How the parents of the deceased children experienced the terrorist attack in a Moldovan school: the tragedy of 1950, which was hidden by the authorities

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

April 4, 1950 will forever remain a black day for the inhabitants of the small Moldovan village of Giska, which is located near Tiraspol. Then 21 children and 2 adults became victims of a monstrous terrorist attack, which was staged by a man for no apparent reason. And it is difficult to count how many people were left with disabilities. Moreover, grief-stricken people had to go through a terrible tragedy alone. After all, the authorities decided to simply "hush up" it. And the whole country learned about what happened on that terrible day only half a century later.

But nothing foreshadowed trouble

The post-war Giska was no different from millions of villages in the Soviet Union: life was gradually getting better, people were engaged in their usual chores. At the same time, a new front-line soldier appeared at the local seven-year school. What his name was is unknown. Where he came from is also shrouded in mystery. Perhaps he settled here immediately after the war, or arrived a little later.

However, the new teacher did not find a common language with the villagers, and did not even try to do this. According to the recollections of local residents, he was silent, gloomy, did not greet anyone and lived in a small room that he rented from one of the local grandmothers.

Almost at the same time, Natalia Donich, a teacher of Russian language and literature, moved to the village. She had a little son, whose father, a military pilot, died in the war. Her brother served at the airfield in Tiraspol, so it is not surprising that the young widow decided to be closer to her loved one.

Natalia, on the contrary, was very fond of students and local residents. She was pretty, adored children and her subject, wrote poetry and led a circle of young poets. But soon the young teacher began an affair with the military commander. The locals did not understand her choice, but they did not condemn her. Everyone understood, although she lost her loved one, but she had the right to simple female happiness.

The romance between young people developed rapidly, and soon the man made an offer to the chosen one. And she answered him with consent. They began to prepare for the wedding, but suddenly Natalya broke off relations with the military commander. What happened then became known later. As it turned out, the beloved confessed to the bride that he already had a family: his legal wife and son were waiting for him in Kazan.

Donich could not forgive such a betrayal. But it is not known what then the young teacher said to the military instructor, but after a difficult conversation he seemed to be overwhelmed, and he decided to take revenge on the woman who had rejected him.

Outcast man's revenge plan

The failed groom worked part-time at the local DOSAAF, so it was not difficult for him to take 12 kg of TNT from there. But so that the employees would not be suspected of theft, he left a note in which he admitted that it was he who had stolen the explosives. The man also wrote another letter, which he addressed to his wife and son. In it, he admitted that he was going to commit suicide, said goodbye to his wife and asked to say hello to the child.

The military commander's plan for revenge was as follows: to kill himself and the teacher. To do this, he built a bomb and invited Donich to allegedly celebrate his birthday in a room he rented. However, Natalya ignored the invitation, she herself did not suspect that by doing so she saved the lives of the hostess and the invited guests. But the man was not going to back down from his plan.

Attempt # 2

On April 4, 1950, a former front-line soldier came to school. In his hands was a heavy bundle, which attracted the attention of the technician. She asked what was there. The military instructor replied that it was "a present for Natasha." It is difficult to imagine what thoughts were in the head of an angry man, but he did not even care that there were both students and teachers in the school. He longed for only one thing: to take revenge on the bride who had rejected him.

Walking along the school corridor, the former front-line soldier burned the fuse and then entered the classroom where Natalya was teaching. According to the recollections of one of the miraculously surviving students, the rejected groom shouted for everyone to run and grabbed the teacher. She only had time to cry out: "Mommy!". And then there was an explosion. It was so strong that nothing remained of the school: the building collapsed to the ground.

And in the village panic began. The parents, distraught with grief, who ran to the scene, tried in vain to find their children under the rubble, not realizing that they were further traumatizing those who managed to survive. The bodies were piled up at the gate, and the wounded were taken to hospitals in Tiraspol and Bender. Soon, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Moldova arrived at the scene, who was on a visit to one of the military units nearby. He, along with local residents, helped to clear the rubble and look for survivors.

When the first shock from the incident passed, it was possible to assess the scale of the tragedy. As it turned out, the fifth grade, in which Donich taught the lesson, suffered the most. One of the families lost three children at once: two daughters died on the spot, a fifth-grader son died a year later, never recovering from his wounds. Several parents had heart attacks that they could not survive. And many of the children who survived remained disabled for the rest of their lives and experienced psychological problems. In total, 21 children, the head teacher, Natalya Donich and the military officer himself were killed during the explosion.

A tragedy that the country did not know about

While the mass funerals of the victims of the explosion were taking place in the village, the country did not know about this terrible incident: not a single publication in the newspapers, not a single message on the radio … The authorities decided that the Western enemies of the USSR could use the tragedy for their own purposes. As already mentioned, the military instructor got hold of the explosives in DOSAAF, and this could get negative political coverage. And the situation in Moldova was not stable anyway. Only the chairman of the city DOSAAF was punished then, from where the terrorist got the TNT.

The destroyed school was quickly dismantled, and the surviving children were transferred to study in another building. In 1950, the most bitter graduation took place: only five students graduated from the seventh grade. And already in September, a new school opened near the site of the explosion.

The country learned about the tragedy that took place in the village of Giska only half a century later. Local residents have reconstructed the chronology of events, talked with the surviving witnesses. In 2006, a monument was erected at the site of the tragedy, in which the names of the victims were knocked out (it was originally planned to build a memorial complex, but there were not enough funds). There is no mention of a military officer. Residents tried to make the name of the murderer forever erased from people's memory.