Mărculești () is a city in

Florești District Florești () is a district () in the north-east of Moldova, with the administrative center at Floreşti, Moldova, Florești. The other major cities are Ghindeşti and Mărculeşti. As of 1 January 2011, its population was 90,000. History Localitie ...

, in northern

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

, with a population of 2,081 at the 2004 census. The city was once the site of a Jewish agricultural and mercantile colony until its destruction in

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

In film and television

Filmmaker

Matthew Mishory Matthew Mishory is an American film director of Israeli descent. He has directed both narrative and documentary films and was named a "rising talent" by '' Variety Magazine'' in 2013. His award-winning 2009 film, ''Delphinium'', ...

's 2015 documentary ''Absent'' was filmed in Mărculești, the site of a horrible atrocity in 1941 in which all of the village's Jews were massacred by the Romanian army. The film introduces the current residents of Mărculești, some of who seem to be unaware (or unwilling to discuss) what happened. Mishory's own grandparents lived in the village, escaping to Israel just before the start of the Holocaust. In an interview with ''Tablet'', Mishory discussed the complex emotions of filming there: "The history of Mărculești and the Holocaust pose impossible intellectual and theological questions. All I can say is that my feelings about what happened in Mărculești are complicated. I remain a practicing Jew. And I also have serious doubts about human nature. I'm angry that people who live overlooking a killing field lie about their history. But I also have a lot of empathy for the current residents of the village and their difficult circumstances". The film had its world premiere at the Astra Film Festival in

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , , Hungarian: ''Nagyszeben'', , Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'' or ''Hermestatt'') is a city in central Romania, situated in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles th ...

, Romania and led to efforts to preserve Mărculești's abandoned Jewish cemetery.

References

External links

List of Jewish agricultural colonies of the Soroca District of Bessarabia.''Absent'', 2015 documentary filmed in Mărculești.

Cities and towns in Moldova Former Jewish agricultural colonies of Bessarabia Soroksky Uyezd Florești District {{Florești-geo-stub