#Exhibit of the Month

Buckles (paftale) are an almost indispensable element of traditional women's dress in the Southeastern European area, particularly in the Balkans, and have been in use over a long period, from the 14th to the 20th century.
The word pafta is of Turkic origin-possibly entering the language via Iranian influence-derived from the Persian word bafta, meaning "woven," which evolved in Turkish to signify "plate." Today, the term is used in nearly identical forms in Romanian (pafta), Bulgarian (пафта), Serbian (пафте), and some Aromanian dialects (pafta), designating functional and ornamental clothing accessories used to fasten belts, girdles, or sashes, crafted from various materials and decorated using different techniques.
The three buckles decorated in the polychrome enamel technique, preserved in the collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova, belong to the South-Danubian tradition and are dated to the late 19th - early 20th century.

Each buckle consists of two identical trapezoidal parts, their surfaces divided into three roughly equal registers, adorned with stylized vegetal motifs forming a metal lattice into which enamel is poured. The two parts extend into sharp angles at the ends, forming a triangle with the edge of the last decorative register, similarly ornamented. The enamel used to fill the floral motifs is black, turquoise, white, orange, green, yellow, and burgundy. The entire decorative field is framed by a beaded border.

On the reverse, both components retain a copper band riveted along the edge, used to fasten the ends of the belt. The fastening system, made by interlocking the hinges of the two parts and secured with a movable pin attached by a chain to a clasp fixed on one of the buckle pieces, is concealed by a rectangular plate (riveted with three pins to the body of the piece), with narrow edges ending in sharp angles, decorated in the same style and technique. Additionally, it features three circular settings with notched edges bent inward to hold centrally placed red and green glass paste. These settings are framed by a radiant, notched band.

The symbolism of the color palette encodes meanings and symbols, chosen for their believed magical powers. Red has always represented love, affection, and protection against curses and the evil eye; white symbolizes purity and spiritual and physical cleanliness; blue is symbolically associated with infinity, morning, new beginnings, and transformation; green represents destiny, hope, prosperity, balance, and rebirth, being linked to nature's revival each spring and to life itself.

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Exhibitions

„War after War. Armed anti-Soviet resistance in Lithuania in 1944-1953”

October 19th - November 5th, 2018

The National Museum of History of Moldova opened the photo-documentary exhibition of the Museum of Genocide Victims from the Genocide and Resistance Research Center of Lithuania entitled „War after the War. Anti-Soviet Armed Resistance in Lithuania in 1944-1953". The openikng event took place on Friday, October 19, 2018, at 16.00.

The event is organized by the National Museum of History of Moldova in cooperation with the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in the Republic of Moldova under the State Program „Recovery and historical valorization of the memory of the victims of the totalitarian-communist regime in the Moldavian SSR during the years 1940-1941 and 1944-1953 ".

At the opening ceremony, moderated by Dr. Elena Postică, Deputy Director of the National Museum of History of Moldova, took the floor: E.S. Kestutis Kudzmanas, Ambassador of the Republic of Lithuania to the Republic of Moldova; Terese Birute Burauskaite, Director of the Genocide and Resistance Research Center in Lithuania; Eugenius Peikstenis, director of the Museum of Genocide Victims and Lithuanian Population Resistance in Vilnius; Prof. univ Anatol Patrencu, Director of the State Program „Recovery and Historical Valorisation of the Memory of the Victims of the Totalitarian-Communist Regime in the Moldavian SSR".

In 1944-1945, Europe, together with the whole world, was intoxicated with the idea that finally the German Nazism was defeated and the war, which had claimed millions of lives, destroyed entire cities, came to an end.

In Lithuania, as in other Baltic states, which lost their independence in 1940 and had already experienced what the "Soviet paradise" was like a different mood prevailed. It was then that a national war broke out in Lithuania, which was aimed at the re-establishment of the state. Thousands of men gathered in the forests in the hope that they should not staying there for too long - till the decisions of the Peace Conference implementing the principle of self-determination of the nations were made. Unfortunately, their expectations did not come true, and for nine years, from 1944 to 1953, Lithuania fought its war quite alone.

In 1945, there could be up to 30,000 partisans in Lithuanian forests led by the former officers, students and teachers. Large partisan detachments numbering even up to 200 men were being formed, battles with the Soviet army resembled armed conflicts between regular armies. During the first two years of the armed resistance, in 1944-1945, about 10,000 partisans were killed and the total number of the dead amounted to over 20,000. All in all, over 50,000 people were engaged in the guerrilla war, about 140,000 persons were imprisoned and 118,000 people were deported.

At the beginning there was certain spontaneity, however, little by little, with great difficulties, the structure based on the military territorial principle was formed. By 1948, three regions, each containing districts with its military formations (corps, platoon, squad) were formed all over Lithuania. Structural sub-units had staffs subordinate to them, which were headed by officers (with the exception of certain districts) at least till 1948.

Partisans drew up military standard documents whereby they sought to maintain discipline, avoid self-wilfulness and unnecessary bloodshed as much as possible. Military uniforms and appropriate recognition badges also served as a disciplinary measure.

In February 1949, after five years of striving for that, the highest authority of partisans - the Presidium of the Council of the Movement of the Struggle for Freedom of Lithuania (LLKS) was founded. Unlike the former attempts, all partisan leaders within the territory of Lithuania who participated in the constituent assembly became subordinate to it. The political Declaration by the Council of the Movement of the Struggle for Freedom of Lithuania, the document which currently constitutes a legal act of the Lithuanian legal system, united Lithuania of 1918 and Lithuania of 1990.

Aspirations for freedom, independence and democracy constituted the main values, which Lithuania inherited from the generation whose motto was as follows: "Give your Fatherland all that you are obliged to..."