REMEMBRANCE IN TIME - Index of

Manole BRIHUNEł: Archival Files – Research Sources on the Issue of Religious-Abode … 21
monasteries. This way, if in demolishing the church of Hâncu monastery, this council
agreed and had no objections; then in the case of the church of Hârjauca monk monastery,
mention was made that “the council does not agree to demolish the church, considering
this decision still unprofitable, it is necessary to temporarily abstain [from demolishing
churches – n.n. – M.B.]” [19]. The cell block from HârbovăŃ monastery suffered during
the liquidation of the monastic complex. The negative impact is so great that, even after
two decades since its reopening, the two-levelled cell block in stone, with a two-nuanced
roof, covered with slate sheet, remains in a desolate, seriously damaged state, with
leaning walls. The unfettered use, during the soviet years, of the church buildings, the
dismantling of the towers, steeples, crosses and crucifixions, the levelling of the
cemeteries where the great founders and important clergymen found eternal rest, stood for
steps purposely taken by the soviets to destroy faith. Likewise, to the chapter of the
monastic buildings which suffered from the soviet authorities, łipova hermitage belongs.
Although the hermitage church was officially declared archaeology and history
monument [20], all religious buildings and household annexes of the monastic complex
passed, in 1949, to the use of MSSR’s Ministry of Education, the church being placed
under State protection [21].
Not only the religious buildings, but also the wayside crosses, the crucifixions placed at
crossroads, near the fountains, were targeted by the atheist authorities. Such complaints of
the population as regards the wayside-cross desecration or reports of the local
administration on the cult-piece destruction were similarly detected in the sheets of the
archival files. Thus, in Suhuluceni village, Teleneşti, a roadside-cross was built which,
unfortunately, by 1954 came into a serious state and the triptych founders’ offspring
decided its renewal. The wayside cross was renewed, repaired and installed not on its
former place, but in a dweller’s yard, not to disturb the circulation on the road. However,
the drunken activists ruined the triptych glass, desecrated it, destroying all holy figures in
wood with a hatchet. The wayside cross was taken to the river, broken and destroyed. The
following day, the guilty ones proposed the sum of 3500 roubles for settling the conflict,
but the triptych founders refused, seeking justice from the district authorities [22]. At the
same time, numerous reports and applications exist for transferring the roadside crosses
and crucifixions closer to the church or cemetery; because, situated near the cultural
houses, they were often defamed and destroyed. A similar transfer took place in Pelenia
village, BălŃi, when the metal triptych was removed from the centre near the church [23].
Also, in Mileştii Mici village, Ialoveni, the soviet administration tried, by the 1960s, to
destroy the crucifixions, deemed remnants of the past, to erase them from the hearth of
the village, respectively from the villagers’ memory. This fact only partially succeeded,
as the Christians transferred the triptychs to the village graveyard. Unfortunately, not
being placed in their natural place, whence the absence of the protection means and their
occasional maintenance, the crucifixions in wood have gradually reached into a
deplorable state. In fact, St. Nicholas church from Mileştii Mici was dispossessed of its
treasures, on 7 June 1951, the representative of the deputy soviet executive I.F. Goldştein
transmits, to the benefit of the orthodox community from Mileştii Mici, both the building,
and the liturgical inventory. In this commissioning Contract, an inventory list is
appended, which includes pieces of valuable cutlery, old books, icons etc. Subsequently,
in 1962, the closure of the abode followed [24]. In fact, the situation with the church
liquidation and its asset dispossession was specific not only for the years 1944–1962, as
such cases were also reported by the 1980s. Thus, another blow was received by the