Holocaust as the last pogrom, or pogrom as a rehearsal of the Holocaust: A monument to the prisoners of the Chisinau ghetto
You see the mournful figure of a Jew, perhaps a rabbi with the Torah, or perhaps Moses with a tablet in his right hand; his left hand lies on his grief-stricken heart. Behind it is a red obelisk with a gaping Star of David, on which, in black letters in Romanian, Russian, and Yiddish, is engraved "Martyrs and Victims of the Chisinau Ghetto! We, the living, remember you" and at the bottom right a prayer of Kaddish.
The sculpture itself was created by the famous Moldovan sculptor Naum Appelbaum and the granite frame was created by Semen Choichet, honored architect of Moldova, who was head of the Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities of Moldova for a long time. The memorial complex is dedicated to the memory of the Holocaust, and it was opened in 1993, the 90th anniversary of the infamous Kishinev pogrom. It is the metaphor expressed in the stone: "The Chisinau Ghetto - the last pogrom," which was a rehearsal of the Holocaust.
To the left of the monument there is an information panel telling in Romanian, Russian and English the tragic events of 1941.
Chisinau was occupied July 16, and the killing of Jews began immediately. Holocaust museums in Bucharest, the United States, Israel and Chisinau give the number of victims: even before the ghetto was created, more than 10,000 Jews, mostly women, old people, children, were killed in and around the city itself.
On July 25, 1941, the fenced-off Chisinau ghetto is organized in the lower town where we are now. About 12,000 people are driven there. An order is issued that all the Jews of Chisinau must leave their homes and come here. Everyone was gathered into the ghetto, regardless of age, gender or state of health.
The ghetto was enclosed by a fence with 4 kilometers of barbed wire around its perimeter. The local Christian inhabitants, who had special entry and exit passes, were not evicted from the territory, and their ability to provide food to the prisoners depended to a large extent on them. Jews were forbidden to leave under threat of being shot.
In the ghetto a Judenrat was created, a self-governing body that was to facilitate the execution of all orders of the Romanian and German commands. Dr. Shmuel Gutman-Landau, a former member of the Sfatul Tzery, head of the Jewish community in the Moldavian Democratic Republic, and head of the Bessarabian Jewish community within Romania, was appointed head of the Judenrat. Gutman-Landau was able to get a bakery and a hospital opened in the ghetto. He appealed several times to Ion Antonescu (Marshal of Romania and Führer of Romania from 1940-1944) to help the ghetto prisoners and prevent their deportation to Transnistria, but alas!
In August 1941, all prisoners were ordered to wear a Star of David on their clothing. They could not go out into the city dressed like that: any gendarme would stop them and shoot them on the spot.
In August and September 1941, over 2,000 prisoners of the Kishinev ghetto were murdered. The shootings were carried out by German soldiers, a special SS unit, Romanian soldiers and gendarmes.Despite the constant sanctioned killings, people tried to make a living somehow. They bribed Romanian officers and tried to contact relatives and friends in Romania. A few dozen prisoners managed to escape from the ghetto and reach Bucharest, some managed to survive and wait for the war to end.
There were two small synagogues in the ghetto. On Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, it was announced to the assembled ghetto Jews that they would all be deported across the Nistru River.In October, the final stage of the tragedy began: deportation to Transnistria proved to be a road of death. Pits were dug every 10 km along the way, and the lagging, sick and old people were thrown into them. On the way, gendarmes killed deportees for the purpose of robbing them, and the convoy was attacked by local peasants.
Today, the former ghetto site is home to a maternity hospital with which a Kishinev legend is associated. When the question arose in the early 50s about where to place it, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers allegedly suggested this location: "Let new life appear where people were killed. It will be our memory of them."
We continue down the short Jerusalem Street to the end, and then turn left and head down Jerusalem Street. Jerusalem to the end, and then turn left and head down Puskin Street (str. Pushkin (str.Puskin). On the right are the old large-panel houses of the Soviet period, and on the left are the new buildings designed for a variety of businesses. Before reaching the gas station on the right side, we take a short turn to Grigore Ureche Street. Grigore Ureche (Str. Grigore Ureche) On the right we see house 75 with the sign JW, but we are not here for it - it's not JEW! This is the Jehovah's Witness Center in Moldova. And here on the left is the white building that interests us.We have come to point #6, and let's stop here.
