The steam locomotive at the Chisinau Railway Station always attracts the eyes and curiosity of tourists. On it is a commemorative plaque with the following text:
“Built by the Czegelski factory (in the name of Joseph Stalin) in 1950. Factory number 1469.
The inscription on the side of the locomotive: ‘Operated in freight traffic and pushing trains on the Ungheni-Chisinau-Ungheni section until 1968’.
The markings on the tanks indicate the year of construction of the locomotive – 1950, the city of Poznan.
The first Czegelski-branded railway wagons were produced in 1921. And in 1926 the production of steam locomotives started. By 1958 the Czegelski factories produced about 2627 steam locomotives. If we talk about wagons, during this period 7500 wagons were produced, which could withstand temperatures down to minus 50 degrees.
This plant still produces high-quality wagons and locomotives today.
What happened on 28 June 1956 in Poznan?

On this day, factory workers took to the streets to protest against working conditions and pay. This event was called the Poznań June or the 1956 Poznań Protests (Polish: Poznański Czerwca 1956, also known as the 1956 Poznań Uprising), and was the first general strike in the history of the Polish People’s Republic.
Thousands of people gathered in the city centre, near the secret police building of the Ministry of Public Security. At first, the event was orderly, but then events got out of hand and riots broke out in the city centre, sparked by clashes between security forces and demonstrators. Workers destroyed the PORP city committee building and stormed the prison, releasing political prisoners.
According to various reports, between 57 and 74 people were killed in the conflict and around 500 injured (including military personnel).
Initially, 323 people were arrested and 154 were tried. 37 detainees appeared in court, most of them on criminal charges. Eventually, two were released, four received suspended sentences, 23 were sentenced to prison terms ranging from two to six years, but all but those responsible for the killing of the policeman were soon released.

On 21 June 2006, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the events, the Sejm of Poland declared 28 June a national holiday in Poland under the title “Day of commemoration of the events of June 1956 in Poznan”.
To commemorate these events, in 2016, a mural was created reflecting the history of the plant on the 60th anniversary of the events.