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• 1889: There were 180,918 Jews of a total population of 1,628,867 in Bessarabia.
• 1897: The Jewish population had grown to 225,637 of a total of 1,936,392
• 1903: Kishinev in Russian Bessarabia had a Jewish population of 50,000, or 46%, of a total of about 110,000 in the city. While almost non-existent in the coutryside, Jews had been present in all major towns since the end of the 18th century and the begining of the 19th. Jewish life flourished with 16 Jewish schools and over 2,000 pupils in Chisinau alone.
• February 16, 1903:: A young Christian Russian boy, Michael Ribalenko, was found murdered in the town of Dabossary (Dubasari in Romanian), about 25 miles north-east of Kishinev; the town is situated on the left bank of the river Dnister, and formally was not a part of Bessarabia. Although it was clear that the boy had been killed by a relative (who was later found), the government chose to call it a ritual murder plot by the Jews. The mobs were incited by Pavolachi Krusheven, the editor of the anti-Semitic newspaper "Bessarabetz", and the vice-governor Ustrugov. They used the age-old calumny against the Jews (that the boy had been killed to use his blood in preparation of matzo). Viacheslav Plehve, the Minister of Interior, supposedly gave orders not to stop the rioters. During three days of rioting, the government-organized Kishinev pogrom against the Jews took place. Forty seven (some say 49) Jews were killed, 92 severely wounded, 500 slightly wounded and over 700 houses destroyed. This pogrom is considered the first state-inspired action against Jews in the 20th century. Despite a world outcry, only two men were sentenced to seven and five years and twenty-two were sentenced for one or two years. This pogrom was instrumental in convincing tens of thousands of Russian Jews to leave to the West and to Palestine.
• 1920: The Jewish population had grown to 267,000.
• 1941: The Einsatzkommandos, German mobile killing units drawn from the Nazi S.S. and commanded by Otto Ohlendorf entered Bessarabia. They were instrumental in the massacre of many Jews in Bessarabia, who did not flee in face of the German advancement. In 1941 up to 75,000 Jews from Bessarabia, northern Bukovina (Bucovina) and present day districts of Suceava and Botosani in Romania were deported to Transnistria, where they were locked in gettos under Romanian control. Under 20% of these people survived, many have died of poor conditions, and many have been killed by the retreating German mobile units in 1944.
• July 8, 1941: Ion Antonescu, Romania's ruler at the time, made a declaration in front of the Ministers' Council: "....With the risk of not being understood by some traditionalists which may be between you, I am in favour of the forced migration of the entire Jew element from Bessarabia and Bukovina, which must be thrown over the border. Also, I am in favor of the forced migration of the Ukrainian element, which does not belong here at this time. I don't care if we appear in history as barbarians. The Roman Empire has made a series of barbaric acts from a contemporary point of view and, still, was the greatest political settlement. There has never been a more suitable moment. If necessary, shoot with the machine gun." This quote can be found in "The Stenograms of the Ministers' Council, Ion Antonescu's Government", vol. IV, July-September 1941 period, Bucharest, year 2000, page 57 ("Stenogramele şedinţelor Consiliului de Miniştri, Guvernarea Ion Antonescu", vol. IV, perioada iulie-septembrie 1941, Bucureşti, anul 2000, pagina 57).
• 1993: By the end of this year, there were an estimated 15,000 Jews in the Republic of Moldova. 2,173 Jews immigrated to Israel. There were two Jewish periodical publications, both published in Kishinev (Chisinau). The one most widely circulated was Nash golos — Unzer kol (Our Voice), in Yiddish and Russian.