The consequences of the Romanian occupation of 1941–1944 for the Orthodox Church of Moldova

Abstract

The article presents the facts of material damage caused by the German-Romanian invaders to the institutions of the Orthodox Church of Moldova. The analysis of the archives of the Republic of Moldova, the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and the works of researchers revealed three stages of damage inflicted by the invaders on religious organizations. The total amount of damage amounted to 91.5 million rubles, including church buildings – 22,580,000 rubles (including the churches of Pridnestrovie – 4,192,423 rubles). The invaders destroyed the buildings of 44 churches and 2 chapels, partially damaged 22 churches. Dozens of valuable religious shrines were removed from Moldovan churches and monasteries. The most valuable loss is a copy of the Gerbovetsky Icon of the Most Holy Mother of God (worth 120 mln rubles). The invaders also stole church utensils and priestly vestments. The motive for these actions was the alleged desire to “save” the shrines from destruction by the Bolsheviks. The leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church has repeatedly raised the question of returning the valuables taken by the occupiers to the Romanian side. However, the problem has not been solved, though a small part of the property stolen by the invaders returned to the Moldovan churches.