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The Holy Cross Monastery (Mănăstirea Sfânta Cruce), located on the Culesei Stream valley, not far from Târgu Neamt, on the administrative territory of Brusturi commune, marks the epicenter of the terrible bombing (in which German artillery also used incendiary projectiles) which contributed to the largest massacre in Romania in the Second World War, but also the turning point of the Soviet offensive. The Red Army, although in the lead, was forced to withdraw, the front remaining stable in this area (Plesu Ridge, NW of Târgu Neamt) until it dissolved on its own after August 23, 1944. During this Soviet offensive, known as the Battle of Borta Dracului (the Devil's Hole), about 14,000 soldiers died (10,000 Soviets and 4,000 Romanians), but the bombing and fighting in the area of the current monastery (Borta Dracului is nearby) were extremely ferocious. "Here was the curse of God" in which both Russians and Romanians died. After the end of the fighting, the Romanian army somehow recovered and buried in Christian tradition (even if in common graves) most of the dead, but in the forest, on the ground remained perhaps thousands of corpses whose first evacuation (bones) began only in 1946, until then the area being closed. Probably the fact that it was the last victory of the Romanian army against the Soviet one, but also the huge number of dead left unburied, made the Battle of Borta Dracului a taboo subject during the communist period.
The cornerstone of the monastic settlement was laid in 1992 by Father Ilarion Argatu (1913-1999), a great clergyman and exorcist who graduated from both the Theological Institute and the Military School, hence his inclination to the terrible events here. Until then, the place was marked only by a tomb of the unknown hero, later replaced by a crucifix. By erecting this monastery, a late but so welcome reparation was given to the souls raised to the Lord in the terrible battles of June 1944. The Holy Cross Monastery, also known as the Monastery of the Heroes, brings Divinity to these places where hell was on earth, and by his name (patron) he placed a cross at the head of each of the thousands of dead left unburied and without a cross.
In 2008, at the initiative of the abbot and the former mayor of Brusturi, Eugen Vrajitoru, a beautiful monument was erected in the courtyard of the monastery (guarded by two cannons, unusual in a holy place) "to commemorate the 14,000 soldiers who fell on duty in these places in the summer of 1944 ”. We always notice that the homage covers all those who fell here, regardless of whether they belonged to the Romanian, Soviet or German army.
Recently the church was extended to the west and in the new hall (in spring 2021) a common homage tomb was inaugurated in which we can see bones found lately through the surrounding forests.
We want to bring a rectification to the words of Father Efrem Ciobanu, the former abbot of the monastery, words that we have often found repeated in various articles on the Internet. He somehow associates the massacre of the events of August 23, 1944 ("it was a great ambush. It was ordered that the Romanians side with the Russians"), as well as that the 14,000 Romanian, Russian and German soldiers were killed in one night. It's not like that. The Battle of Borta Dracului is the last local offensive of the great Soviet offensive Iasi - Chisinau (northern Moldova) from April 8 to June 6, 1944. The Battle of Borta Dracului took place from June 3 to 16, 1944, June 7 being the one when the Soviet army started to retreat after the massacre (bombing and incendiary projectiles) from the valley of the Culesei Stream (Borta Dracului - the place of the current monastery - Poiana Crucii).
Religious music: Evloghia Group - Long Ago the Prophets ... (by Sf. Ioan Cucuzel, Glas 7 Varis)
List of videos:
1. The tactical situation: • Bătălia de la Borta Dr...
2. The beginning of the offensive: • Bătălia de la Borta Dr...
3. The fights in the meadows of Lingurari and Slatina: • Bătălia de la Borta Dr...
4. The Holy Cross Monastery: • Bătălia de la Borta Dr...
5. In the Borta Dracului (the Devil's Hole): • Bătălia de la Borta Dr...
6. The fights in the Plesu Ridge: • Bătălia de la Borta Dr...
7. The fights in Nemtisor: • Bătălia de la Borta Dr...
20 июл 2021
