MASS DEPORTATIONS AND FORCED COLLECTIVIZATION IN THE SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA (SSRM) Senior Lecturer PhD.

Elena ICANU

DEPORTARILE N MAS I COLECTIVIZAREA FORAT N REPUBLICA SOVIETIC SOCIALIST MOLDOVENEASC Conf. univ. dr. Elena ICANU

Although officially, the collectivization in RSSM started in the beginning of 1941, on the 19th of June 1941 there were already 120 kolkhozes which contained 16244 collective farms. After the war, the communist leadership of SSRM did not hurry to reestablish all of the kolkhozes which were created right after the invasion of Bessarabia. This break in the process of collectivization is explained, in the Soviet historiography, by the fact that the peasants were still unconscious of the necessity of realizing the Leninist plan of cooperation, but the reality was totally different. The peasants households almost did not have bovines for labor and the agrarian inventory necessary for the foundation of the technical base of agrarian cooperatives and, for the representatives of the Soviet regime was much easier to suck as much as possible from the individual peasant household, than to assure the activity of the kolkhozes. The individual households were obliged to provide the State with large quantities of products and to pay the agrarian tax, regardless of their productivity. For not paying the dues to the State, the peasants were sent to trial, imprisoned and their belongings were confiscated. The leaders of the kolkhozes, however, were not held responsible for not complying with the production planning. The exaggerate requirements, considering the drought of the years 1945-1946, led to famishment, to the death of thousands of people and to cases of cannibalism unseen before.

Dei oficial colectivizarea n RSSM a demarat la nceputul anului 1941, deja la 19 iunie 1941 existau 120 de colhozuri care ncadrau 16.244 de gospodrii. Dup rzboi, conducerea comunist a RSSM nu s-a grbit s restabileasc toate colhozurile ce fusese create imediat dup ocuparea Basarabiei. Aceast pauz n procesul colectivizrii este explicat, n istoriografia sovietic, prin faptul c ranii nc nu erau contieni de necesitatea realizrii planului leninist de cooperare, ns realitatea a fost cu totul i cu totul alta. Gospodriile rneti aproape c nu dispuneau de vite de munc i de inventar agricol necesare creerii bazei tehnice a cooperativelor agricole, iar reprezentanilor regimului sovietic le era mult mai convenabil s stoarc tot ce era posibil din gospodria rneasc individual, dect s asigure activitatea colhozurilor. Gospodriile individuale erau obligate s livreze la stat mari cantiti de produse i s plteasc impozitul agricol indiferent de productivitatea culturilor. Pentru neachitarea livrrilor obligatorii ctre stat, ranii erau trimii n judecat, bgai la nchisoare, iar averea le era confiscat. Conductorii de colhozuri, ns, nu erau trai la rspundere pentru nendeplinirea planului de producie. Rechiziiile exagerate, n condiiile secetei anilor 1945-1946, au condus la nfometare, la decesul a mii de oameni, i la cazuri de canibalism nemaivzute pn atunci.

In February 1949, the 2nd Congress of the Communist (Bolshevik) Party of Moldova has drawn the main requirement: to assure the transfer of all individual households to collective farms, or, in other words, total collectivization. The main instrument used in the fulfillment of this task was gained through the massive deportations of July 1949. On the 28th of June 1949, exactly after 9 years from the invasion of the Romanian territories by the Soviet troupes, the Council of Ministers of the RSSM adopted the secret decision no. 509 concerning the deportation from the RSSM of enriched families, of the former landlords and merchants. The operation, with the codename Iug (South), was done in the night of the 6th of July 1949, when 35796 people were deported, from which 9864 were men, 14033 women and 11889 children. The effect was as expected: in July and August, when the crop was to be collected, the peasants voluntarily gave it to the kolkhozes, and the number of collectivized households increased 2.2 times, from 32,2% to 72.3%. At the end of 1950, in the counties between the rivers of Dniester and Prut, 433923 households were collectivized (97%), and the process was considered done. The story of the lives of the deported is shocking.

n februarie 1949, congresul al II-lea al Partidului Comunist (bolevic) din Moldova a trasat sarcina principal: asigurarea trecerii tuturor gospodriilor rneti individuale, pe calea gospodriilor mari socialiste, cu alte cuvinte, colectivizarea total. Instrumentul principal folosit n realizarea acestei sarcini a fost reprezentat de deportrile masive din iulie 1949. La 28 iunie 1949, exact dup 9 ani de la invadarea pmnturilor romneti de ctre trupele sovietice, Consiliul de Minitri al RSS Moldoveneti, a adoptat hotrrea secret nr. 509 Privind deportarea din RSSM a familiilor de chiaburi, a fotilor moieri i a marilor comerciani. Operaiunea, codificat Iug (Sud), a fost efectuat n noaptea de 6 iulie 1949 i au fost deportate 35.796 de persoane, dintre care 9.864 brbai, 14.033 femei i 11.889 copii. Efectul a fost cel ateptat: n lunile iulie i august, cnd trebuia strns recolta, ranii benevol le-au oferit colhozurilor, iar numrul gospodriilor colectivizate a crescut de 2,2 ori, de la 32,2 la 72,3%. La sfritul anului 1950 n raioanele dintre Nistru i Prut erau colectivizate 433.923 gospodrii sau 97,0%, iar colectivizarea era considerat ncheiat. Povestea vieii celor deportai este una cutremurtoare.