocide against one people today can turn into tomorrow genocide against all mankind."

The voices of those who wanted to erect a monument to the anti-Semite and murderer I. Antonescu in Chisinau subsided. But a bust of the xenophobe poet Octavian Goga appeared on the Alley of Classics in the central city park. Renamed street. Chai Livshits, but appeared to them. Mihai Kogalniceanu. This writer and historian put a lot of effort into a policy directed against all national minorities, and preached the Romanianization of Moldovans.

When Moldova joined the "campaign" for the delivery of non-ferrous metals (as one of the sources of income for its unemployed citizens), the bronze bas-reliefs of the sculptor Moses Gamburd, then the musician Sergei Lunkevich disappeared, metal structures and portraits were torn off from many Jewish graves in Chisinau and Balti. Last year, a real pogrom was perpetrated at the Jewish cemetery in Chisinau, up to 30 tombstones were knocked down and broken. A very recent example of vandalism: in January 2003, hooligans toppled 8 monuments at the Jewish cemetery in Balti. And although, as it turned out, the guys were just measuring their strength, for some reason they chose not the stadium, but the Jewish cemetery.

Moldova is currently one of the poorest countries in Eastern Europe. History has repeatedly proven that the search for a scapegoat often turns people into hatred of the Jews. A hundred years ago, this hatred turned into the infamous Chisinau pogrom all over the world. But times are changing. I would like to believe that manifestations of anti-Semitism in the republic will subside, and militant anti-Semitism will become a thing of the past forever.

Lucia Katz