girls were raped; some of them committed suicide. The victims were buried in three large ditches, then the Jewish gravediggers who had interred the bodies were in turn murdered and buried on the same spot. In the middle of August a ghetto was set up. Surviving Jews of Edineț, and others from different places in the north of Bessarabia and from Bukovina, were interned. In September there were about 12,000 Jews in the ghetto, crammed into a small area, suffering from malnutrition and disease. Dozens of people died every day, succumbing to disease, cold weather, hunger, or thirst. On September 16, 1941, all the remaining Jews were deported to Transnistria, where the majority of them died. By 1944 only a few managed to survive. The few dozen families still alive at the end of the war settled either in Czernovitz or moved to Israel. Only a handful chose to return to Edineț. In 1944, the Soviets re-conquered Bessarabia and re-established the Moldavian SSR. During the Soviet time, the town was also known in the Russified versions Yedintsy and Yedintzi. In 1960s, the Jewish population was estimated at about 200. There was no synagogue, although the Jewish cemetery still existed. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Moldova became an independent country. Demographics 1There is an ongoing controversy over whether Moldovans' self-identification constitutes an ethnic group distinct and apart from Romanians, or a subset. At the 2004 Moldovan Census, citizens could declare only one ethnic group. Consequently, one could not declare oneself both "Moldovan" and "Romanian". In the 1930 Romanian census, no one was registered as "Moldovan". Culture Edineț has a Natural History Museum, and a famous Museum of National Craftsmen, whose collection has many original folk objects and works. Media Radio Chișinău 104.6 FM Jurnal FM 107.9 MHz Radio Sanatatea Notable people Ghenadie Ciobanu Joseph Gaer Revekka Galperina Samuel Wainer International relations Twin towns – Sister cities Edineț is twinned with: Râmnicu Sărat, Romania References Further reading Yedintsy (p. 425) at Miriam Weiner's Routes to Roots Foundation External links Edineț District Council Edineț based radio station Yad l'Yedinitz; memorial book for the Jewish community of Edineț, Bessarabia Cities and towns in Moldova Municipalities of Moldova Moldova articles needing attention Khotinsky Uyezd Holocaust locations in Moldova Edineț District