Memorial - "Fighters for Soviet Power" - Bender

Two mosaics are on the 18-meter monument to the "glorious fighters for Soviet power", erected in 1969 in Oktyabrsky Park in memory of the 50th anniversary of the Bendery armed insurrection. One of them symbolizes the beginning of the uprising against the Romanian occupiers, another – it’s sad ending. Zhytomyr granite of red shades was used only in theses mosaics in Bender, allowing it to be more visible from afar. A plaque at the bottom reads in Russian and Romanian (cyrillic): "В 50-летие бендерского вооружённого восстания (27 мая 1919 г.) — яркого события в истории борьбы трудящихся Бессарабии против оккупации края Королевской Румынией, за воссоединение с Советской Родиной сооружён этот памятник." / “Acest monument a fost înălțat în cinstea celei de-a 50-a aniversări a răscoalei înarmate din Bender (27 mai 1919) — eveniment luminos din istoria luptei oamenilor muncii din Basarabia împotriva ocupației instaurate de către România regală pentru realipirea la Patria Sovietică.” or “This monument was erected in honor of the 50th anniversary of the armed uprising in Bender (27 May 1919) — a significant event in the history of the struggle of the working people of Bessarabia against the occupation established by Royal Romania, for reunification with the Soviet Motherland.” The monument commemorates the 1919 Bender Uprising as a pivotal moment in the struggle of Bessarabian workers against Romanian rule, framing it within the Soviet narrative of “reunification” with the Soviet Motherland. This constructs a sense of historical continuity between Bessarabia and what would later become Soviet Moldova, even though no such administrative or political connection existed. The geopolitical concept of an autonomous Communist Transnistrian region was introduced only in 1924, when Bessarabian-born military leader Grigore Kotovski proposed the creation of the Moldavian Autonomous Oblast - under Moscow’s guidance. This evolved into the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic within the Ukrainian SSR - located entirely on the eastern bank of the Dniester, lacking any part of contemporary Moldova outside of the PMR/Transnistria. The MASSR was a strategic creation designed to promote a Soviet Moldovan identity (despite having only around 30% of ethnic Moldovans, compared to around 50% Ukrainians) and legitimize future territorial claims on Bessarabia, which was then part of Romania, similar to the Karelo-Finnic Republic.