Southern Bessarabia Research Articles

Soviet Special Operation in Southern Bessarabia in September 1924: An Attempt to Demythologize the “Tatarbunar Uprising”

Soviet Special Operation in Southern Bessarabia in September 1924: An Attempt to Demythologize the “Tatarbunar Uprising”

Riding the Line. Expertise and the Making of the Bessarabian Border, 1856–1857

This article aims to historicise the making of the border between the Russian and Ottoman empires in southern Bessarabia, drawn in the post-Crimean War context in 1856–1857. An international commission was appointed for this purpose, and delegates from five empires – Austrian, British, French, Russian and Ottoman – gathered in the province on the ground to demarcate the border decided by Europe's powers. Based on the commission's lengthy protocols, and on the memoirs of several experts involved in surveying, mapping and demarcating the border on the ground, this article delves into the mechanisms of border-making in the field, examining the challenges that commission members encountered with finding a common vocabulary and with balancing larger geopolitical interests with local geographical realities. The case study is also an excellent illustration of what it means to zoom in and out of the different scales involved in bordering. From the diplomatic meetings in Paris to the commissioners’ negotiations in Chișinău and the land surveyors adding names on maps after discussions with peasants in a village close to the Dniester, border making is a complex process that operated simultaneously at different scales, spaces and times.

Traditional types of pickles among the Gagauz

This article, based on the author’s field materials and ethnographic essays by V. A. Moshkov, discusses the features of the preparation of pickles among the Gagauz. The paper provides a description of some types of pickles, folk beliefs associated with their preparation; attention is paid to the spices and seasonings used; a comparative analysis is carried out with the food culture of the population of the Balkan Peninsula and neighboring peoples in Southern Bessarabia (Bulgarians, Moldavians / Romanians, Ukrainians, etc.). In the Gagauz food system, pickles called “turşu” are one of the important elements of the food culture that make up the daily diet in winter. The Gagauz made the following types of pickles: peppers stuffed with a mixture of grated carrots, cabbage and onions; salted tomatoes, to which chopped carrots, beets, apples were added; salted cabbage, cucumbers; salty watermelons. In general, the Gagauz have preserved the traditional methods of preparing pickles, but some changes are currently being observed. For example, for the past three decades, plastic containers have been used instead of wooden pickle barrels. In addition, the author believes that the frying of minced meat for peppers (carrots, cabbage and onions) appeared among the Gagauz under the influence of the Moldavian food traditions. “Turşu” is an integral part of the food code of the Gagauz and demonstrates the adaptive nature of the nutrition system of the people as a whole, in accordance with the natural, geographical and ecological conditions for the existence of the ethnic group.

INFLUENCE OF MODERN STABILIZATION METHODS ON QUALITY VARIETAL WHITE WINES FROM UKRAINIAN BREEDING GRAPE

Modern winemaking in Ukraine is being significantly transformed and is actively developing. Our state has now turned to the search for its own wines and grape varieties. For international recognition, it is important to develop your case of wines that will be able to show the diversity of wine regions from Southern Bessarabia and the Northern Black Sea Coast to Transcarpathia. There are more and more small winemakers who are experimenting with new varieties, such as Sukholimansky white, Citronny Magaracha, Zagrei, Johanniter, Zvalgate, Solaris, Aromatny, Telti Kuruk and various muscat varieties. The organoleptic profile of such wines should express the varietal characteristics of local grape varieties and the agro-climatic features of the terroir. At the same time, the modern technology of white table wines should be built on the principles of maximum preservation of varietal aroma and minimization of its oxidation during the technological process. The article reflects the results of theoretical studies of literary sources regarding the mechanisms of oxidative processes of various nature in the process of grape processing; the market of modern preparations for stabilizing wine materials is considered. According to the goal, the influence of the use of the enzyme preparation Viazim clarif one on the process of clarifying the wort was investigated. The effect of complex antioxidant pasting of wort with the stepwise application of "Tanal W4", "Polygreen" and "Granula" bentonite on aromatic compounds and the formation of the aromatic profile of the finished product was also studied. At the last stage of research, the organoleptic profile of white wine materials of the studied grape varieties was determined. It was established that the general trend of stabilization processes in modern winemaking is transferred to the wort stage. According to the results of practical tests, in the form of trial pastes of wort, it is proposed to use the enzyme preparation "Viazim clarif one" at the stage of extracting wort; the effect of complex antioxidant pasting of wort with stepwise application of "Tanal W4", "Polygreen" and "Granula" bentonite was studied. Practical recommendations have been developed for winemakers on the application of antioxidant wort pasting for domestic grape varieties Sukholimansky white and Citronny Magaracha, which are now gaining popularity in Ukraine.

Memory of the Past in the Multi-Ethnic Space of Danube Cities

The article presents the issues of preserving the historical memory of the cities of Southern Bessarabia (the southwestern part of Odesa region, Ukraine). The specific features of the region’s historical development, frequent changes in the state affiliation, intermixture and diversity of confessional and ethnographic aspects contributed to the formation of a special, multicultural and polyethnic habitat for the residents of this region. The region’s cities, formed many centuries ago, demonstrate specific, often unique features of the memory of the past, embodied in the temples, street names, residential buildings, and administrative and fortification structures. The preservation of the urban memory and its popularisation serve as the foundation of human beings who are free from prejudice, protect their identity and are tolerant of their neighbours.

Soviet Politics of Memory in Southern Bessarabia and Northern Bukovyna: Representation of the Past and Mythmaking during World War II

The incorporation of new territories into the Ukrainian SSR during World War II required reconstructing the local community’s identity and shaping its historical memory through Stalinist ideology. This article examines the features of Soviet memory politics in Ukrainian territories through the examples of Southern Bessarabia and Northern Bukovyna, which were annexed in 1940 due to the military campaign against Romania. The study’s objectives were to determine the influence of Soviet ideology on the representation of the past, characterize the ways that the official memory was shaped during World War II, and analyze historical myths that spread throughout the official and historical discourse. The main historical images, which Soviet ideologists formulated in official statements, historical works, and propaganda in periodicals, have been extracted using historical discourse analysis. Comparative historical analysis has identified similarities and differences in interpreting the above-mentioned regions’ pasts. It is pointed out that the historical arguments and concepts used by the Soviet power to justify the annexations became the foundation for the historical discourse. The article analyzes the introduction of the myth of “longsuffering lands” into historical narratives, which interpreted the Soviet territorial conquests as the liberation of oppressed peoples. It has been established that the representation of Southern Bessarabia and Northern Bukovyna’s pasts corresponded to the Soviet concept of “Ukrainian people’s reunification.” However, the distinction between these regions’ ethnic composition and historical development influenced the politics of shaping historical memory.

Accession of Southern Bessarabia to the Ukrainian SSR in the Documents of the Soviet Secret Services

Accession of Southern Bessarabia to the Ukrainian SSR in the Documents of the Soviet Secret Services

Environmental problem of microplastics in Southern Bessarabia

Environmental problem of microplastics in Southern Bessarabia

MELISSOPALINOLOGICAL STUDY OF SOUTHERN BESSARABIA HONEY

Different natural and climatic zones, directions of agricultural production, ethnic and cultural features of agriculture, and reliefs of the regions of Ukraine are the result of a wide variety of vegetation. Ukraine occupies less than 6% of Europe’s area but owns about 35% of all its biodiversity. This leads to a considerable list of plants that are sources of nectar for the production of honey of different varieties. Ukraine produces classic monofloral varieties of honey, such as white acacia, rapeseed, linden, buckwheat, sunflower, as well as less common monofloral, such as mustard, clover, raspberry, bird’s-foot, phacelia, fireweed, goldenrod, sophora, honeydew. Today, regional polyfloral varieties of honey are also produced, such as Carpathian, steppe, Crimean, and other locally produced honey from reserves (for example, from Gomilshansky forests, Mezynsky reserve, Askanian meadows). A common way to identify the botanical and geographical origin of honey and identify its species is to study the pollen composition. This work was aimed to determine the pollen profile of spring honeys of Southern Bessarabia using the method of melissopalynology. Bessarabia is an ethnographic region with its own culture of agricultural production and natural and climatic conditions. The material of the study was samples of honey obtained in the apiaries of the Center for Ethnographic, Green, Rural Tourism, and Family Recreation Frumushika-Nova (Odessa region) in 2021. The pollen profile of honey was investigated using the author’s improved method of melissopalynological analysis. Identification of pollen grains was performed using the online database of pollen grains PalDat using a model nutrient medium. The pollen profile of spring honeys of Southern Bessarabia is represented by 30 morphotypes of pollen grains of different plant species, contains honeydew of natural origin and natural impurities (plant particles, wax, bee bodies). In the pollen profile of honey, no dominant (45% or more) pollen grains were detected, secondary – 6, insignificant – 21, inclusions – 3 morphotypes. This allows us to assert the polyflorality of the studied honey with the exception of white acacia, the dominant pollen of which may be 20% or more. Pollen grains of endemic species of steppe plants of Ukraine were found in the pollen profile of spring honeys of Southern Bessarabia (tamarix ramosissima, lathyrus pannonicus, rosa tesquicola, bifora radians, ailanthus altissima, ultus pumila, prunus tenella, viola occulta). The obtained results can be further used to identify the geographical origin of honey from this region. At the next stages of the research, it will be promising to determine the pollen profiles of summer honeys of Southern Bessarabia and other ethnographic regions of Ukraine.

Andrei Ciurunga: Poetry of the Carceral Universe

This article examines the poetry of Andrei Ciurunga (1920-2002), the pseudonym of Robert Esenbraun, born in a family of German settlers in southern Bessarabia. Under the communist regime he was sentenced on two occasions (the first time to four years, 19501954, the second time to 18 years to prison – from 1958), he was detained for a little more than ten years, undergoing amnesty in 1964. Memorable is the poem published after the fall of communism. It is a poem „coming from the heart”. The author has identified his destiny with the poetry of detention in all prisons and jails of Romania (Gherla, Salcia, Jilava, Văcărești, Peninsula, Poarta Albă, Danube - Black Sea canal). The lyrics "From the Canal" are distinguished by the invention of a new fixed form of poetry, the decastih. They were mentally composed and circulated widely among the detainees. It reveals, retroactively, another world, a world from the carceral inferno.

Romaniani­zation and Half-Hearted Concessions. The Last Four Years of German-Language Education in Southern Bessarabia (1936-1940)

The article discusses the status of German-language education in Southern Bessarabia in the last years of Romanian domination, before the Soviet takeover in June 1940 and the subsequent resettlement of the local German population in September 1940. It shows that neither the national-liberal government (1933-1938) nor the regime of King Carol II (1938-1940) complied with the 28 October 1920 treaty between the principal allied powers and Romania respecting Bessarabia, an agreement that granted the Romanian nationals of German ethnicity the right to establish and manage schools, as well as to use the German language in the educational sphere. Both the national-liberal government and the regime of King Carol II obstructed public and confessional German-language education in Southern Bessarabia.

The Southern Bessarabia municipal governments’ activity to prevent rising food prices during the initial period of the First World War

The Southern Bessarabia municipal governments’ activity to prevent rising food prices during the initial period of the First World War

Загрози національній безпеці у військовій сфері України на короткострокову та середньострокову перспективу

The article considers the main factor influencing the development of the situation around Ukraine and is the main threat to its national security in the military sphere remains armed aggression of the Russian Federation, which, despite some decrease in the intensity of the fighting in the Donbass, prepared for a military invasion of Ukraine, including in the form of a full-scale offensive. Of the Russian Federation in the framework of the “hybrid” war against Ukraine intensified the practice of political terrorism, which is evidence of its failure to destabilize the situation in the Ukrainian territory the organization of mass social unrest.Another factor is the governments of the countries bordering Ukraine, under the influence of the local media and the pressure of political, radical parties put forward territorial claims on the territory, “unfairly” lost in the XIX and XX centuries, which are now Western Ukraine: Hungary (Transcarpathian region), Poland (Lviv, Ternopil, Rivne and Ivano-Frankivsk region), Romania (Northern Bukovina, Southern Bessarabia).Note that the main tendency of development of the geopolitical situation in the world is the process of formation of a new multipolar system of international relations. At the same time, growing globalization of all spheres of human activity.Intensification of contradictions between the USA, NATO, EU and the Russian Federation with the Ukrainian and other issues exacerbated the confrontation of the parties in fact to the level of the cold war. Given this, the most dangerous trend is the increasing military activity of the United States, NATO and Russia as at the strategic level in the nuclear missile sphere and the main directions of their direct clashes in the black sea region.In such circumstances it is fundamentally important for Ukraine that the US, NATO and the EU remain in their positions, adhering to a policy of strategic deterrence of the Russian Federation, consistently increasing sanctions against it, reinforcing the support of Kyiv and strengthening the security of Europe from the East. The leading Western countries and international organizations have actually taken a fundamental decision regarding its responsibility for Ukraine, for its further integration into the EU and NATO in one form or another.This also shows that the Russian Federation tries in vain to change the policy of the US and Europe on Russian and Ukrainian destinations, to undermine the unity of the EU and NATO methods of conducting hybrid war, including influencing the election results in Western countries.

FEATURES OF ETHNO-POLITICAL LEADERSHIP IN THE CONTEXT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY REPRESENTATION OF MINORITY ETHNIC GROUPS IN UKRAINE

Ethno-political leadership is an important indicator of the social and political representation of minority groups in a multicultural social environment. The most effective form of its implementation provides for the representation of the ethnic community at the level of the highest legislative body of the state. A number of countries in Central and Eastern Europe have developed their own models of such representation over the last past decades. They are implemented through guaranteed reservation of seats for representatives of ethnic communities, lower numerical thresholds for representation in parliament, inclusion of ethno-political leaders in the lists of national parties, single-member districts may provide sufficient minority representation as well. The relevance of the study of the ethno-political leadership in the context of parliamentary representation of ethnic minorities is objectively determined by the multi-ethnicity of Ukrainian society, declaration of Ukraine's integration into the EU structures and implementation of European democratic principles of governance.The subject of the research are public and political leaders, mostly heads of national-cultural societies, foundations, ethnopolitical parties. The author applies the method of electoral statistic analysis for parliamentary elections of 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2012, 2014 and 2019. Synthetically generalized of minority representation in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of all nine convocations. Emphasis is made on the political participation of representatives of the multi-ethnic regions in Ukraine (Crimea, Eastern Ukraine, Northern Azov, Southern Bessarabia, Bukovina, Transcarpathia).Adequate representationof people's deputies of Russian and Jewish ethnic origin has considered in the article. Among the ethnopolitical leaders of Jewish ethnicity, the figure of Kharkiv resident Olexander Feldman stands out, who since 2002 has invariably been a people's deputy of Ukraine. Vadim Rabinovych, the leader of the All-Ukrainian Jewish Congress is represented in parliament for only the last two terms. The most constant (since 1998 as a people's deputate) is the position of the Crimean Tatar leader, national democrat Mustafa Dzhemilev. A similar ideological orientation is taken by the head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Refat Chubarov. The co-founder of the «Our Land» Party Anton Kisse is a stable ethno-political leader of the Bulgarians in Ukraine. The unbalanced position of the ethno-political leadership of the Romanian (Ivan Popescu) and the Hungarian (Ishtvan Haidosh, Vasyl Brenzovich) representatives is also has considered. It is indicated about the first steps at the parliamentary representation of the Azov Greeks in the person of Dmytro Lubinets.The author concludes about the low efficiency of parliamentary representation of ethnic minorities in Ukraine, which is caused by permanent changes in electoral legislation, negative electoral and engineering practice of gerrymandering and neglecting of European good practices of including minority ethnic groups in politics, which are defined in international documents.

НАЦІОНАЛЬНІ ОСОБЛИВОСТІ ТРАДИЦІЙНОЇ ЖИТЛОВОЇ АРХІТЕКТУРИ В БУДЖАЦЬКОМУ РЕГІОНІ

Most of the homes in the Budzhak region are interesting historical and architectural sites and deserve attention. Considering their current state, one can see the manifestation of a number of architectural features: well-established national traditions, authorship of folk craftsmen, the influence of academic art, historical architectural styles (Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Classicism, Modernist), as well as the features of serial time. The unifying factor is, on the one hand, the similarity of ideological and creative thoughts and the desire of folk craftsmen to give a compositional and stylistic integrity to the whole object-space environment of the manor (in particular, in the exterior and interior of a dwelling house), on the other-ethnic identity manifests itself perfectly recognizable through ornamental motifs and forms by elements of certain national symbols. The article deals with the national features of the traditional residential architecture of Budzhak Ukrainians, Russians, Bulgarians, Romanians, Moldavians, Gagauzians, Germans, selected for research as the most numerous in the national composition of Budzhak (southern Bessarabia) according to the population censuses from 1822 to 2001. Budzhak's national composition is presented in pie charts. The national identity of the compositional features and decorative and artistic means of expressing the dwellings of Budzhak, in particular its central regions (Saratov and Tatarbunar regions of Odessa region) of the given ethnic groups of the population is revealed. In general, the main large volumes and forms of traditional residential buildings are the construction of walls and roofs. Picturesque volumetric compositions acquire buildings with a combined type of roof that is used to cover the intersecting several volumes of the building, the kind with roofs with artistically decorated attic windows, located both in the plane of the roof slope and on the pediment of the main front. The subjects of detailed consideration and research are: ornamental-plastic decor made of cement, brick, lime, metal. Artistic carving -on wood and metal. Artistic forging, as a rule, has common compositional features with the architecture of the home and the estate as a whole. The entrance to the apartment house is decidedly representative and colorful enough. Borrowing and imitating natural counterparts (prototypes), folk craftsmen have created unique works that clearly reflect interethnic and religious-everyday contacts, professional borrowings, family traditions and the achievements of modern times.Photographic examples of dwellings typical of nationality (the second half of the XIX –the second half of the twentieth century) are given. The collected photos are dated 2015, 2017, 2018. Numerous photo materials of the respective states were considered by the author for the identification of houses by nationality: Ukraine, Russia, Moldavia, ATO Gagauzia, Romania, Germany, Bulgaria. The resulting comparative tables and schemes of ethnic influences are quite large in volume and can therefore be illustrated and analyzed in the next article by the author. However, the features noted briefly atthis stage made it possible to draw some conclusions, which made it possible to distinguish the typical residential homes of the studied national groups from the vast number of mixed types characteristic of the South of Ukraine as a historical and ethnographic region as a whole. The distinctive features of the dwellings of Budzhak Ukrainians, Russians, Bulgarians, Romanians, Moldavians, Gagauzians, Germans are considered and detailed, places of decorative and color accents in the general composition of estates are revealed. Tradition is a form of translation of social experience in the philosophical sense. This or that type of stage borrowing of any object that evolves, including culture, is possible provided that the old goes into the new and works in it productively. Tradition acquires the features of stability when it becomes flexible, dynamic, able to absorb the best qualities of artistic cultures of other nations and groups, and also as a result of self-development. A comprehensive study of the featuresof traditional residential architecture provides the basis for the scientific substantiation of restoration works and the unveiling of the tourist potential of Budzhak. Taking into account the multifaceted architectural forms of residential objects, both geographical and sociocultural, it is possible to identify not only the visual and morphological features of traditional residential buildings of different ethnic groups, but also the semantic structure of the image of traditional architecture, which meansto develop certain techniques for the use of ethnic styles. houses for the future. The obtained factual material of this scientific article can be implemented in a wide range of architectural and design activities, as well as cultural, ethno-cultural and art-science practices.

ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA ȘI ÎNVĂȚĂMÂNTUL DIN SUDUL BASARABIEI

. Alexandru Ioan Cuza (1859-1866), Ruler of the Romanian United Principalities, had also reigned during his years on the throne over Southern Bessarabia, meaning the counties of Cahul, Bolgrad, and Ismail. These counties had been taken from the Russian Empire, who had appropriated them in 1812, and were reunited with the Principality of Moldova through the peace treaty signed at the end of the Crimean War (1856). To oppose the process of Russification to which the Romanian population between the rivers Prut and Dniester had been subjected, thus also the people in Southern Bessarabia, ruler Alexandru Ioan Cuza gave much attention to the education system. He had to start from the beginning with the creation of an education system in the Romanian language, which used the Latin alphabet. He created there a completely new education system: a new group of teachers, Romanian schools, Romanian handbooks, curricula. For this, the basis was the Education Law of 1864. In conclusion, I can write that ruler Cuza created the basis for the development of the Romanian education system, including that of Southern Bessarabia, a development which would happen during the time of his successor, Prince Carol I.

Deutsche und ihre jüdischen Nachbarn auf den ukrainischen Gebieten in der zweiten Hälfte des XIX. Jahrhunderts

The article presents some of the author’s research results that has got while elaboration of the theme “Everyday life in the mirror of conflicts: Germans and their neighbors on the Southern and South-West periphery of the Russian Empire 1861–1914”. The relationship between Germans and Jews is studied in the context of the growing confrontation in Southern cities that resulted in a wave of pogroms. Sources are information provided by the police and court archival funds. The German colonists Ludwig Koenig and Alexandra Kirchner (the resident of Odessa) were involved into Odessa pogrom (1871), in particular. While Koenig with other rioters was arrested by the police, Kirchner led a crowd of rioters to the shop of her Jewish neighbor, whom she had a conflict with.
 The second part of the article is devoted to the analyses of unty-Jewish violence causes and history in Ak-Kerman at the second half of the 19th and early years of 20th centuries.
 Akkerman was one of the southern Bessarabia cities, where multiethnic population, including the Jews, grew rapidly. It was one of the reasons of the pogroms in 1865 and 1905. The author uses criminal cases` papers to analyze the reasons of the Germans participation in the civilian squads that had been organized to protect the population and their property in Ackerman and Shabo in 1905.

They changed the history: 125 natives of the Southern Bessarabia

They changed the history: 125 natives of the Southern Bessarabia

The Economic Dimension of a Decision on a Territorial Exchange: Southern Bessarabia for Northern Dobruja

A territorial change could have complex economic consequences for both the country that annexed a province and the country that lost it. This paper approaches the economic aspects of the territorial exchange from 1878, when Romania received the Northern Dobruja as a compensation for losing Southern Bessarabia. The economic potential of Northern Dobruja played a major role in the controversial decision of the Romanian Government to accept, de facto, the territorial exchange.

Vitalie Ponomariov, Considerații privind implicarea serviciilor secrete sovietice și a Cominternului în organizarea rebeliunii de la Tatar-Bunar / Considerations regarding the involvement of the Soviet secret services and the Comintern in organizing the Tatar-Bunar rebellion

This study deals with the involvement of the Soviet secret services and the Communist International in organizing the anti-Romanian rebellion in Southern Bessarabia in September 1924. The article contributes to a better understanding of the Soviet Union’s secret policy towards Romania, focusing on the Bessarabian question. The basic element of this policy was the strategy of „active espionage” which, in general, meant the creation by the Soviet special services of paramilitary formations on the territory of the states bordering on the USSR. These formations were designed for the purpose of diversions, terrorist attacks and other subversive actions, such as organizing rebellions or coup d’etats. According to the author, the events unfolding in September 1924 in Tatar-Bunar were prepared by the Soviet secret services with the aid and cooperation of the Communist International, through the Balkan Communist Federation. The author used a vast array of archival materials, especially numerous unpublished documents from the archives in Chisinau and Bucharest