On 22-25 October 2015 IPN delegation consisting of Agnieszka Rudzińska, Deputy President and Anna Piekarska, Deputy Director of the Public Education Office, visited Chisinau, Moldova. The visit was connected to the exhibition „The Destruction of the Polish Elite. Operation AB – Katyń” displayed at the Center of Military History and Culture. Presentation of the exhibition was possible owing to the cooperation of the Institute with the Polish Embassy in Chisinau.
The exhibition, which was on display in Chisinau for nearly a month, met with great interest of the public. Following the recommendation of the mayor of Chisinau the exhibit has been visited by students from local schools.
Representatives of the IPN met with Mr. Aurel Fondos, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Defence of Moldova, and Mr. Vitali Czobanu, Center of Military History and Culture. During the meeting possibilities for further cooperation were discussed, primarily in the field of exhibitions and research. Representatives of the IPN had the opportunity to visit the museum, where currently a new section is being prepared, devoted to the Soviet occupation and deportations especially in the twentieth century to the Soviet Union, whose memory is still very much alive in Moldova. Opening of this part of the exhibition is planned for spring 2016. It will be accompanied by an academic conference on the deportations, in which historians from the Institute will take part.
The program also included meetings with Prof. Anatol Petrencu, author of the Polish history in the twentieth century and students of history at the State University in Chisinau. Agnieszka Rudzińska gave a lecture on destruction of the Polish elites during the Second World War, with particular focus on the Katyń Massacre.
During a meeting with Polish teachers at the Adam Mickiewicz Polish Library, located at the Lech Kaczynski street in Chisinau, Agnieszka Rudzińska presented a brief history of the IPN and its work. Anna Piekarska talked about the educational work of the Institute, and in particular its offer for the Polish community. A selection of IPN publications, educational materials for teachers and board games were given to the Library.
Representatives of the IPN also visited the Mereni village, where a Museum of Deportation, which is to commemorate the victims of the twentieth century deportations, is being created. In Mereni they met with two social activists from Moldova, Andrei Buga and Alexandru Postic, who initiated the creation of the museum. They also met with the vice mayor, director of the local ethnographic museum, activists, representatives of the local government and secondary school history teachers. The expressed much interest in the IPN's educational projects.
The delegation also visited places connected with Polish history, including Józef Piłsudski monument, and the monument commemorating the victims of the twentieth century deportations located at the entrance to the train station in Chisinau.