A film student uncovered thousands of haunting vintage photos of village life in the Soviet Union. Here are the best ones.

Zaharia Cusnir/Victor Galusca

• In 2016, film student Victor Galusca found almost 4,000 photos in an abandoned home in the small country of Moldova.
• The photos were taken by a photographer, Zaharia Cusnir, and depicted village life in 1955 Moldova under the Soviet Union.
• Insider spoke with Galusca, who shared the story of how he found the photos, and how he plans to honor Cusnir's life.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Photos capture history, moments in time so fleeting that they're gone as quickly as they arrive.

In 2016, film student Victor Galusca was working on a student film in an abandoned house in Moldova when he discovered thousands of photos that had captured life decades prior.

Moldova, a small country bordered by Romania and Ukraine, had declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, but Galusca discovered almost 4,000 photos documenting what village life had been like under the regime. These photos were all taken by the same man, Zaharia Cusnir, and had been locked away in his home to be forgotten.

Galusca decided to share his discovery with the world.

In 2016, film student Victor Galusca was using this abandoned home as a location for one of his movies, when he made an exciting discovery.

The home is located in the small village of Rosietici, Moldova.

He discovered 4,000 film negatives that revealed snapshots of what life was once like in Moldova.

"When I found them, I felt instantly this is a treasure," he told Insider.

The photos were scattered around the floor of the home and hidden inside a suitcase, he said.

Galusca began asking around about who owned the house, and he was put in contact with the daughter of a photographer named Zaharia Cusnir (pictured in color).

"I asked her what [the photos] are. She said, 'They are my father's photos.' And I asked her, 'Why they are in this house that is abandoned?'" he told Insider. According to Galusca, Cusnir's daughter called them trash.

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