Deportations from the Region of Chernivci (Ukraine) and Edinets District (Moldova)

to Donbass. It is important to specify here that Yuri completed – “they didn’t have the right to crush her house”. N. Bzovi from Boyan mentioned that his brother, Toader, was taken to Donbass to work in a mine. Also there were three attempts to arrest for Donbass, his brother-in-law, Ionel Bosovichy, but this one escaped every time. From these testimonies we can conclude that the people remember the young men and women, usually without families, who were taken to Donbass.

About the deportation itself, the main testimony was that of Mosoryuk from Mahala. Her family was condemned to 20 years in 1941. After the war, her family came back and was sent for the second time in 1949. It is interesting to underline, that Mosoryuk stopped more on the moment of the deportation and the circumstances, and less on their experience in the Omsk region. It is also important that she mentioned people of other ethnicities, whom they met during the deportation – in her case, these were Russians, Jews and Estonians.

E. Bizovi from Boyan, referred to the deported who came back but asked us, in the case of those who are still alive, not to search for them, because of their trauma. Sandulyak from Malineshty, mentioned two men deported from their village (but it is not clear if it was in 1941 or after 1944).

The reason was that they didn’t want to enrol in the Kolkhoz. One of them lost his property, but the other had the wife who remained and came back to his own house. Sandulyak mentioned among the places from where many were deported – Boyan, Mahala, Tsureny, the former county of Hertsa.

If to compare with the Ukrainian testimonies, in the case of the Romanians (the former Northern Bukovina) and the Moldovans (the Northern part of the former Khotyn county), there appear two differences.

The Ukrainians mention precisely the names of the persons involved in their trials, in deportations or in the collaboration with the Soviet power. On the other hand, the religious references are rare for the Ukrainians. In the case of the Romanians, religion is very present as point of reference. Skripkaryu from Arboreny, concludes before the end of his testimony – “May God not give even to the whelp of a snake, to return those times with such sufferings and difficulties”. Mosoryuk from Mahala, pointed out that they were taken 113