Spay Our Way in Romania: More sites to see!

Monday, September 21, 2015

Met the group for Breakfast. Robert finally showed up. He is one of the technicians. He was visiting friends in Romania, but no one had heard from him. Now all present and accounted for!

This lovely and sweet dog is usually waiting outside the hotel for pat and love. She will also accept some treats!
Today she got her own long acting flea collar.

Alexandra is caring for a weak and sick puppy.

Most of us loaded into the van to go to the Mausoleum of Marasesti . This is a memorial site containing remains of over 5000 soldiers and officers killed in the First World War and dedicated to the commemoration of the Battle of Marasesti and Romanian Army members who were killed during WW I.

The memorial took 15 years to build and was unveiled on September 18, 1938.

I was very interested by one particular memorial - that of Mariuca Zaharia. Why? Because Mariuca was only twelve years old when she died.

What was she doing interred in a military mausoleum, you'll be asking if you aren't Romanian and thus don't know the story any more than I did.

Well, here it is: (Written and posted by “Sarah in Romania” in August 2013)

Mariuca (or Maria as she was baptised) was born in the village of Razoare in 1905, not far from Marasesti. The surrounding forests and Mariuca's village itself were part and parcel of an ever-growing dispute between Romanian and German troops.

Her grandfather Ion Zaharia built an observation post in a walnut tree at the back of his house for the Romanian artillery from whence one could see all that was going on along the Front. In the event of an attack, the soldier on watch duty would telephone and report the exact coordinates to the artillery who would then open fire on the oncoming enemy.

A few days later, the soldiers on duty were joined by Ion's grand-daughter, little Mariuca. They were most amused it seemed, and probably glad of the company. They showed her where the German lines were and let her use their binoculars. With time, Mariuca became a very proficient watchman, transmitting data on German advances to the Romanian soldiers from her post up in the walnut tree.

One day, the enemy was spotted advancing amongst the trees in the forest. It was not the soldiers who noticed the German troops however, but Mariuca herself who alerted the Romanian watchmen on duty and saved the day.

In August 1917, at the age of twelve, Mariuca was killed by a German sniper.

If anyone deserves a place of honour at Marasesti it's Mariuca Zaharia, the all but forgotten fallen hero of WWI - a child gunned down in a grown-ups bloody war before she'd had the chance to live a full life of her own...

This pup was hoping for a handout. Most of these stray dogs are so sweet.
I would love to bring many home.

We drove through some nice countryside. Saw many horse drawn wagons traveling on side roads or through towns on the main roads. Some of the mares even had foals running alongside them. I was sitting in the back on the van so did not get to take photos. But it was a nice drive.

We stopped at a small mall to get a few supplies. I got some treats made in Romania. It was fun!