For the first time, the religious ceremony in memory of the victims of the deportations of 1941 will take place on June 13, when it will be 69 years of those events, in the Great National Assembly Square, starting at 10.00. The service will be preceded by laying of flowers at the monument to ruler Stephan the Great, Info-Prim Neo reports. Senior state officials will take part in the commemoration events. After the service, those attending will go on a march to the square of the Railway Terminal, where there was laid the foundation stone of a monument to deportees. A meeting will be held there. Units of transport will be provided for those who cannot walk for health reasons, said the head of the Association of Former Deportees and Political Prisoners of Moldova, Valentina Sturza. The City Hall will organize charity meals for the former deportees in all the districts of Chisinau and will offer them by 400 lei. Asked about the model of the monument to deportees made by the plastic artist Iurie Platon, Valentina Sturza said she regrets that the winner of the contest was selected by a jury that included only two members of the Association, who know what it is like to be deported. “Most of the 22 members of the jury know the explanation of the word 'gulag', but do not know the experience and feelings of those who were deported,” Valentina Struza said. The monument will be erected next year, when it will be 70 years since the Stalinist deportations of 1941. The sculpture will be 3 meters in height and 12 meters in length.