'Bﾄネﾅ｣i' is the third-largest city of
Moldova, and the major city in the north of the country. During the Russian Empire (1812-1917), and later the
Soviet era (1940-1990) the name was also spelled 'Beltsy', from its form in Russian. The city is situated 135 km north of the capital
Chiﾅ殃nﾄブ, and is located on the small river
Rﾄブt, an affluent of
Dniester (Nistru), among a hilly landscape, that in the
Middle Ages was covered with forest, but has since been almost entirely cut down.
Geography and territory
Bﾄネﾅ｣i is situated on the tops and slopes of hills, and partially in a valley. The land in the north of
Moldova is very fertile, with black-earth dominating in quasi-totality. (The agricultural potential represents practically the only natural resource of
Moldova.) Some excavation of materials for the construction industry is also employed at several sites around Bﾄネﾅ｣i.
The river
Rﾄブt, which is the size of a creek when it passes Bﾄネﾅ｣i, is polluted in a village upstream by a
Soviet-style animal farm. Using its water is therefore quite hazardous, but for the most part the banks are fenced or otherwise inaccessible to the population. The creeks
Rﾄブﾅ｣el,
Copﾄツeanca, and
Flﾄノﾃ｢ndﾄ cross the territory of the municipality and fall into Rﾄブt. Also, several lakes are situated there.
The all-time maximum of temperature registered in the city is 38ﾂｰC, the all-time minimum -32ﾂｰC. There are 350 to 450 mm of annual rainfall, mostly during summer and fall. Winds are generally from north-east or north-west at about 2-5 m/s. The city is situated in the 7th zone of seismicity, with a well-felt earthquake (generally without any serious structural damage to the city's buildings) striking on average every 35 years.
The
municipality covers an area of 78.0 kmﾂｲ, of which the city proper 41.42 kmﾂｲ, the village
Elisabeta (an eastern suburb) 9.81 kmﾂｲ, and the village
Sadovoe (a north-western suburb) 26.77 kmﾂｲ. Of these, an important portion (20.11 kmﾂｲ) is actually agricultural land.
Some city neighborhoods bear the names of the former 19th century suburbs: Pﾄノﾃ｢nteni, Slobozia, Molodova, Bﾄネﾅ｣ul Nou, Podul Chiﾅ殃nﾄブlui; some are known by their
Soviet-era names: 8th district, 9th district; or other names: Autogara (which in
Romanian means the inter-city coach station), Dacia, also colloquially sometimes called Bam (the colloquial name preferred to the official
Soviet-era name October, from the
October Revolution of 1917).
Population
The exact size of the population of the city is hard to estimate. The official 2005 estimates indicated 126,728 inhabitants, based on the 2004 census figure of 127,561, which includes the population of the two suburbs,
Elisabeta (3,500 people), and
Sadovoe (1,400 people). The accuracy of the 2004 census data is highly questionable, as the census officials, possibly motivated by financial shortages or political considerations, filled in approximate figures rather than questioning large portions of population. The last census, during the
Soviet period (1989), came up with 161,475 inhabitants. An exodus has occurred since 1992 due to the economic situation in
Moldova (worsening until 2001-2002 and stagnant or slightly improving after 2001-2002).
Many emigrant workers from the city are temporarily (legally or illegally) working in
Russia and
Greece, as well as western Europe including
Italy,
Portugal and
Ireland, as it is very difficult to earn a living in Moldova. Remittances from these account for 30% of Moldova's GDP, the highest percentage in all of Europe.
[1] Often, elderly relatives and children of these workers are left to live in Bﾄネﾅ｣i. In many cases children are left with minimal to no supervision for months or more. Other former inhabitants of Bﾄネﾅ｣i moved (often permanently) during the same period to work or study in
Romania,
Russia, or the rest of Europe.
According to the Romanian official census for 1930, Bﾄネﾅ｣i had a population of 30,570, of which 14,200 were
Jews, 8,900
Romanians, 5,400
Russians and
Ukrainians, 1,000
Poles. Also 14,400 were
Christian Orthodox, 14,250
Judaic,
1,250 Romano-
Catholic. The city represented at the time only 7.9% of the population of the surrounding
Bﾄネﾅ｣i County, which was by the same census almost entirely Romanian, and it is so today. According to the Romanian official estimations for 1935, based on the census of 1930, the city had around 35,000 people.
After
World War II, during the period when the city was part of the former
Soviet Union, there was significant immigration from all over the
USSR in a move to establish a local
Soviet and party apparatus, to develop the industry, and to create a
Russian-speaking majority. In the same period many
Moldovans/Romanians from the countryside of Moldova moved to the cities, including Bﾄネﾅ｣i. By the end of 1980s, the
Jews had migrated en masse to
Israel. The Russian-speaking portion of the population (identifying themselves ethnically as
Russians,
Ukrainians, and also as over 30 other
ethnicities of the former Soviet Union) had by then reached almost 50%, with
Romanian-speaking
Moldovans representing the other 50%.
| Year | 1897 | 1930 | 1959 | 1970 | 1979 | 1989 | 2004 |
|---|
| Population | 18,500 | 30,600 | 67,666 | 105,505 | 126,950 | 161,475 | 127,561 |
In 1939 there was another census, data of which was not completely processed due to Soviet occupation. Preliminary data suggested around 40,000 inhabitants.
Today, official 2004 census figures
[2] put Moldovans/Romanians at 54.2%, Russians at 19.2% and Ukrainians at 23.7%, although Ukrainians often speak Russian, or a mixture of Russian and
Ukrainian as their native tongue.
The majority of the population is bilingual, although both groups often speak the other language reluctantly. Some older Russians, especially those who came to Moldova as adults and had a career in the
Soviet system, can speak only Russian, though they often understand some Romanian. Younger Moldovans, educated after 1989, speak only Romanian while understanding some Russian.
At the last census, 90.7% of the population (110,961 people) identified themselves as
Christian Orthodox, 2.1% (2,609 people) as
Baptist, 0.8% (990 people) as
Catholic, 3.2% (3,960 people) as belonging to other religious groups (none more than 0.5%), 0.4% (544 people) as atheist, and 2.7% (3,304) as agnostic.
Transportation
Bﾄネﾅ｣i was and is an important transportation hub of
Moldova, though the quality of the paved roads and railroads is very poor due to the lack of regular maintenance.
The best inter-city transportation is coach or van (privately or publicly owned). 135 km of
Soviet style highway (portions in good or fair condition) connect the city to the capital
Chiﾅ殃nﾄブ. By road one can also reach
Ukraine (in about 2 hours) to the north or to the east, and
Romania (1 hour) to the south-west by the
Sculeni-
Sculeni crossing point, which leads to the important Romanian city of
Iaﾅ殃 (104 km from Bﾄネﾅ｣i), or to the west by the
Stﾃ｢nca-
Costeﾅ殳i crossing.
Regular railroad connection to
Ocniﾅ｣a (north),
Rezina (east) and
Ungheni (south-east), as well as to
Chiﾅ殃nﾄブ exists, but it is extremely slow (it takes 6 hours to cover the 200 km to Chiﾅ殃nﾄブ).
Since the city is situated on the right-bank (of
Dnister), i.e. main part of
Moldova, the
railroad lines are not electric, and contain only a single lane between stations.
[1] Since Moldova got independent, the condition of the railroad lines in and around the city has even worsened due to lack of regular reconstruction.
There are two
railroad stations: Bﾄネﾅ｣i-oraﾅ (Bﾄネﾅ｣i-city) and Bﾄネﾅ｣i-Slobozia (the name of a city neighborhood), and an inter-city coach station (autogara).
The city also has an operational
airport a few km to the north (near the village of
Corlﾄフeni), modern by Soviet standards, built in 1980s, where large aircraft can land. No information on its current activity is available.
A second airport, for small aircraft is located on the eastern outskirts of the city. The later was the most important airport in the surrounding region during
World War II.
Flag and coat of arms
The current coat of arms and flag of Bﾄネﾅ｣i, elaborated by Silviu Tabac from the Moldovan State Commission for Heraldics, have been adopted in April 2006 by the municipal council.
Coat of arms
A shield, with (alternating) six silverly strips (symbolizing ''water''), and six blue strips (symbolizing ''earth'') form the background. (The word ''bﾄネﾅ｣i'' means in English ''pools'' or ''puddles''.) The central element of the shield is an
archer in red clothes, in the military outfit (yellow) of
Stephen III of Moldavia times (15th century). The archer represents the medieval military recruitment, formed by free peasants paying tax only to the country's ruler, and ready to serve at the first call, which were based in this region of
Moldavia.
[2]
On top of the shield there is a silverly crown in the shape of fortress wall, with seven towers. (The crown represents the fact that the locality is a city. Apart from Bﾄネﾅ｣i, only the capital
Chiﾅ殃nﾄブ, and
Tiraspol are allowed to have seven towers, while other cities must limit this number to three or five.) The shiled is supported by two silverly horses raised on two legs. (The white horse is the traditional symbol of the region, which was part of
Iaﾅ殃 County before 1812.) Under the shiled there is a ribbon with the
Latin inscription ''CIDANT ARMA TOGAE'', meaning ''arms yield to togas''.
[3]
Flag
The city's flag is composed of two horizontal strips: a blue one on top, and a silverly one on bottom. The shield and archer elements from the coat of arms are also present in the center of the flag .
Other symbols
In the Middle Ages, the archer featured on the coats of arms of the region.
In the 19th century, the city coat of arms was for most of the time a horse head.
In the early 20th century, a shield representing an archer, standing on a hill, the sun, and three
bullrush sticks (elements quite sufficient to identify the place where Bﾄネﾅ｣i is situated in the landscape of the north of Moldova) formed the coat of arms of the Bﾄネﾅ｣i county,
while these and horse elements - the coat of arms of the city proper.
Architecture and tourist attractions
The main points of attraction in the city are:
★
Vasile Alecsandri theatre
★
Saint Nicolas Church, Bﾄネﾅ｣i (1795). Although
orthodox, the building, financed by
Gheorghe Panaiti, has a degree of
catholic influence brought in by the architect
Antuan Weismann from
Galicia.
★
Saint Constantine and Elena Cathedral, Bﾄネﾅ｣i (1934),
orthodox, built in Romanian neo-
Byzantine style. The building, at which official opening the Romanian royal family was present, survived almost without visible effects the harsh treatment during the
Soviet era, when it was for most of the time a depot, later to be turned into the municipal museum.
★
Bishopric Palace, Bﾄネﾅ｣i (1924-1932), which during the
Soviet time was the main office of the agricultural enterprise-institute "Selectia", and the surrounding park
★
Saint Parascheva Church, Bﾄネﾅ｣i (1933), by the bishop
Visarion Puiu
★
Archangels Michael and Gabriel Church, Bﾄネﾅ｣i (1912-1933)
★
Saint Peter and Paul Church, Bﾄネﾅ｣i (1915-1929)
★
Armenian Saint Gregory Church, Bﾄネﾅ｣i (1916)
★
Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church (1884)
★ the oldest surviving building, a two-stories boyar house, presently right in the centre of the downtown area, dates back to 1609, but it has been re-constructed and re-modeled many times with total disregard to conservation to the extent that now it simply looks like an odd two-storey building.
★
Monument of Stephen the Great (2003)
★
others (see down through the text)
★
others
History
'1421' The city is founded as a fair by Ringalia of
Mazovia, the sister of
Polish king WﾅＢdysﾅＢw II JagieﾅでＰ (of the
Lithuanian dynasty), who was the wife of the
Moldavian Prince Alexandru I cel Bun ''[Alexander the Good]''.
At the time the territory belonged to the
Dorohoi ﾅ｣inut (
land/
county), but later to the
Iaﾅ殃 county of the
Principality of Moldova (
Iaﾅ殃 was the capital of the Principality from 1574 to 1859).
A crossroad, Bﾄネﾅ｣i soon became well-known as a
horse fair.
'1469' A
Crimean Tatar invasion led by the
khan Meﾃｱli I Giray burned the place to the ground, before being defeated in the
Battle of Lipnic (about 100 km north).
Bﾄネﾅ｣i was rebuilt very slowly.
'1711' The
Moldavian prince
Dimitrie Cantemir, also a well-known historiographer and scientist of the time, impressed by the defeat of the
Swedish-
Polish king
Charles XII at the
Battle of Poltava (600 km east in eastern
Ukraine) by the young
Russian tsar Peter the Great, invited the latter to
Moldavia in a bold move to try to end
Ottoman suzerainty and reclaim the independence of Moldova. During this
failed military campaign the main headquarters of the Russian and parts of the Moldavian armies were established at Bﾄネﾅ｣i, due to its crossroads location.
Unfortunately, this intervention had several long-lasting negative consequences on the fate of Moldova. Understanding the danger to their dominance, the
Turks no longer let the Moldavian
boyars elect the
prince, but instead sold the
throne every 2-3 years to the best bid, generally coming from a rich
Greek merchant from the
Istanbul neighborhood of
Phanar. (''See also
The Fanariot ﾃ英oque'')
From '1711' till '1822', the darkest chapter in the history of the Principalities of Moldavia, six major wars totaling a quarter of a century in length were fought between the full-equipped and greatly numbered armies of three empires:
Ottoman,
Russian and
Habsburg. The local population (most of the battles would take place in the south of Moldavia but occasionally also throughout the rest of the territory) had to support alternatively the burdens of three invading armies, none of which were friendly to the locals, regarding them with suspicion, not always unmotivated. Instead of growing at a fast rate as it was a century earlier, the population decreased by 30% during this time.
[4]
'1766' The prince
Alexandru Ghica, one of a few local (and not Greek) princes of that time, has divided the Bﾄネﾅ｣i estate in two parts, awarding one to the Saint Spiridon monastery of
Iaﾅ殃, and the other to the merchant brothers Alexandru, Constantin and Iordache Panaiti. The three boyar brother, over the next decades improve the locality small city.
'1812' The
Peace of Bucharest grants the whole eastern half of the
Principality of Moldavia, a territory named since than Basarabia (or
Bessarabia),
[5] and which coincides to a substantial extent to the territory of the modern
Republic of Moldova, to the Russian Empire.
'1812-1828' The Russians allow substantial economic and cultural freedom to Moldavians/Romanians, wanting to secure the new province (''gubernia'' in Russian). After 1828 the policy gradually worses.
Bﾄネﾅ｣i benefits from the division of the Principality of Moldavia along the river
Prut in 1812, because although the city of
Iaﾅ殃 remained on the right bank, the largest part of the Iaﾅ殃 county was on the left bank, and Bﾄネﾅ｣i gradually became its natural center.
'1818' The
Russian tsar visits his newly acquired province, and during his passing through Bﾄネﾅ｣i he received news that he had a nephew, the future tsar,
Alexander II of Russia, born. Overjoyed, he grants Bﾄネﾅ｣i official city status.
'1825' The number of counties of Bessarabia is reduced from 12 to 8, but Iaﾅ殃 county is preserved.
'Early 19th century' Bﾄネﾅ｣i has approx. 8,000 inhabitants.
'1860s' Education in
Romanian is gradually banned, and the nobility is forced to use Russian, intermarry Russians, or leave to
Romania[6] However, the policy has a rather contrary effect, due to the absence of assimilation through education by the Russian authorities, Bessarabians strengthen cultural links with the rest of the Romanians.
[7]
'1887' ''Iaﾅ殃 county'' is renamed ''Bﾄネﾅ｣i county''.
'1889' The city becomes a railroad hub.
The ethnic composition of the city diversified with some
colonists arriving from Austrian Galicia, Ukraine and (fewer) from Russia proper, being offered land or seeking freedom of religion.
[8]
A significant number of
Jews (from
Galicia, then in the
Habsburg Empire) settled in Bﾄネﾅ｣i, and by the end of the century became first a plurality, then a majority. Russian officials were unhappy with the number of Jews arriving, but unlike in
Chiﾅ殃nﾄブ, they have not organized
pogroms in Bﾄネﾅ｣i.
The city has not been affected by
World War I other than the recruitment and movement of troops.
'September-November 1917' At the dissolution of the
Russian Empire, Bessarabia elects a National Council (
Sfatul ﾅ｢ﾄビii), which proclaims the
Moldavian Democratic Republic.
'April 1918'
Sfatul ﾅ｢ﾄビii votes union of
Bessarabia with
Romania
In the first part of the 20th century the economy expanded, and the city started to diversify. Many buildings in the town/city date from the inter-war period.
'1920s' The seat of the
Bishopric is moved from
Hotin to Bﾄネﾅ｣i, and the
Bishopric Palace is built (finished 1933).
'1920s' The
Saint Constantine and Elena Cathedral[9] is built throughout (finished in 1932, officially inaugurated 1933)
'1940' The city reaches close to 40,000 inhabitants.
'
June 28,
1940' In accordance with the
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviet Union
demands Romania to cede
Bessarabia and, shortly thereafter, the Red Army enters the region. Surprisingly to the locals, the Romanian authorities, in great limbo due to recent international developments (conquest of
France by
Germany four days before the Soviet ultimatum), decides to temporarily avoid an armed conflict. The army and administration are withdrawn within 48 hours, as required by the USSR, giving up all defensive installations in the area that were built for the sole eventuality of a Soviet aggression.
'
June 13,
1941' Thousands of former teachers, doctors, office workers, and even better-to-do peasants from northern
Moldova, thought to be hostile and dangerous to the Soviet regime, are gathered to be deported in cattle cars to Siberia. Bﾄネﾅ｣i, as the most important railroad link in the north of
Moldova, serves as a gathering point.
'
June 22 -
July 26,
1941'
Romanian Army participates in the
Axis offensive against the Red Army dislocated in
Bessarabia, initially being ordered to push only to the river
Dnister, Romania's eastern border in 1940.
'Military action in 1941.' For the first 10 days, 3rd and 4th Romanian Armies
[10] developed bridgeheads, as their main advance was planned to start on
July 2. According to the will of its new ally,
Nazi Germany,
Romania has allotted an 80 km long segment between its two armies to the
11th German Army, half of the effectives of which, including its artillery, were Romanian units transferred for one month under the German command. This portion of the front line included Bﾄネﾅ｣i. The German motorized columns and the
1st Romanian Armored Division started their move from several bridgeheads on the river
Prut, 50 to 70 km from the city, on the evening of
July 2, and by
July 5 already controlled large portions of northern
Moldavia (
Bessarabia).
[11]
The city was supposed to be conquered by the 14th Romanian Division from the 30th German Corps, supported by the 170th German Division from the 54th German Corps. Soviet units managed to temporarily stop them on
July 4 on the eastern outskirts of the town. 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 13th Romanian ''
Dorobanﾅ｣i'' regiment ''
ﾅ柎efan cel Mare'' of the 14th Division maneuvered to the south and took the village of
Biliceni and surrounding areas, at which time 14th Division, was transferred from the 30th to the 54th German Corps.
Some of the Soviet forces fighting in the area included the 74th Soviet Infantry Division, and the 2nd Soviet Mechanized Corps, consisting of the 21st Motorized Infantry, the 11th and 16th Tank Divisions. These Soviet units operated in an area 20 km around Balti, but it is not clear which subunits took direct part in actions for the city.
The main military actions took part on
July 7 -
July 9 near the villages south of the city: 8th ''Dorobanﾅ｣i'' Regiment and the 32nd Infantry Regiment ''Mircea'', both from the 5th Romanian Infantry Division, clashed with Soviet cavalry. Feeling much easier on the ground than the German and Soviet units, they managed to overcome several Soviet strongholds near
Zgﾃｮrdeﾅ殳i,
Mﾃｮndreﾅ殳i, and the ''Gliceni Forest''. Then, supported by four artillery battalions, the 32nd Regiment attacked
Mﾃｮndreﾅ殳i frontally with one battalion and with the second maneuvered to the south, threatening the rear of the Soviet forces, which retreated leaving behind a lot of their heavy weapons.
On
July 8, the 22nd Regiment of the 13th Romanian Division also joined the battle for Bﾄネﾅ｣i, fighting at
Singureni and ''ﾅ｢ﾄビinei Hill''. The latter, together with the 39th Romanian Infantry Regiment from the 14th Romanian Division, reached the river
Rﾄブt at 10:00 on
July 9, and managed to establish a bridgehead north of Rﾄブt near
Elisabeta, already on the north-eastern outskirt of the city. This threatened to encircle the Red Army units in the city, which then hastily withdrew during
July 9.
'1944' Fearing the repeat of the 1941
deportation, thousands of people, including most of intellectuals, flee to Romanian in front of the
Soviet troops.
'
February 27,
1944' Soviet troops, driving Romanian and German forces westwards, enter the city. West of Bﾄネﾅ｣i they first reach and boldly cross the border of the USSR of
22 June 1941.
'March to August 1944' The frontline stabilizes along a west-east curve passing 40 km south of the city. After gathering enormous quantities of troops (approx. 3.4 million) and artillery (approx. 370 units per km of frontline) the Red Army penetrates the German-Romanian defenses (approx. 600,000 troops) in the
Iaﾅ殃-Chiﾅ殃nﾄブ operation, partly surrounding them.
'August-September 1944' Active age
Moldavians in the recuptured territories are enrolled en masse in the
Soviet army, and are not disbanded until 1946.
'1945-1947' Soviet authorities practice a quasi-total confiscation of peasants' harvest and food ''"for the needs of the State"'', while many fields remain unworked.
'1946-1947'
Moldova suffers two years of famine, the only known famine in the recorded history of
Moldova, taking a tall of 298,500 lives.
'1949' Another mass Soviet deportation
'1949-1950' Mass
collectivization of farmed land is implemented.
'1951' Another mass Soviet deportation
The war and the events that followed have left a deep impact on the city. Many buildings were leveled or damaged by bombardments and military action. A part of the population was killed,
deported, sent to
labor camps,
ghettos, starved to death, or simply fled and did not return. The losses affected all the
ethnic groups, while from
social groups the inter-war
intelligentsia has all by disappeared.
'1950s through 1980s' From throughout the
Soviet Union arrive in Bﾄネﾅ｣i, as well as in
Chiﾅ殃nﾄブ and other cities of Moldova, many ordinary workers trying to leave the poorest regions, a handful of well-qualified engineers, many World War II veterans,
Soviet and
Communist Party apparatchiks, a few outright criminals. Although the city could now claim several dozen nationalities, only one language was accepted in public places - Russian. The majority of the newcomers never felt a home connection with the city, rather considering
USSR as a whole as their home, in contrast with the Russian and
Ukrainian minorities before 1940. From 1940 to 1989 the population of the city increases 4-fold, with the addition of the newcomers from all over USSR, and of the local
Moldovans/Romanians moving from countryside to the city. By 1989 a tie was established between the numbers of the two communities, although one of them was entirely deprived of using its language in public life, even for shopping. The Jews of the city, primarily speakers of (generally)
Yiddish and some of Romanian before 1940, quickly switched to Russian, so that by 1980s only the elderly was speaking Yiddish. However the degree of knowing the
Moldavian/Romanian language before 1989 was clearly higher among Jews, even those born after 1940, than among Russians.
'1980s' Almost all Jews move to
Israel.
'1988-1989' Bﾄネﾅ｣i is known as the "quiet city" of Moldova. Only four public demonstrations take place in the city during this period, none gathering more than 15,000. The main reform-oriented part of the population was formed by the students and faculty of the local university, which regularly gathered indoors, sometimes numbering several thousands.
'Since 1989' All local elections are won by the old
Soviet apparatus candidates, the Russian minority being stronger politically not least because of its higher turnout rate. However the policies of the local authorities have evolved from one individual to the next, so that although extreme left by today's standards, some of them would have been considered quite liberal in
Soviet times. A large degree of municipal activity is still done only in Russian, in total disregard with the 1989 national language
law.
'1994-2004' Emigration (back to
Russia, or in search of work in western Europe) and low natality rate lead to 23% decrease in population, including 45% decrease among Russians, 30% among Ukrainians, 15% among ethnic Moldovans (Romanians).
Memorials
Soviet deportations and political imprisonments
''We surely can add photos here.''
Holocaust
'
Mass deportation of
Jews in 1941-1942.' In the three-day period following the takeover the city by the Romanian and German armies, while the troops were moving through the city in the pursuit of the Red army units, and before the Romanian administration moved in, the approximately two-dozen-strong
SS Einsatzkommando unit, attached to the
11th German Army, hunted and assassinated over 200
Jews from the city. The German army was strictly ordered by
Berlin not to interfere in "non-military matters", and was sometimes obliged to hand in Jews in the houses of which they temporarily installed.
Fortunately, the majority of Jews from the city fled with the retreating Russians (many to
Uzbekistan), and survived the war unharmed. By the time German troops entered, only 1,300 of the 20,000 Jews were in the city. Thousands of others simply hid in the neighboring villages, thinking they would be safe once the frontline had passed. The Romanian authorities, however, decided to deport all Jews from the territories occupied by USSR in 1940, as well as from two other Romanian counties, to
Transnistria, across the river
Dniester (
Nistru). They were motivated in this by the fact that Jews had welcomed the Russian takeover a year earlier. Although some Jews did indeed become
Soviet Communist activists, they were a tiny minority among the total Jewish population of the city, and those have certainly retreated along with the Russian troops.
In the towns in the north and middle of
Transnistria[12] the Romanian authorities decided to deport the remaining Jewish population of
Bessarabia (
Basarabia), Northern
Bukovina (
Bucovina), and two other counties of Romania (
Suceava and
Botoﾅ歛ni) 窶 a total of 90,000 people. Jews were organized in columns and marched to crossing points. No regular food supply, overnight housing, transportation, or additional clothing were organized, and many died on the road, or were shot by guards on the pretext of slowing down the movement.
In towns such as
Mohyliv-Podilskyi (
Movilﾄブ in Romanian),
Yampil (
Iampol in Romanian),
Bershad and others,
ghettos were fenced out, and Jews were settled in. Being deprived of the right to own agricultural land, and having very few job opportunities, often without clean water and having insufficient housing, many became ill from malnutrition and infections. Interestingly, the Jews from Romania that were not affected by the deportation were treated quite tolerantly by the Romanian authorities, and even were allowed to visit the ghettos to deliver food and clothing.
[13] Unfortunately, because of fear, few ventured to do this. In several of these places the retreating German troops in 1944 shot every Jew in order to cover up the existence of the ghetto camps.
Despite the fact that 70% of Jews that survived on the Soviet territory under occupation during World war II were in
Transnistria, over 70% of those deported did not survive 1944.
Bﾄネﾅ｣i POW Camp
From March to August 1944, the
World War II frontline stabilized along a west-east curve passing 40 km south of the city. After gathering enormous quantities of troops (3.4 million) and artillery (370 units per km of frontline) the
Red Army penetrated the German-Romanian defenses (600,000 troops) in the
Iaﾅ殃-Chiﾅ殃nﾄブ operation, partly surrounding them.
Before the operation, the Soviets had established two
POW camps in Bﾄネﾅ｣i, a simple camp on the location of the present-day military unit, and a
concentration camp by fencing out several streets in the southeast limits of the city, next to the small airport situated there. During the night, lights were arranged inside the camp in a way to resemble those of the airport. Heavily bombed by the German
aviation, they would produce havoc inside the
POW camp, while the airport would be left intact. The holes produced by the bombs were used as common graves for the dying prisoners. In the outcome of the Iaﾅ殃-Chiﾅ殃nﾄブ operation, around 45,000 prisoners, including up to 40,000
Romanians (including many locals), 5,000
Germans, 2,000
Hungarians, 3,000
Italians,
Czechs, and
Poles were gathered in the POW camp in Bﾄネﾅ｣i, the main transit POW camp for this operation. Some prisoners ended in the camp as late as September-October 1944, after fighting in the Romanian army on the Allies side, but being injured, were sent to hospitals close to their homes, and were arrested by the Soviets.
Many POWs died in the camp from
malnutrition,
infections, or were shot by guards, and then were buried in the bomb holes. Prisoners were kept in the camp anywhere from two months to over a year. On one occasion, a brake was made through a wall, and a major escape took place. By the end of 1945, all surviving prisoners were moved out to the interior of the
Soviet Union to work. The site of the camp was leveled, and no buildings were ever erected in the area. Rumors about the POW camp and the conditions inside it were quickly silenced, and even by the 1980s the vast majority of the inhabitants of the town did not know about its existence. Consequently, during the
Perestroika time, laborers were astonished to run upon thousands of human skeletons while working on straightening a road, and were so disturbed they refused to continue the work.
The political changes of the end of the 1980s allowed the remaining survivors of the camp to come out and relate the truth. Fortunately for these individuals, they were originally from the north of
Moldova. By simply approaching the inner
barbed wire on the side facing the city, and crying out in Romanian when the guards were not near, they were able to pass the word about their fate to friends and relatives in their home villages. The latter would come to the camp 窶 bribe and feed the Soviet guards for a spared life. Unfortunately Germans, as well as the majority of Romanian POWs who were not locals, could not use this method to escape. Many German officers died of malnutrition, refusing the
black bread. The more physically fit were then transferred for work throughout the former USSR. The Soviet
archives have preserved considerable information about the POW camps in Bﾄネﾅ｣i, although they were kept a secret before 1989. Apparently, a study in 1992 on a sample of 800 POWs came up with only 13 survivors by 1953.
In 1992, many locals took part in the unveiling of one of the common graves. Sculs and bones were gathered in a piramid on a dry ground and covered with "fresh earth", A cross has been erected on the site on
May 7, 1992. The name of the first prisoner discovered in the Soviet archives was decided to be the first written on the cross: "Tudor, son of Nicolae, Glavan from the village Sofia, Drochia district", i.e happened to be a local from just 20 km north of the city. The building of an "Ossuary Church" is in progress, despite the lack of financial possibilities and political will from the still
Communist-dominated municipal authorities. Even the exact extent of the camp is not known, with only a small portion being unveiled so far (the field is approx. 1 kmﾂｲ in size).
Administration
Bﾄネﾅ｣i Municipality
is a territorial unit of
Moldova (one of its 3 municipalities un-subordinated to other territorial units), containing the city itself, and the villages of
Elisabeta and
Sadovoe.
The Mayor Office (''Primﾇ屍ia''), headed by the Mayor (''Primar''), administers the local affairs, while the City Council (''Consiliul Municipal'') serves as a consultative body with some powers of general policy determination. They are elected every 4 years. (Last elections were held in 2003.) Vasile Panciuc serves as the Mayor of the city (since 2001). The City Council is currently composed of 30 members, 23 representing the governing
Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova, 6 a local list ''"Plai"'', and 1 independent.
Economy
Manufacturing
This city was an important economic center during the
Soviet era, with
manufacturing playing an important role. Although the latter was mostly related to processing of farm products (such as
wine making,
sugar,
meat processing,
flour milling), there was also
manufacturing of
agricultural machinery, of various
construction materials, and
fur clothing. A mammoth
Soviet-type 8,000-worker factory (called "
Lenin" before 1989 and "Raut" afterwards) produced a large variety of machine building products for consumer or industry use, from
irons and
telephone sets to
sonar equipment for
Soviet Military submarines.
However due to swift changes in the economic environment after the breakdown of the
Soviet planned economy system, to which the local
management, accustomed to rely only on
directives from above, could not adapt, the manufacturing base of the city has all but stalled, hence now is mostly outdated, if not the equipment sold out for pennies.
Services
The
service sector has developed after 1989 to cover little more than the basic needs of the population. A variety of small private stores and supermarkets opened. Also, there are six public-owned and four private-owned markets; these are places where small-scale businessmen or women can for a tax trade different goods: imported or local-made
clothing (quite often
counterfeit) or
agricultural products from
farms in the villages neighboring Bﾄネﾅ｣i. More recently several supermarket chains have started opening stores in the city.
Energy and utilities
The main energy supply of the city comes from the local
thermo-electric plant CET Nord, which uses a variety of imported
carbon-based fuel (easier to obtain and cheaper than
oil). The city is well-connected by
high-voltage lines, and there are recent plans for the construction of a new line.
Russian-imported natural gas is distributed to households, generally for cooking, not for heating. But this commodity has recently become a political hazard. Winter heating is distributed in a centralized fashion throughout the city by pipelines.
Although the city was often without
electricity and
heating during the political hassles of 1994-2001, it has experienced no shortages or interruptions ever since.
The drinking water is supplied into the pipes from a network of local artesian wells (which are insufficient) and from the river
Nistru (
Dnister) by a 60 km long
pipeline connecting Bﾄネﾅ｣i to
Soroca (which is not economically feasible).
Education
The
Alecu Russo University of Bﾄネﾅ｣i, named after the 19th century
Moldavian
Romanian illuminist and ethnologist
Alecu Russo, has a couple of thousand students. The original complex of buildings (1930s) housed the financial administration, as well as three high-schools (two of which were girls-only) and has the characteristic architecture of the time. The university was founded in 1946. Languages (
Romanian,
English,
French,
German,
Russian),
mathematics,
physics, some
engineering,
law,
economics,
music education,
education training,
sociology, and
psychology are taught at
Bachelor and
Master levels. Many of its buildings have been added or re-furbished more recently. The main language of education is Romanian, but there are also some courses and specialties offered in Russian.
There are also three smaller private higher education establishments:
★ Institutul Nistrean de Economie ﾅ殃 Drept
★ Filiala instituﾅ｣iei nestatale de ﾃｮnvﾄη｣ﾄノﾃｮnt ﾂｫﾐ岱ｰﾐｻﾑひｸﾐｹﾑﾐｺﾐｸﾐｹ ﾐ侑ｽﾑﾑひｸﾑびτ ﾐｭﾐｺﾐｾﾐｻﾐｾﾐｳﾐｸﾐｸ, ﾐ渙ｾﾐｻﾐｸﾑひｸﾐｺﾐｸ ﾐｸ ﾐ湲ﾐｰﾐｲﾐｰﾂｻ din Moldova
★ Institutul Umanist Contemporan
There are
[3] 13 high schools (''licee''):
★ Liceul "
Dimitrie Cantemir"
★ Liceul "N. Gogol"
★ Liceul "A. Puﾅ殘in"
★ Liceul "
Vasile Alecsandri"
★ Liceul "
Mihai Eminescu"
★ Liceul "Bogdan Petriceicu Haﾅ歸eu"
★ Liceul "Maxim Gorkii"
★ Liceul "
George Coﾅ歟uc"
★ Liceul "
ﾅ柎efan cel Mare"
★ Liceul "
Ion Creangﾄ"
★ Liceul "
Lucian Blaga"
★ Liceul "Mihail Lomonosov"
★ Liceul "
Alexandru Ioan Cuza"
6 institutions (''colegii'') offering (the last 3 years of) high school edication and 2 years post-high school technical education:
★ Colegiul Republican de Muzicﾄ ﾅ殃 Pedagpogie
★ Colegiul Pedagogic 窶曵on Creangﾄ"
★ Colegiul de Medicinﾄ (Nursing school)
★ Colegiul de Industrie Uﾅ殪arﾄ
★ Colegiul Politehnic
★ Colegiul Tehnic feroviar
14 secondary schools (numbered 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 19, 21, 23), 7 professional or professional-technical schools (numbered 1 through 7), and 3 boarding school, including one for visually impaired.
These schools teach either in Romanian, in Russian, or are mixed. The later case was inherited from the
Soviet system which discouraged education in any language but Russian, or would create mixed schools where the administration would be hold automatically in Russian, the official language of the
Soviet Union. The resistance of the
Moldovan population to the policy of
Russification was the main local driving force of the political changes that occurred in 1988-1991, which ended in the breakdown of the Soviet Union (for economic and political reasons) and the independence of the territory that formed at the time the
Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic under the name of
Republic of Moldova, with Romanian/
Moldovan as official language.
Various facilities
Hotels
★ Lidolux Hotel Bﾄネﾅ｣i
★ Hotel Bﾄネﾅ｣i (former Basarabia)
★ Hotel Tinereﾅ｣e
Medical
The city has a big municipal hospital, a children's hospital, and a range of other medical facilities (smaller clinics and hospitals, as well as buildings, named poly-clinics, gathering doctors offices).
Military
1st
Motorized Infantry Brigade "Moldova" of the
Moldovan army (out of a total of 6 brigades - three infantry, one artillery, one aircraft and one anti-aircraft) is located in Bﾄネﾅ｣i. A unit of
Soviet "
Tochka-M" short-range rockets, each carrying 500 kg of conventional explosive, was known to be based in the city. No updated information is available.
Trivia
Cultural
The Yiddish song ''窶廝eltz, Mayn Shtetele窶'' is a moving evocation of a happy childhood spent in the shtetl (little town) Beltz. Its composer Alexander Olshanetsky (1892-1946) had moved to the US from Bessarabia in 1921, the lyrics are by Jacob Jacobs (1892-1972).
Non-cultural
Reinhard Heydrich, the chief of the German
RSHA, flew several fighter missions in his private modified
Me109 from the Bﾄネﾅ｣i airport in July 1941. Heydrich was shot down by Soviet anti-air fire over
Ukraine, and barely escaped capture after having to swim for his life.
During the 1980s, the constituency that included the city delegated to the
Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union the Soviet marshal
Sergei Akhromeyev, one of the most preeminent hard-liners in the Soviet power system. He was one of the close allies of the 1991
putchists that tried to overthrow
Gorbachev.
Notable people
★
Ianina Baicalov, merited doctor of Moldova, founder of Ambulance Service in Bﾄネﾅ｣i
★
Natalia Barbu, singer, represented Moldova at the 2007
Eurovision musical competition
★
Gheorghe Briceag, political prisoner, dissident, and human rights activist with the
Helsinki Commettee, receiver of the 2004
Homo Homini Award
★
Eugen Coﾅ歹riu, philologist, founder of the School of Linguistics at
Tﾃｼbingen University
★
Lia van Leer, founder and director of the International
Jerusalem Film Festival
★
Marian Lupu, politician, speaker of the
Parliament of Moldova since 2005
★
Anatol Pﾃ｢nzaru, actor and producer of theatre
★
ﾅ柎efan Pirogan, politician, mayor of Bﾄネﾅ｣i 1923-1934, political prisoner, killed by
NKVD
★
Vadim Pirogan, political prisoner and dissident
★
Colea Rﾄブtu, movie star
★
Nicolae Testemiﾅ｣anu, Moldovan physician, surgeon, hygienist, and politician
★
Vadim Vacarciuc, weight lifter, 1997
World Champion
★
Mihai Volontir, movie star
Twin Cities
★
Stryi,
Ukraine (from 1980)
★
Smolyan,
Bulgaria (from 1985)
★
Larisa,
Greece (from 1986)
★
Miercurea-Ciuc,
Romania (from 1993)
★
Gyula,
Hungary (from 1995)
★
Orsha,
Belarus (from 1996)
★
ﾄｰzmir,
Turkey (from 1997)
★
Kaesong,
North Korea (from 1997)
★
Khmelnytskyi,
Ukraine (from 1997)
★
Lakeland, Florida,
USA (from 1997)
★
PﾅＰck,
Poland (from 2000)
★
Vitebsk,
Belarus (from 2002)
★
Milet,
Greece (from 2006)
Consulates
★ Consulate of
Romania, address: str. Sf. Nicolae, not yet opened (building purchased)
(Note: The previous agreement between Moldova and Romania to open a Consulate in Bﾄネﾅ｣i, was recently ''officially canceled'' by the Moldavian communist government)
★ Consulate of
Ukraine, address: str. Kiev 143
External links
★
Official site of the Mayor of Bﾄネﾅ｣i
★
Web page of Bﾄネﾅ｣i in Romanian, English, French: news, photos, videos, maps
★
Web page of Bﾄネﾅ｣i in Russian: photos, mas
★
Turism in Bﾄネﾅ｣i at ''www.turism.md''
★
[4] Daily city news
★
The official web site of "Alecu Russo" Bﾄネﾅ｣i State University
Notes and References
1. It is debatable whether this was a policy of the Soviet administration or simply carelessness.
2. In medieval Moldavia ''Arcaﾅ殃i lui ﾅ柎efan [Stephen's archers]'', free peasants paying tax only to the country's ruler, formed the first line of defense against the invading barbarian hordes, and often would have to defend their families and villages themselves, or hide them in the forests, before the Principality's army would come to relief.
Throughout the hilly part (i.e. most) of Moldova, many summits have an additional man-made earth addition of up to 10 meters in some places, where warning fires were located in the early Middle Ages. One can easily recognize these spots on the Moldavian, now deforested, mainly cultivated landscape, all the way to the banks of the river Dniester (Nistru), across from which the Asian steppe starts, and can observe a repeating peculiarity: From each of the summits the otherwise obscured neighborhood is very well observable, with at least 3 other such spots in clear view, although possibly at a couple hours' walking distance.
3. In ancient Rome, ''Toga'' was the loose outer garment worn by citizens in public.
4. Not least, the 1711 campaign motivated Peter the Great of Russia to write his famous testament, which commanded the Russian tsars for the next two centuries to push the military in order to reach the Straits of Bosporus and Dardanelles that separate Europe and Asia, and to conquer the Balkans, which would then be united under a pan-Orthodox Pan-Slavist Russian-led empire. Although the Moldavians, like other Romanians, are Orthodox (they were religious, but not political, subjects of the East Roman/Byzantine Empire from 325 until its fall in 1453), they are not Slavs and do not share the same traditions and customs with the Orthodox Slavs, especially with the Russians, who have many different indigenous elements. However the religious differences between the principality of Moldavia and the Russian Empire were minimal (as, in fact, were the differences at the time with the Pope, from whom the Princes, especially in the 15th century, but also later, sought help). The ethnic identity (in this case Romanian (Vlach) vs Slav) would only become important in Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. The main cause of conflict between the Romanians and the Russians were the pillaging of the land by the Russian troops, and the desire of the principalities to recover their full independence, without any foreign (even Orthodox) suzerainty.
5. Prior to 1812, the name extended only to its lower 1/4
6. Romania was formed in 1859 by the union of the western half of the Principality of Moldavia with the Principality of Valachia, to which the Principality of Transylvania, as well as Bessarabia and Bukovina joined in 1918.
7. This was evidenced when in 1917, when the Russian Empire was disintegrated, the general feeling favored an immediate union with Romania.
8. In particular, a number of Russian clerics (Old Believers) have not accepted a 17th century move of modernization within the Russian Orthodox Church, and were excommunicated, provoking a split. The western provinces of the Russian Empire were more liberal religiously, and Bessarabia especially.
9. Constantine, the Roman emperor who, under the influence of his mother Elena (Helen), ordered the Romans, Romanian's ancestors, to convert to Christianity in 325, is venerated by them.
10. 1st Romanian Army was a reserve, rather than frontline unit, and was never used on the Eastern Front. It was dislocated mainly in southern Transylvania, with the idea that at some point they might be used against Hungary, to undo the Nazi-sponsored transfer of territories in that area a year earlier. There was no 2nd Romanian Army.
11. Operation Mﾃｼnchen - (German-Romanian) retaking (of) Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina (from USSR) - 1941
12. The Romanian troops stopped at the river Dnister (Nistru), and the German troops were trying to cut off the retreating Russians from the north, along the left bank of the river Southern Bug, situated further east from the Dnister. This left Transnistria, a no-man's land. Hitler had planned, and managed to persuade Ion Antonescu, Romanian Army Chief of Staff and prime minister since September 1940, to occupy and administrate it. This action is responsible for the further distancing of Antonescu from the Romanian democratic politicians, who refused to take part in a military-dominated government, and thus Antonescu remained considerably associated historically with Hitler. Although in the Middle Ages, when the population was much sparser, the population of Transnistria consisted of Moldavians/Romanians and Tatars, by the 20th century, after much influx of population during the 19th century, Moldavian (Romanian) villages were concentrated mostly on the left bank of Nistru (Dnister), with Ukrainians and Russians numerically dominating the region, and Jews representing a significant minority, and virtually a majority in the city of Odessa.
13. Ghettos and concentration camps on the territory of the Soviet Union
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