The victims of Fântâna Alba massacre which took place in 1941 were commemorated on Friday, 1 April 2016.
A memorial service was officiated at the monument situated in the Ukrainian village of Bila Krynytsya by V. Rev. Archim. Melchisedec Velnic, abbot of Putna Monastery, together with an assembly of Romanian and Ukrainian priests.
This year many people of all ages came, brought with flowers and lit candles. Representatives of the two countries were also present, Fr. Melchisedec reported.
“Dozens of priests from Chernivtsi, as well as from our country, representatives of Ukraine and Romania, came to commemorate those who died here. After the memorial service, the local children held a recital of poems and texts written by those who survived the massacre”, the abbot of Putna Monastery underlined.
Eleonora Moldovan, Consul General of Romania in Chernivtsi, and Dan Stoenescu, Minister Delegate for Relations with Romanians Abroad, also participated in the event.
This painful historical event which will remain in the memory of the two nations should not be forgotten, said Minister Stoenescu for Radio TRINITAS.
“We should not forget that this tragedy of the Romanian people was followed by other retaliations as the one in 1941 when other thousands of Romanians of Bukovina, many of them being the relatives of the victims of Fântâna Alba (Bila K) massacre, were taken away from their houses and deported to Siberia and Kazakhstan. For over a half a century the massacre was a forbidden subject for both nations. Finally, the truth becomes victorious, and our duty, as Romanians, is to never forget those who have shed their blood on this land. I reckon that this painful moment will remain in the memory of Romanians but also of Ukrainians”,
A memorial service was also officiated at the cross-monument in front of Putna Monastery.
The Fantana Alba massacre took place on 01 April 1941. Over 2000 Romanians from Siret Valley seeking refuge from the Soviet Union to Romania were killed. The first of April is the National day of commemorating the Romanian victims of the Fântâna Alba massacre, but also of other massacres, deportations, hunger and of other forms of retaliations carried out by the totalitarian soviet regime in Herţa region, Northern of Bukovina and in all Bessarabia. This memorial day was established by law 68/2011.
