Nicolae Bivol

Bivol was born in Ialoveni.^[1] In 1902, he graduated from Chişinău Theological Seminary, where he was a colleague of Teodor Neaga; both would become MPs in the Country Council. He then went on to study at the Imperial University of Dorpat, later becoming a high school teacher in Chișinău. During the First World War he was imprisoned by the Germans, returning to Bessarabia in 1918.

On 25 November 1918 he obtained the mandate of an MP in the National Council, being among the deputies who voted the Declaration of 27 November 1918, according to which the conditions on unification of Bessarabia with Romania set on 27 March 1918 were rejected. From 1922 by 1925 he was a member of the National Liberal Party and for nine months between 1923 and 1924, he was the Mayor of Chișinău. He worked as an entrepreneur, owning a tannery between 1922 and 1926, and later, after 1938, a swimming pool.^[2]

In 1935, he edited the "Our Life" newspaper in Chișinău.^[3][4]

On 3 August 1940, while in Bessarabia, Bivol was arrested by the NKVD. 54/13 of the Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR prohibited proactive fights against the working class and revolutionary activity. However, during the investigations, unexpectedly, some of the workers of the swimming pool and his subordinates from the town hall testified in favor of Nicolae Bivol. They said that he disbursed his employees' wages on time; that he included Soviet newspapers among his reading material; that he treated his employees kindly; and that he even provided additional financial support for some of his employees. They also mentioned the edition of the newspaper "Our Life", describing it as a left-wing and anti-fascist newspaper. Bivol's statement in 1938 of adherence to the Democratic Bloc and signing of a democratic manifesto served as further evidence in his favor.^[2]

El 9 de noviembre de 1940 se completó la investigación preliminar y el expediente se envió a Moscú para su examen por la "Troika Especial" y la aplicación de la pena, independientemente de las declaraciones de los testigos. A los fiscales soviéticos debieron gustarles las declaraciones presentadas, y probablemente también el carácter del periódico, porque el 11 de febrero de 1941 los soviéticos devolvieron el expediente a Chisináu y organizaron la verificación de datos; el 5 de abril de 1941 el investigador ya había recibido autorización de Moscú para archivar el caso. Nicolae Bivol fue liberado de prisión y se le devolvieron sus bienes. El suyo fue un caso excepcional: solo unos pocos diputados del Consejo de Estado capturados por el NKVD sobrevivieron. ^{[ 2 ]}