In 1941, two massacres took place that, like many others committed by communism, are little known in almost the entire world.<\/p>\n
The distribution of countries agreed upon by Nazi Germany and the USSR in 1939<\/big><\/p>\n In August 1939, Nazi Germany and the USSR signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact<\/strong>, which included a secret protocol by which these two dictatorships divided up several countries (Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland) and two territories that were part of Romania: Bessarabia<\/strong>, which for the most part corresponds to the current territory of the Republic of Moldova, and northern Bucovina<\/strong>.<\/p>\n In application of that pact, Germany and the USSR invaded Poland in September 1939<\/strong> and divided up that country. The USSR invaded Finland on November 30, 1939, an operation that was unsuccessful due to stubborn Finnish resistance. In mid-June 1940, the USSR invaded Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. At the end of June 1940 it was Romania's turn.<\/strong> After the invasion of the aforementioned Romanian regions, the USSR created the Soviet Republic of Moldova with the territory of Bessarabia, and the northern area of Bukovina was annexed to the Ukrainian Soviet Republic<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Religious persecution against Romanian Christians in Bucovina<\/big><\/p>\n As they had already done in 1917, Soviet communists unleashed religious persecution in northern Bukovina<\/strong> against the Orthodox Christians of that region, arresting and murdering dozens of priests. This region had a Ukrainian ethnic majority<\/strong> (47.5% of the population), with 28.3% Romanians and other ethnicities that included Jews, Germans, Poles, Russians and Hungarians. More than 13,000 Romanians from northern Bukovina were deported to Siberia by the Soviets.<\/strong> Due to the situation they suffered under Soviet rule, many Romanians from that region tried to flee to the Kingdom of Romania<\/strong> strong>.<\/p>\n The Lunca Massacre of February 7, 1941<\/big><\/p>\n The Soviets committed cruel atrocities against those who attempted that escape. On February 7, 1941, the USSR perpetrated the Lunca Massacre, in which 600 unarmed civilians were killed<\/strong> when they tried to flee to Romania. Among the victims were men, women and children. Soviet troops used machine guns to indiscriminately kill these civilians<\/strong>, burying their bodies in mass graves. Subsequently, the relatives of the survivors were arrested and sent to Siberia<\/strong>, a common practice in the USSR with those who were classified as \"traitors.\"<\/p>\n The F\u00e2nt\u00e2na Alb\u0103 Massacre of April 1, 1941<\/big><\/p>\n
\n