MemorialRomanesc.org

More than half a century has passed since Romania, under the pressure of the joint forces of Hitler’s Germany and Soviet Communism, had to temporarily retreat from, and eventually give up Basarabia and North Bucovina, as the result of a peace treaty which did not take into consideration Romania’s huge military sacrifice alongside the Allied forces.

All the years spent in the communist prison inside the Iron Curtain were horrific times, times of breaking the national spirit in an attempt of creating of the so-called “new man”. This was done under Kremlin’s order, both in Romania and former Romanian territories.

During this period of occupation by the Soviet troops, thousands of Romanian citizens born in Basarabia and Bucovina, as well as Romanian citizens of German origin, were taken away from their families and deported to the USSR.

In the territories allocated to the USSR by the Paris Treaty, a genuine genocide took place against the Romanian population. According to the Soviet policy to change the ethnic landscape of these territories, approximately 1 million people were executed, tortured or deported to Siberia and other far reaches of Asia.

Over 20 years have passed since our liberation from the influence of the Communist Empire from the East, a time period for a new generation to grow and form, a generation that does not know of foreign oppression.

Because of our government’s silence, the Western world is unaware of the huge sacrifices and terrible losses Romania suffered under Soviet occupation.

While the general silence could have been somehow justified prior to December 1989 when Romania was still under the Soviet rule, it is hard to understand the continuation of the same policy of silence and ignoring the truth of the Romanian tragedy long after the collapse of the USSR.

Today’s Romania, the rightful heir to the pre-war Romanian state, must assume its debts, at least morally, towards all of its citizens, including those who lived in its pre-war territories. These citizens contributed towards Romania’s development as much as those lucky enough to be born within its current borders after the Soviet occupation.

Therefore, we, the signees of this document:

• considering that we, the survivors and descendants of this great tragedy the Romanian people were subject to, must take it upon ourselves to remember and make it known to future generations, to help them remember their history and roots;
• considering that the world has to know, even so long after those events, that Romania, like many other civilizations, has its innocent victims and martyrs;
• considering that no one has the right to remain silent in regards to the suffering and losses endured by the Romanian people as a result of foreign occupation;
• considering that the Romanian Government has the responsibility of honoring hundreds of thousands of its citizens who were tortured, murdered, emotionally mutilated or deported by the hostile foreign forces just for being loyal citizens of Romania;

We ask the Romanian Parliament, as a representative of the Romanian People;
We ask Romania’s President, as a representative of the Romanian State;

To ratify and finance the development and installation of a Memorial of Romanian Suffering, to commemorate the tragedy and suffering that hundreds of thousands of Romanian citizens endured as a result of an ethnic genocide under the Soviet occupation of the country and its former territories.

WE CAN FORGIVE, BUT WE CAN’T FORGET

(» Romaninan Version)