School in Transnistria: A hotbed of rebellion


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Status: 01/17/2023 03:57 am

A school in Transnistria, the Russian-controlled region of Moldova, dares ideological independence – and teaching in Romanian. Anyone who works there must have courage, says the rector.

By Andrea Beer, ARD Studio Kyiv

Maria Roibu and Nina Geregh show the bright, friendly classrooms of the secondary school “Alexander the Good” in Bender. The city with around 90,000 inhabitants in the east of the Republic of Moldova is located in Transnistria – an area that has not been governed by the Moldovan capital Chisinau for around 30 years.

The self-proclaimed “Republic of Transnistria” is de facto in charge here, a puppet state by Moscow’s grace, in which Russian troops are stationed. A meter-tall statue of Lenin stands guard in front of the mock parliament in Tiraspol, Russian flags fly, and people pay with an imaginary currency, the “Transnistrian ruble.” But the school is a hotbed of rebellion.

“Whoever works here must have courage”

“Anyone who works here must have courage,” says Maria Roibu, and Nina Ghereg nods. With financial and political support from Chinisau, the two headmistresses are holding up the all-Moldovan flag. The classes are in Romanian instead of Russian, and they stress that they are not brainwashed.

“We don’t give the children long lectures, we just do our work. We want to prepare the children in such a way that they can master their lives well and get along well with the people around them, and that they get as much humanity as possible.”

Headmistresses Nina Geregh and Maria Roibu see themselves as fighters for free education and for the Romanian language in the politically hostile environment of Transnistria.

Image: WDR/Andrea Beer

Teachers on barricades

The battle-hardened teachers go to the barricades for this. Together with their team, committed parents and students, they have occupied school buildings several times over the past three decades, from which they are chased out again. They block train tracks, give lessons in parks, apartments or in front of Bender’s city hall. “We were repeatedly threatened with weapons and death,” said Roibu.

She strokes her red short hairstyle and looks over at her deputy director. Their thoughts wander back to the 1990s. In 1992, the Republic of Moldova attempted to retake militarily the split-off Transnistria. In vain, because Transnistria received support from Moscow.

Death threats from the army

The notorious Russian General Alexander Lebed commands the 14th Guards Army. It is still stationed in the Republic of Moldova, as Russia has ignored all previous withdrawal agreements. As early as 1994, the battle for the Romanian-language high school in Bender was raging. Nina Geregh even opposed Aleksander Lebed at the time. In addition to Romanian, she speaks fluent Russian and understood very well how the influential Afghanistan veteran openly threatened her.

“Lebed said, ‘Do you even understand the danger you’re in? My people could come right now in a refrigerated truck, stick you in it and kill you,'” Geregh recalled. “Then he said we could continue talking at his military base, but we didn’t go.”

“Don’t believe the Russians”

The Russian general’s threat is reminiscent of today’s methods of torture in Ukraine by members of the Russian army. According to the police, around 50 people were locked in cold rooms in Hostomel in the Kyiv region and tortured there.

The two Moldovan educators are not surprised. The Russian attack on the neighboring country worries them deeply. The Republic of Moldova, whose pro-European leadership wants to rid itself of Russian influence, they say with conviction, also depends on Ukraine’s future. The attack on Ukraine will draw more attention to the country and its problems, and both are hoping for something from that.

Every time we talk to the representatives of Europe, we tell them: ‘Don’t believe the Russians.’ We have so much experience with them and we know only too well that when they say one thing, they do exactly the opposite.

“Russian is forced on you”

A few students sit in a circle with Geregh and Roibu. “I know the history of the school, but these details are new to me,” says 17-year-old Anna Solotoi, from eleventh grade, admiringly.

She can’t imagine a better school: “Nowhere do I feel as free as here at school because I can speak Romanian here. It’s more difficult in the city, Russian is really forced on you, for example in offices where you can’t get on without Russian.”

Over the “border” to school

If you want to go from Moldova’s capital Chisinau to Transnistria, you will pass through a buffer zone. In the middle of the Republic of Moldova, people are standing in front of a checkpoint where men in Russian uniforms are checking ID cards. Eduard also regularly crosses this pseudo-border. He doesn’t live in Transnistria, but he goes to the “Alexander the Good” high school because his parents appreciate the school.

“At the entrance to Bender you have to pass a customs and ID check,” he describes his everyday life. “It’s gotten easier for about four years, but before that you had to register and explain where you were going, how long your stay would last, what you had to do there, and you had to do it anew every day.”

“We are like a family in the school,” say the two principals, Roibu and Geregh. They see the fight for this as a fight for free education and for the Romanian language in a politically hostile environment. But also as an expression of humanity and courage.

“We will kill you” – The School of Courage in Transnistria

Andrea Beer, WDR, currently Kyiv, 16.1.2023 2:34 p.m

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