The Forgotten Children of Congo (Director's Cut)
Following its departure, the passenger ship NR MOGOSOAIA encountered a devastating collision with the convoy led by the BRP PETER KARAMINCEV pusher. This tragic event resulted in the sinking of NR MOG…
The Forgotten Children of Congo (Director's Cut)
Following its departure, the passenger ship NR MOGOSOAIA encountered a devastating collision with the convoy led by the BRP PETER KARAMINCEV pusher. This tragic event resulted in the sinking of NR MOGOSOAIA and the loss of 214 passengers who perished in the Danube's waters. Grindu Commune is located near the border with the former U.S.S.R (present-day Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova), on Tulcea banks, at Cotul Pisicii (The Cat's Bend). The all-time strategical importance of this area is also indicated by the presence in the immediate proximity of an important Roman castrum (Dinogetia) The highest location of the commune is called "Popina", a latin term meaning "the place where the poor eat". Therefore, we are talking about a settlement with a history of thousands of years, documented by the name of the stone and preserved as oral history. From immemorial times, Grindu Commune has been a predominantly fishing village settled along the Danube bend, surrounded, until 1989, by a delta of overwhelming beauty, the locals tell us. As fate would have it, in the summer of 1989, when the village counted 440 families (about 1550 souls), the delta was artificially drained, as the satellite images of the area show. Until that very moment, these families were numerous thanks to the fish they abundantly caught in the delta. The village was wild and isolated. On rainy days, when it flooded, people would take their children to school by boat. There was no question of finding food, as there was the case for those who lived in cities during the communist regime. The people of Grindu (grindenii) or the cat's people (pisicanii), as they were called in the olden days, tell us that they used to reach out in the garden to catch fish with their bare hands, without any fishing net. During winter, when the Danube froze, people would cross to the ship on ice floes. If anyone happened to fall in, they were helped with a pole and pulled back onto the steaming ice. Conditions were difficult, as the village was not connected to the power system until late, in 1989. These people had their children sent to Galati to work. And so it came to pass that on Sunday, 10th September 1989, a week before the school year began, they were drowned on the bottom of the Danube; together with them, the people attending a wedding and a baptism - on the day of the autumn harvest, on a passenger ship loaded more than ever over the year. It is impossible to imagine the terror that collectively overtook them, during those days, both the victims and the survivors of this event. 1 of 10 people of Grindu died instantly, some of whom were never to be found. The effect was comparable to that of a nuclear weapon, and the consequences can still be felt today, three decades later, in the stories of those left behind.
The Forgotten Children of Congo (Director's Cut)
Documentary
Film Details
Following its departure, the passenger ship NR MOGOSOAIA encountered a devastating collision with the convoy led by the BRP PETER KARAMINCEV pusher. This tragic event resulted in the sinking of NR MOGOSOAIA and the loss of 214 passengers who perished in the Danube's waters. Grindu Commune is located near the border with the former U.S.S.R (present-day Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova), on Tulcea banks, at Cotul Pisicii (The Cat's Bend).
The all-time strategical importance of this area is also indicated by the presence in the immediate proximity of an important Roman castrum (Dinogetia) The highest location of the commune is called "Popina", a latin term meaning "the place where the poor eat". Therefore, we are talking about a settlement with a history of thousands of years, documented by the name of the stone and preserved as oral history. From immemorial times, Grindu Commune has been a predominantly fishing village settled along the Danube bend, surrounded, until 1989, by a delta of overwhelming beauty, the locals tell us.
As fate would have it, in the summer of 1989, when the village counted 440 families (about 1550 souls), the delta was artificially drained, as the satellite images of the area show. Until that very moment, these families were numerous thanks to the fish they abundantly caught in the delta. The village was wild and isolated.
On rainy days, when it flooded, people would take their children to school by boat. There was no question of finding food, as there was the case for those who lived in cities during the communist regime. The people of Grindu (grindenii) or the cat's people (pisicanii), as they were called in the olden days, tell us that they used to reach out in the garden to catch fish with their bare hands, without any fishing net.
During winter, when the Danube froze, people would cross to the ship on ice floes. If anyone happened to fall in, they were helped with a pole and pulled back onto the steaming ice. Conditions were difficult, as the village was not connected to the power system until late, in 1989.
These people had their children sent to Galati to work. And so it came to pass that on Sunday, 10th September 1989, a week before the school year began, they were drowned on the bottom of the Danube; together with them, the people attending a wedding and a baptism - on the day of the autumn harvest, on a passenger ship loaded more than ever over the year. It is impossible to imagine the terror that collectively overtook them, during those days, both the victims and the survivors of this event.
1 of 10 people of Grindu died instantly, some of whom were never to be found. The effect was comparable to that of a nuclear weapon, and the consequences can still be felt today, three decades later, in the stories of those left behind..