The memorial is part way down to the right.
Stumbling upon the Chisinau Ghetto Memorial last weekend was completely unexpected. Chisinau is the perfect city to wander around for a leisurely weekend. The old Soviet architecture, churches, and other cultural features didn’t surprise me, but the ghetto memorial stopped me in my tracks.
For some reason, it hadn’t dawned on me that a ghetto had once existed in Chisinau, and it was only when I stumbled upon this memorial that it hit me – OF COURSE, the Nazis had been there.
It was established in July 25th, 1941, and over 11,000 Jews lived in the Chisinau Ghetto…that’s more than the population of my hometown, Kapuskasing!
For Remembrance Day, I like to remember the victims of war as well as all those who fought and died for our freedom. I don’t know if Russia has a day designated for this the way Canada does at the moment, but Russia certainly pays tribute to the armed forces.
With the current political situation in the US, the anniversary of Kristallnacht from the 9th-10th of November, 1938, and with today being Remembrance Day in Canada, I thought that this would be a good time to post photos of the Chisinau Ghetto Memorial for the victims, for the people who fought and died for freedom, and in hopes that nothing like this will ever happen again.
Here it is, the Chisinau Ghetto Memorial on Jerusalem Street. ↓
I find this touching.
The sun was setting behind me, so rays of sunshine were seeping through the spaces between the apartment buildings and the trees to hit part of the memorial and the fall leaves behind it.
I don’t know exactly where the ghetto boundaries were, but with the memorial’s location, I’m sure that I was walking along the boundaries or maybe even in the ghetto itself. Without this memorial, you’d never know it.
Behind the statue – Romanian, Russian, and Hebrew.
As you can see, some people put stones or pebbles on top as is Jewish custom. I looked for a stone to add on, but couldn’t find any.
The back.
After I found this, I went online and found a fantastic post on The Bohemeian Blog about the ghetto and its ruins. If I had known about all this beforehand, I definitely would have made the trek! 
There’s nothing like wandering around to have your eyes opened and your heart touched by what you stumble upon. I always start every new adventure like this, but I spent most of my weekend in Chisinau just wandering around the city. I knew that all the sights/things I wanted to see and do were all within or near the city centre, so I just trekked on foot. This is the saddest and one of the most eye-opening things I’ve stumbled upon.
Have you ever had any touching stumbles like this?
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