A monument in the Moldovan village of Pepeni, close to Bălţi in the north of Moldova, commemorates the Jews who were murdered here in a massacre in 1941.

Pepeni, 2005, Memorial to the murdered Jews, Stiftung Denkmal

Pepeni is a small village in the north of Moldova, about fifty kilometres south of the city of Bălţi. It is located in the historical region of Bessarabia which was part of Romania following the First World War. In 1940, Bessarabia was occupied by the Soviet Union as a result of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. After invading the Soviet Union in June 1941, German and Romanian troops occupied the region around Bălţi, which was inhabited by many Jews. In 1930, Bălţi alone had a population of about 14,000 Jews. Many of them fled to the Soviet Union or nearby villages before the German and Romanian troops invaded, while many other Jews from Bălţi sought refuge in Pepeni. In mid-July 1941, village residents and Romanian constabulary committed a massacre during which at least 200 Jews were killed: Jewish men, women and children were slain and shot.

Pepeni, 2005, Memorial to the murdered Jews, Stiftung Denkmal

At least 200 Jews from Pepeni and surrounding villages were murdered by Romanian constabulary and locals. Some of the Jews probably originally came from the city of Bălţi.

Pepeni, 2005, Visitors at the memorial to the murdered Jews, Stiftung Denkmal

In 1974, the directors of the local collective farm set up a memorial in the village centre to the Jews who had been murdered in Pepeni. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the establishment of an independent state of Moldova, the monument was removed. In 2002, it was reinstated to its original location. The sculpture depicts a woman showing the palms of her hands, behind her is a man, writhing in agony on the ground. A memorial plaque was affixed bearing an inscription in Romanian and in Russian: »Lord, cry for your children…«. An additional inscription in Russian reads: »In memory of the Jews who were murdered in the village of Pepeni in July 1941«.

Pepeni, 2005, Memorial plaque on the memorial's socle, Stiftung Denkmal


Pepeni, 2005, Side view of the memorial, Stiftung Denkmal

Name

Monumentul victimelor Holocaustului din satul Pepeni

Open

The memorial is accessible at all times.