How Bessarabians Were Perceived by the Romanian Civilian-Military Administration in 1941 by Diana Dumitru, “Ion Creangă” State Pedagogical University of Moldova
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
How Bessarabians Were Perceived by the Romanian Civilian-Military Administration In 1941 by Diana Dumitru, “Ion Creangă” State Pedagogical University of Moldova Abstract This chapter delineates the ambivalent perception of Bessarabians by the representatives of the Ro- manian administration after June 1941. The resentment accumulated by Romanian officials, as a result of loss of Bessarabia to the USSR in 1940, aggregated with the broader fear of the Soviet state, and marked their attitude toward the population of Bessarabia once the province was returned to Romania in the summer of 1941. While the population was still viewed as an integral part of the Romanian nation, their mentality and their devotion towards the Romanian state were considered corrupted by the influence of communist ideology and Soviet egalitarian milieu. Correspondingly, Bessarabians were blamed for loosing their sense of being Romanians and the atrophy of senti- ments of discipline, respect, and hierarchy under the rule of the Soviet Union. Still, the Bessarabian Romanians were regarded as the most trustworthy social category, compared to other indigenous ethnic groups which, were suspected of anti-Romanian feeling and deemed to share an affinity for the Soviet regime. In the views of Romanian authorities, the Bessarabians could be brought back to normality through a process of “rehabilitation.” Until then, the population of Bessarabia could not enjoy the complete trust and had to be administered by devoted elements, predominantly func- tionaries originating from the Old Kingdom, or verified member of the Bessarabian elites who took refuge to Romania after the Soviet annexation from 1940. essarabia’s tumultuous history left an en- nianization” of the Bessarabian population Bduring mark on the identity of its inhabit- during the territory’s period within Greater ants, presenting tremendous challenges to the Romania3 and also advanced arguments sup- numerous authorities that governed this land.1 porting the existence of a separate Moldovan Subjected to pronounced cultural fractures national identity, distinct from a Romanian and often contradictory overlaying stratifica- one.4 More recently, a series of publications tions, Bessarabians’ sense of loyalty was con- have denounced earlier attempts to manipu- stantly under vigilant scrutiny by Russian, late Bessarabians’ identity by the Tsarist and Romanian, and other governing powers.2 The Soviet administrations.5 After 1991, the Re- problem of an assumed lack of loyalty towards 3 S. K. Brysiakin, Kul’tura Bessarabii v 1918- the incumbent government of the population 1940 gg, Kishinev, 1978; S. K. Brysiakin, M. K. Sytnik, of this territory explains the sustained historic Torzhestvo istoricheskoi spravedlivosti, Kishinev, 1969; A. Dolinik, Pod vlastiu rumynskikh boiar, Moskva, efforts to “re-educate” Bessarabians in the civ- 1945; V. Lungu, Politika terrora i grabezha v Bessarabii ic, national, and moral senses of the word. (1918-1920 gg), Kishinev, 1979; S. F. Kustriabova, The historiography written during the Soviet Polozhenie trudiashikhsia i demograficheskie protsessy v gorodakh Bessarabii (1918-1940), Kishinev, 1977. period excelled at denouncing the “Roma- 4 A. M. Lazarev. Moldavskaia sovetskaia gosudarstvennost’ i bessarabskii vopros, Kishinev, 1 A series of articles on the issue of 1974; Împotriva falsificatorilor burgheji ai istoriei şi Bessarabian identity can be found in: Basarabia. culturii poporului moldovenesc, Chişinău, 1974; V. Dilemele identităţii, eds. Flavius Solomon, Alexandru Stati, Limba moldovenească şi răuvoitorii ei: împotriva Zub, Iaşi: Fundaţia Academică „A.D. Xenopol,” falsificatorilor burgheji ai dezvoltării limbii moldoveneşti, 2001. Chişinău, 1988. 2 George Ciorănescu, Bessarabia, Disputed 5 Mihail Bruhis, Rusia, România şi Basarabia Land between East and West, Muenchen, 1984. (1812, 1918, 1924, 1940), Chişinău, 1992; W. P. Euxeinos 15/16 (2014) 65 Diana Dumitru public of Moldova became a battleground of this extraordinary period of time, and thereby opposing political forces, while historiogra- elucidate a topic which has so far failed to at- phy and education became tools for shaping tract much scholarly attention.7 the population’s identity towards various Notably, the year 1941 represents a crucial pe- desired outcomes (typically a pro-Russian or riod – one of maximal intensity in the history pro-Romanian direction).6 of the Romanian state – and yet a watershed This chapter does not claim to include debates juncture that is significantly understudied in on these topics, nor does it intend to provide Romanian historiography, especially when historical or political arguments for either side compared to the focus placed on 1940. With involved in shaping Bessarabians’ identity. It the beginning of the war with the USSR, the has a more modest aim: to analyse the multiple leadership of Romania was undertaking a facets of how Bessarabians were described in reappraisal of earlier phases of history and, 1941 by members of the Romanian administra- simultaneously, launched several projects tion. The rationale for analysing the imagery of of great significance for the future of the en- Bessarabians from this specific vantage point tire country and of Bessarabia in particular. follows from the exceptional nature of the cir- During this period, the state’s border on the cumstances under which it arose. The analysis Nistru River was once again imbued with should help scholars better understand over- importance as its defensive eastern frontier lapping national and regional identities, cen- and the bastion of Christendom in the fatal tre-periphery relations, and challenges to the vicinity of Soviet Russia.8 Resentments which sense of belonging which permeated Roma- had burst forth among the Romanian admin- nia, Bessarabia, and much of Europe during istration after the surrender of Bessarabia in June 1940, helped determine the nature of van Meurs, The Bessarabian Question in Communist national projects focused on the Bessarabian Historiography. Nationalist and Communist Politics and History Writing, Chişinău, Arc, 1996; Charles population after the territory’s return to Ro- King, Moldovenii. România, Rusia şi politica culturală, manian rule. In this particular context, the Chişinău, Arc, 2002; Klaus Heitmann, Limbă şi way in which the Bessarabian population politică în Republica Moldova, Chişinău, 1998; Doru Mihăiescu, Basarabia şi Bucovina (pornind de la numele was viewed by the central administration lor), Iaşi, 2000. laid the foundation for implementing a new 6 Mircea Snegur, “Republica Moldova este social construction, and, simultaneously, es- ţara tuturor cetăţenilor săi,” in Pămînt şi oameni, 12 tablished the place and the definitive role February, 1994, p. 3, Mihai Cimpoi, Basarabia sub steaua exilului, Bucureşti, 1994; Anatol Petrencu, În serviciul zeiţei Clio, Chişinău, 2001; Ion Eremia, 7 The author of this article studies the issue Falsificarea istoriei sau “Fenomenul Stati” în Republica of the Holocaust in Romania; most of the archival Moldova, Chişinău, 2003. For an account on the materials cited here were consulted in relation to confrontations in Moldova’s schools see the articles: the study of the Holocaust. Elizabeth Anderson: „Don’t Falsify Our History! 8 The Romanian government will also Moldovan Teacher and Student Reaction to State ponder claims on the Soviet territory across Proposed History Courses”, Nationalisms Across the Nistru River and with the help of its political and Globe: An Overviews of Nationalisms in Sate-Endowed intellectual elites will attempt to justify a new and Stateless Nations, Vol. I, Europe, Poznan, The political border on the Bug River. See: Mioara Polish Academy of Sciences, 2005; Anderson Anton, “Dincolo de Nistru. Politică etnică și Elizabeth A., “Backwards, Forwards, or Both? construcție identitară,” Al doilea război mondial: Moldovan Teachers’ Relationship to the State and memorie și istorie în estul și Vestul Europei, eds. Diana the Nation,’” European Education, 2005, vol. 37, nr. 3, Dumitru, Igor Cași, Andrei Cușco, Petru Negură p. 53-67. (Chișinău: Cartier, 2013), p. 25-44. Euxeinos 15/16 (2014) 66 Diana Dumitru of Bessarabians inside Romanian society. within Bessarabia whenever it served the na- The aim of this study is to highlight the image tional interest.11 of Bessarabians as perceived by the Romanian The circulation of goods and people between administration starting from June 1941 until Bessarabia and the rest of Romania was consid- the end of that year. In order to achieve this erably curtailed, with the intention of erecting goal we analyse a series of archival documents an impenetrable wall between the two parts of containing references to the civilian popula- the reunited country.12 From the first days of tion of Bessarabia, most of which had been sub- the war with the USSR, Antonescu demanded jected to Soviet occupation between June 1940 that qualified, competent civil servants be em- and June 1941, by representatives of the civil- ployed in Bessarabia and Bucovina. In order ian and military administration of Bessarabia, to encourage functionaries to arrive and work including the governor of the province. The in these peripheral provinces a 30 percent rise majority of materials used for this research in salaries was planned, in addition to the originates from the archives of the Ministry establishment of exclusive shops that would of National Defence of Romania and from the provide access to goods which were in short National