Olănești is a village in
Ștefan Vodă District
Ștefan Vodă () is a district () in the south-east of Moldova, with the administrative center at Ștefan Vodă.
As of 1 January 2011, its population was 71,900. The district is situated 100 km from Chișinău and 100 km from Odesa, Ukr ...
,
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. ...
.
On 23 February 1932, in front of Olănești, at the
Soviet
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
bank of the
Dniester
The Dniester ( ) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and then through Moldova (from which it more or less separates the breakaway territory of Transnistria), finally discharging into the Black Sea on Uk ...
river, 40 out of a group of 60 unarmed ethnic
Romanians
Romanians (, ; dated Endonym and exonym, exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group and nation native to Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. Sharing a Culture of Romania, ...
from
Transnistria
Transnistria, officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and locally as Pridnestrovie, is a Landlocked country, landlocked Transnistria conflict#International recognition of Transnistria, breakaway state internationally recogn ...
who were attempting to escape from the Soviet Union into
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
were massacred by Soviet border troops and by agents of the
State Political Directorate
The State Political Directorate (), abbreviated as GPU (), was the secret police of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from February 1922 to November 1923. It was the immediate successor of the Cheka, and was replaced by the Joint ...
(GPU). Victims included women and children. The massacre was discussed on 26 February in the
Parliament of Romania
The Parliament of Romania () is the national Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Romania, consisting of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania), Chamber of Deputies () and the Senate of Romania, Senate (). It meets at the Palace of the Parliament i ...
, but no measures were taken. Soviet authorities treated all acussations as "capitalist propaganda".
From May 26, 1941, to June 1959, the village was the administrative center of the abolished Olănești District.
Population
B
Population Census 2004in Olănești live 5297 people (2511 men, 2786 women).
References
Villages of Ștefan Vodă District
Populated places on the Dniester
{{ȘtefanVodă-geo-stub