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An aerial view of the recently restored Romanian Cemetery in Bender, PMR's second largest city. Now its chapel has a crossBENDER (Tiraspol Times) - Adding the final touch to a year-long rescue operation of Bender's historical military cemetery, the city has now formally put a Christian cross on the cemetery's chapel.
The Bender Military Cemetery is the final resting place for more than 5,000 soldiers of six different nationalities, a testimony to the disputed status of Bender throughout the past centuries. Also known in Romanian as the Dragalina cemetery, locals normally refer to it as "The Romanian Cemetery" although Romanians are a minority among the buried soldiers. Russians - primarily from the time of Catherine the Second - outnumber the other five nationalities combined.
Local priests solemnly consecrated the Christian cross, which was then installed on the dome of the cemetery's chapel by a crane. The event took place on 2 March 2008, at 10:00 a.m. local time, in the presence of Pridnestrovie's President Igor Smirnov and a large number of both civilians and officials from the unrecognized country's Interior Ministry.
Standing between officers from the PMR Interior Ministry and a number of civilians, Pridnestrovie's President Igor Smirnov (second from right) attends the final inauguration ceremony of Bender's newly restored cemetery.
- "Rebuild from the ruins"
In his speech, The President of the PMR - Igor Smirnov - thanked all those who took part in the reconstruction of the cemetery, singling out especially the role of the Ministry of Interior Affairs, which took the initiative when relatives of some of the buried soldiers asked for the cemetery to be restored and for the proper memorials to be put in place for those who fell in the many past wars in Bender. According to Smirnov, it was thanks to the Ministry's employees, who painstakingly researched the files for clues to the identities of the dead, that it was possible to put up the names of so many of them.
Russian Major General B.N. Sergeyev, speaking on behalf of the section of the cemetery where his own country's soldiers lie, said that "now that it has become fashionable to destroy military monuments and memorials in the rest of Europe, here in Pridnestrovie we see on the contrary that despite the difficult economic situation, Pridnestrovians have found the strength to rebuild from the ruins of the old and destroyed cemetery."
It was noted that the year-long restoration showed respect for the dead of the past. Before the rescue work started, the cemetery was a filthy and abandoned dumping ground for garbage and home to dozens of stray dogs.
As the final crowning achievement of the historic rescue and restoration of Bender's so-called "Romanian Cemetery", a cross is formally placed atop of the chapel which graces the holy burial grounds.
- Romania absent
Apart from the Igor Smirnov, the President of the Republic Pridnestrovie, and the personnel from the Interior Ministry, the event was also attended by PMR Vice President Alexander Korolev, Bender's Mayor, and nearly the entire Cabinet of Ministers of PMR. Hundreds of local Bender residents also showed up, many with their children in tow.
Ukraine was officially represented by the First Secretary of the Ukrainian Embassy, the diplomat V.I. Bondaruk. Despite invitations, neither Moldova nor Romania sent any diplomatic representatives. During restoration work on the historical site, Romania was the only country which did not collaborate with local authorities to help determine the identities of the remains of its buried soldiers.
Pridnestrovie - also known as Transnistria - is the subject of a territorial dispute, in which Moldova lays claim to the 18 year old 'de facto' independent state despite the overwhelming support of its population for independence. Romania supports the Moldovan position against independent statehood for the 550,000 inhabitants of Pridnestrovie.
See also:
» Bender's Romanian Cemetery re-opens after renovation [1]