Fântâna Albă incident

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The Fântâna Albă incident took place April 1, 1941, in Northern Bukovina when a large number of people attempted to cross the border from the Soviet Union to Romania near the village of Fântâna Albă ("White Fountain" in Romanian; now Bila Krynytsya, Ukraine).

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[edit] Background

In the summer of 1940, Romania was forced to cede territory inhabited by over 3 million people to the Soviet Union, submitting to the June 1940 Soviet Ultimatum. In quick succession, the Romanian administration and military were evacuated, and the Red Army and NKVD occupied the land. Many families were caught by surprise by the rapid unfolding of events, and had members on both sides of the new border. Therefore, many tried to cross the frontier illegally. According to official Soviet data, in the area patrolled by the 97th Unit of Soviet Border Guards, 471 people had crossed the border illegally from the counties of Hliboca, Hertsa, Putila and Storojineţ. The zone assigned to this unit extended from the border to about 7.5 km south of Cernăuţi.

From the more remote areas, such as the counties of Vascăuţi, Zastavna, Noua-Suliţă, Sadagura and Cernăuţi-rural, 628 people crossed the border to find refuge in Romania. This phenomenon cut across all ethnic and social groups in the occupied territories. During the first year of Soviet administration, a Ukrainian scholar puts the number of refugees to Romania at 7,000.[citation needed]

The Soviet authorities' reaction to this phenomenon was twofold. First, border patrol efforts were strengthened. Second, lists are drawn up with families that had one or more members which had fled to Romania, and thus are considered "traitors of the Motherland", subject to labor camp deportation. On January 1, 1941, the lists made by the 97th Unit of Soviet Border Guards mention 1,085 persons. Tables for other localities include names for 1,294 people (on December 7, 1940). At this point, even people who are suspected of the intention to flee to Romania begin to be included.

[edit] Developments

On November 19, 1940, 40 families (a total of 105 people) from Suceveni village, also carrying 20 guns, tried to cross the frontier at Fântâna Albă. At night, a battle ensued with the Soviet border guards, during which 3 people were killed, 2 were wounded and captured by the Soviets, while the rest of the group (including 5 wounded) managed to arrive in Rădăuţi, on the other side of the border. However, in short order, the relatives of the 105 people were all arrested and internally deported.

The attempt of over 100 villagers from Mahala, Ostriţa, Horecea and other villages met with better luck. They were able to cross the border and arrive in Romania. This gave confidence to other villagers. Therefore, a group of over 500 people from the villages of Mahala, Cotul-Ostriţei, Buda, Sirăuţi, Horecea-Urbana and Ostriţa tried to cross to Romania the night of February 6, 1941. However, they had been denounced to the authorities and were discovered by the border guards at 6 o'clock in the morning. Volleys of machine-gun fire from multiple directions resulted in numerous dead, including the organizers N. Merticar, N. Nica and N. Isac. About 57 people managed to arrive in Romania, but 44 others were arrested and tried as "members of a counter-revolutionary organization". On April 14, 1941, The Kiev Military District Tribunal sentenced 12 of them to death, while the other 32 were sentenced to 10 years forced labor and 5 years of loss of civic rights each. As had been the case before, all the family members of these "traitors to the Motherland" were also arrested and deported to Siberia.

[edit] April 1 incident

The main event happened on April 1, 1941. Large groups of people from several villages (Pătrăuţii-de-Sus, Pătrăuţii-de-Jos, Cupca, Corceşti, Suceveni), carrying a white flag and religious symbols, formed a marching column approximately 2,500–3,000 strong, heading towards the new Soviet-Romanian border. There were rumors circulating that the Soviets would now permit crossing to Romania. In the Varnita glade, about 3 km from the Romanian frontier, they were met by machine-gun fire. According to data compiled by Soviet authorities, 20 people were killed during the attempted border-crossing, including women and children. According to lists compiled later, casualty figures from just six Bukovina villages amounted to 44 people (17 from Pătrăuţii-de-Jos, 12 from Trestiana, 5 each from Cupca and Suceveni, 3 from Pătrăuţii-de-Sus, 2 from Oprişeni). Eye-witnesses to the incident estimate the death toll at 200, with some killed directly by gunfire, and some of the wounded allegedly being killed afterwards with shovels or being buried alive. Many of the wounded were brought to the Hliboca NKVD headquarters, where they were tortured and many died.

[edit] References and sources

[edit] External link

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