Bender's Romanian Cemetery re-opens after renovation

The restored cemetery's non-denominational Christian monument honors all soldiers who died in Bender, regardless of nationality

BENDER (Tiraspol Times) - The government of Pridnestrovie has officially completed its reconstruction project of the Bender Military Cemetery. Also known in Romanian as the Dragalina cemetery, it is located in Bender, the unrecognized country's second largest city. Locals additionally refer to it as "The Romanian Cemetery" although in reality it is not exclusively Romanian, but holds the remains of over five thousand soldiers from six different nationalities; the majority of them being of Russian descent.

More than 5,000 soldiers were identified and had their graves restored in a process which began in January 2007. The work was undertaken by Pridnestrovie's Ministry of Internal Affairs working with the Bender municipal authorities, and was started at the request of relatives of some of the soldiers who had been buried in the cemetery.

Previously left unattended for more than fifty years, the cemetery had fallen into neglect and disrepairs. The graves were overgrown and many of the crosses and other grave markers were broken and scattered in various parts throughout the area. Despite its status as the city's most important military cemetery, it had the appearance of an abandoned field until the PMR government decided to renovate and restore the burial grounds.

" - It was a painstaking process of exhuming and relocating the bodies," said Cyril Stepanenko, a journalist with the Tiraspol office of the international New Region news agency, who closely followed the work from its very beginning.

During the reconstruction process, the temporarily open graves were protected by police under the command of Pridnestrovie's Ministry of Internal Affairs (PMR MVD, by its local initials). The 24 hour police guard was put in place at the request of a group of relatives of World War II soldiers in order to prevent the risk of anyone approaching and possibly profaning the remains of the bodies. No incidents were reported and the watchguards were withdrawn upon completion of the restoration work.

Today, as the centerpiece of the newly restored and re-opened cemetery stands a non-denominational Christian monument in the form of an abstract cross made of black granite. The monument honors all soldiers who fell in the many different battles throughout Bender's 600 year history, regardless of whether they are actually buried in this particular cemetery or not, and regardless of their nationality.

Unfounded criticism based on false assumptions

The cemetery houses the remains of soldiers of six different nationalities, where in addition to Romanian there are also an even larger number of Russian and Ukrainian; reflecting the different battles fought over Bender - a strategic fortress town near the mouth of the Dniester river - throughout the centuries.

The majority of the World War II soldiers who are laid to rest in Bender's military cemetery are Romanians who were buried here in 1944. The cemetery was initially established in 1887 for soldiers of the Russian Imperial army whose regiment was based in Bender. However, between 1941 and 1944, Bender was under Romanian control when Romania, an ally of Nazi Germany, briefly ruled over what was then known as Transnistria. Under German and Romanian joint rule in World War II, the two countries stationed soldiers in Transnistria - now Pridnestrovie - and when the Soviet army advanced to regain this traditionally Russian territory, numerous of these German and Romanian soldiers were killed in the ensuing battles.

The old crosses were carefully removed and used as models for reconstructions of new crosses and grave markers. In cases where original crosses had only suffered limited damage throughout the years, they were restored to their original shape and brought back to the cemetery. None of the recovered Romanian crosses were discarded.

" - As soon as we removed the broken and damaged crosses in order to restore them, the Romanian media started a hysteric smear campaign against us, and said that were we profaning and destroying the Romanian cemetery in Pridnestrovie," added the Interior Ministry. It turned out to be unfounded criticism based on false assumptions. After successful renovation, the crosses were returned but no mention was ever made of this in any newspaper in Romania.

After relocation, the entire cemetery terrain was renovated and a coat of "evergreen" grass laid to ensure the best possible appearance of the cemetery grounds throughout the whole year. New stone pathways were also laid for each of the different sections of the cemetery, which is ordered by regiment and national origin of the fallen soldiers.

" - It is one of Bender's new landmarks," said a local resident who toured the re-opened cemetery on Wednesday with his wife. "We can rightfully be proud of what the city has done here to honor the sacred memory of everyone who gave their highest sacrifice for Bender, regardless of where they came from."

All countries collaborated except Romania

When the reconstruction work began, the Romanian sector of the cemetery was among the first to be restored. In February the Ministry contacted the Chisinau embassies of each country whose nationals are buried in the cemetery and asked for their logistical aid with the reconstruction process in a way that would respect the dead who are buried there.

According to the PMR Interior Ministry which was reported by New Region, Romania was the only country which did not respond to formal requests by Pridnestrovie's authorities for collaboration in the restoration of the historical cemetery and help with locating the names of the soldiers from each country.

" - Almost every single embassy gave an official answer," the Interior Ministry spokesman reported, but singled out Romania as the only country which did not provide any reply. "Romania simply didn't answer us, and for some incomprehensible reason they did not want to have any official contact with Pridnestrovie," said the spokesman.

This was in contrast to other countries which fully collaborated in the restoration and identification of names on the broken crosses and markers. Germany, for instance, sent a federal state representative who officiates German military burials abroad and who arrived from Germany to participate in the work.

For the Romanian part of the cemetery, unlike some of the other areas, no relocation was necessary since the terrain was already level and did not have to be worked upon with bulldozers. Instead, the Romanian sector remains in the old place, just as before and the bodies were not moved. The authentic Romanian crosses have been restored and placed in the same locations, and a black granite marker has been added with an honorary inscription in Romanian which reads: "To Romanian soldiers and officers who were killed and died in the city of Bender between 1941 and 1944 and who are buried in this cemetery."

Other graves have individual markers with the names of each soldier, thanks to the collaboration from each embassy. It is only the Romanian remains which are forced to share a single common plaque.

" - The only place where we could not add names is here in the Romanian part of the cemetery. We don't have this information," said the PMR Ministry of the Interior.

Home to 105,000 people today, Bender is Pridnestrovie's second largest city and the only one which is located to the West of the Dniester River. It has a majority Slavic population and most of its inhabitants speak Russian. Although it is historically known in English as Bender, it is also called Bendery in Russian and (informally) Tighina in the Romanian language. Its official name, however, is Bender; both according to Moldovan and Transdniestrian laws. Bender was founded in 1408 and will celebrate its 600 year anniversary next year. (Photos: New Region)

BEFORE: At the multi-national cemetery, graves of fallen soldiers from half a dozen different countries were scattered among garbage and debris before the government of Pridnestrovie took the initiative to reconstruct and rebuild the devastated area.

BEFORE: The Romanian section of the cemetery was just as neglected and abandoned as the rest of the area, but each grave site was nevertheless carefully preserved before being restored in the presence of Romanian-speaking priests. Church officials testify that no Romanian bodies were actually moved.

AFTER: The multi-national part of the cemetery, with soldiers from half a dozen nations, has been restored with individual plaques based on biographies and information provided by each country.

AFTER: The Romanian part of the cemetery has also been restored. Lack of collaboration from Romania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs made it impossible to provide individual plaques for each separate grave.

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