#Exhibit of the Month

It is a sports trophy obtained at an inter-school oina (a bat-and-ball game) competition in interwar Bessarabia. We don't know which schools participated in this competition, nor the venue, we only know that one of the winners received the second prize and that the event was held on May 13, 1934. In this way we learn about the existence of different sports competitions organized by schools, including the oina game. Oina is a beautiful and complex sports game that promotes the development of body and spirit, courage and the desire for self-improvement. Oina is a treasure of the Romanian people, which must be sacredly kept and passed on to future generations.

The oină or hoina game is considered a Romanian national sports game having a history of at least six centuries. The oina game is practiced continuously, according to the chronicles and deeds of the time at least from the 14th century, being mentioned for the first time in 1364, during the reign of Vlaicu Vodă. The game requires complex sports qualities (good running speed, fast reflexes in self-defense movements against the balls, accuracy in throwing and hitting the ball with a bat or stick). Oina is a sport that identifies us to the same extent as trânta, our national wrestling. The game becomes attractive among young people in the villages, enters the school curriculum through physical education lessons. Through the Education Reform of 1898, as well as through other ministerial decisions, Education Minister Spiru Haret introduces the compulsory oina lessons in all schools, as well as the annual oina competitions.

On May 9, 1899, in Bucharest, the first national oina championship was organized, the teams being made up of high school students. The winner was the team of Nicolae Bălcescu High School from Brăila.

In 1912, the Federation of the Romanian Sports Society (Bucharest) was created, which consisted of 13 sports commissions including the oina commission.

After the Union of 1918, the Federation of the Romanian Sports Society was reorganized in 1923, including the other oina sports commissions of Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia.

In 1932, the Romanian Oina Federation was founded.

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National Museum of History of Moldova

Exhibitions

Diorama of the „Iasi-Chisinau Operation”

Permanent

Diorama of the Iasi-Chisinau Operation was opened to the public in 1990. This is a real masterpiece of art that was being created in the course of more than eight years by Nikolay Prisekin and Alexey Semyonov, the well-known painters of the Military Artists' Studio named after M.V. Grekov. In size it exceeds the dioramas "Assault of the Sapun Mountain" in Sevastopol, "Battle for Kiev" (the Lyutezh Bridgehead, 1943), and others.

Diorama of the „lasi-Chisinau Operation”

On the canvas with the dimensions of 45 x 11 m. there are reflected the battles, which took place near the village of Leuseni, on the Prut river, in the summer of 1944. The foreground, which constitutes the whole with the canvas, consists of authentic objects; an anti-tank gun, boxes with cartridges and shells, equipment and ammunition. The total space of the foreground and canvas of the diorama constitutes about 800 sq. m.