Liberation of Western Ukraine by Soviet troops, September 1939

Area liberated by Soviet troops. Rebuilding road and destroyed bridges. Captured Romanian soldiers, barefoot, in leg irons. Red Army enters Chernovicy. Plane drops leaflets. Kishinev: people, including Jews, waving. Fists in the air.Nikita Khruschev, in uniform. Translation of narration: Along its way the Red Army received great support from the local population. Romanian soldiers (deserters), who left the army so they could stay in Bessarabia and become Soviet citizens, were roaming the streets. [Bessarabia is a region in Moldova that was a part of Romania from 1918-1940 and became Soviet in June 1940. On August 2, 1940 the Soviet Republic of Moldova was formed.] Not so long ago, under the threat of harm, they were forced to take an oath: "I swear to serve King Carol II during times of peace and times of war, so help me God." Now there is an end to the soldiers' slavery. They return to their families and peaceful work. Intertitle reads: "Red Army enters Chernovtsy" [The contemporary spelling is "Chernivtsi"* Cernauti-Romanian, Czernowitz-German). A city Northern Bukovina region that was occupied by Romania during 1918-1940. In June 1940 it became a part of Soviet Ukraine.] Intertitle reads: "In liberated Kishinev" [Kishinev was liberated in 1940; and on August 2, 1940 it became the capital of a newly formed Moldovan Soviet Socialistic Republic.] At a meeting the Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine, Nikita Sergeevich Khruschev, greets workers with news of their liberation from the power of Romanian landlords.