Репресії проти єврейського населення Південної Бессарабії (червень 1940 – червень 1941 рр.)

Abstract

The proposed study is part of a series of the author’s articles, united by the issues of tragic pages in the history of individual ethnic groups living in Southern Bessarabia in the first year of Soviet rule in the region. It is a common fact that Southern Bessarabia (the Ukrainian Danube Region, Budzhak, southern districts of Odesa region) is quite an ethnically diverse region. For several centuries, these lands were home to many nations - Ukrainians and Moldovans, Bulgarians and Greeks, Albanians and Germans, Poles and Russians. Interestingly, the polyethnic composition of the region's population did not lead to ethnic or religious contradictions: the locals managed almost next to impossible - to preserve their national identity, traditions, faith, culture and at the same time to find consensus with neighbors. The peculiarities of the historical development of Southern Bessarabia, the frequent transition of these lands from one state to another contributed to the tolerant attitude of the local population to any government, which was reflected in the restrained attitude towards the administration. This scenario was used many times until the Soviet regime came to Southern Bessarabia, which brought with it repression, torture, nationalization, and so on. The tragic events affected many residents of the region, but to date the exact number of people who passed through the grip of the Soviet totalitarian-repressive machine has not been established. Among those affected by the Soviet repression in southern Bessarabia were members of the Jewish ethnic community. On the basis of archival documents, cases of rehabilitated residents of the region, an attempt has been made to find out the number of Jews affected by Soviet totalitarianism, to name their names, to assess the material damage of the repressed. Traders and doctors, pharmacists and restaurateurs, owners of mills and businesses - representatives of each of these categories were included in the list of the repressed. The Jewish population of the region, which was engaged in trade, suffered the most; the share of Jews among the nationalized trade enterprises was almost 80%. The total number of Jews repressed between July 1940 and June 1941 amounts to 204, or 26.7% of the total number of the people who were repressed during this period.