N.O.H.M. TRIP TO GERMANY

Between 8 - 18 November 2005, a team of N.O.H.M. went to Germany, following the invitation of German Popular Union for Care of War Graves (VDK), to take part in the actions dedicated to the Days of National Mourning.
The N.O.H.M. team members participated in the ceremonials occasioned by the Days of National Mourning, organized in Berlin by VDK between 12 – 13 November.
In this context, the N.O.H.M. team analized, together with the VDK representatives, how the Romanian-German Agreement on war graves and memorials has been applied, as well as how programmes developed by the German party in Romania during 2005 have been accomplished. They also discussed and agreed upon the bi-lateral co-operation program for the year 2006 and in perspective.
During the trip, they made field observation of 22 Romanian war graves and memorials in Germany, Austria and Hungary. They contacted German authorities, as well as Romania's diplomatic agencies in those three countries, in order to make known the projects of N.O.H.M.
The team consisted of Cristian Scarlat, N.O.H.M. director, and Catalin Fudulu.

N.O.H.M. TRIP IN UKRAINE AND REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA

A team of the National Office for Heroes Memory (N.O.H.M.) , including Cristian Scarlat - director - and Ilie Schipor - head of service - paid a documentation visit to Ukraine and Republic of Moldova between 25-29 September, 2005, to review Romanian war graves and memorials, as well as to check their condition.

The visit covered the areas Cernauti, Herta and Hliboca in Ukraine, Chisinau, Ialoveni, Tiganca and Cantemir in the Republic of Moldova. Beside seeing on the spot the condition of war graves and memorials dedicated to Romanian soldiers killed in action in these areas, discussions have been made with local authorities on reconstruction and reconditioning some of them. Thus, an idea has come up on drafting a reconstruction project of a Romanian honour lot in Cernauti on the place of the former Romanian cemetery, close to the Jewish one.

Another opportunity consists in rebuilding the 41st Infantry Regiment monument (regiment belonging to the former Autria-Hungarian armed forces, but constituted mostly of Romanian soldiers), also placed in Cernauti and partially dismantled after the Second World War.

The cemetery of honour in Cosminului Valley (Ukraine), completed in 1936 by the National Seed "Queen Maria" for the Heroes Memory and gathering over 13.000 dead soldiers of various citizenships, has been a particular objective of this visit. Surprisingly, in three villages, monuments dedicated to Romanian soldiers dead in the Independency War (1877-1878) and in the Balcanic War (1913) have been found.

The second part of the documentation covered the Republic of Moldova. The main goal consisted in formally presenting the project "Tiganca", which got the full support of the authorities of Cantemir county. The project "Tiganca" is one of the top priorities of N.O.H.M. and aims to rebuild the largest Romanian World War Two cemetery in the Republic of Moldova.

During the visit, discussions have been made with the Ambassador of Romania in Chisinau; the team also took reconnaissance works, along with local officials, in the villages Tiganca and Cania.

The documentation included the Romanian war cemetery in Chisinau, which was dismantled after the Second World War, a hospital being built on that location. In the ’90s, local war veterans initiated the building of a new chapel on that place, which is still unfinished due to the lack of funding. In the town of Ialoveni, the N.O.H.M. representatives discussed with a local initiative group to rebuid the war cemetery there, using the opportunity offered by the construction of a church nearby.

The documentation of N.O.H.M. representatives received substantial support from the Ambassador of Romania in Chisinau, Mr. Filip Teodorescu, the General Consul of Romania in Cernauti, Mr. Romeo Sandulescu, as well as from the local authorities, thus succeeding in fulfilling a heavy agenda and in outlining new projects.