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Remembering the Victims of
Communism
by John Horvat II
On June 12, the Victims of Communism Memorial
was officially unveiled in the presence of government leaders,
diplomatic corps members, ethnic leaders, foreign dignitaries
and other supporters. Located in the nation’s capital,
President George Bush received the memorial on behalf of
the American people. The Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Pietro
Sambi, delivered the invocation.
The memorial marked a long-needed reminder
of a murderous legacy. Americans finally recognize with
a monument those who fell victim to Communism, the deadliest
mass killing force ever unleashed upon the human race.
Indeed, Lenin reportedly said “a
single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic.”
In less than 100 years, Communism managed to record a tragic
statistic of more than 100 million lives sacrificed. Moreover,
Communism continues to enslave one-fifth of the world's
population today.
Monument Conceived
The project is the brainchild of conservative historian
Lee Edwards and Dr. Lev Dobriansky who met with National
Park Service officials to see what was needed to build a
public memorial in Washington, D.C. in the early nineties.
The project then cut its way through Washington’s
bureaucracy, a 24-step process that included congressional
permission, site selection, design approval, financial commitments,
and actual construction. In 1993, President Clinton signed
a bill authorizing a Victims of Communism Memorial in Washington.
The
Victims of Communism Foundation also raised the necessary
funds to build on the state-donated land at the intersection
of Massachusetts Ave., New Jersey Ave., and G St. in the
city’s northwest quadrant within sight of the Capitol.
Various designs were discussed and included
a replica of the Berlin Wall, a Gulag prison, or a fragile
boat used by Cuban or Vietnamese refugees. The final decision
was to build a replica of a bronze statue inspired by the
figure erected by Chinese students at Tiananmen Square in
1989. Thus, it serves to remind viewers that Communism is
not dead but survives even in the twenty-first century in
China – an American trade partner. The repressive
system also stubbornly continues in Cuba, Vietnam and North
Korea.
Symbolic
Day
The dedication ceremony coincided with the twentieth
anniversary of Pres. Ronald Reagan's famous speech at the
Berlin Wall in which he challenged Soviet leader Mikhail
Gorbachev to ``Tear down this wall.''
“The 20th century will be remembered
as the deadliest century in human history,” said President
Bush at the inaugural ceremony. “Yet, until now, our
Nation's Capital had no monument to the victims of imperial
Communism, an ideology that took the lives of an estimated
100 million innocent men, women and children. So it's fitting
that we gather to remember those who perished at Communism's
hands, and dedicate this memorial that will enshrine their
suffering and sacrifice in the conscience of the world.”
 TFP
Photo: President Bush at the dedication |
Rep. Tom Lantos (D-San Mateo), a Holocaust
survivor, gave the keynote speech, especially America’s
role in fighting Communism saying that "everyone who
has tasted Communism, from Albania to Estonia, knows that
without the United States, this existential struggle would
have been lost."
It was also fitting that the Apostolic
Nuncio was present. The Catholic Church suffered and still
suffers from persecution from atheistic Communism. Among
the countless victims are bishops, priests and faithful
whose only crimes was to be steadfast in the Faith. During
the Cold War years, the TFPs often remembered these souls
by holding special public “Masses for the Victims
of Communism.”
An Unfinished
War
While participants remembered the fall of the Berlin
Wall, they were also reminded that the Cold War is left
unfinished. The people of China, Cuba, North Korea and Vietnam
continue to suffer under Communist regimes that systematically
violate human rights and deny private property. Rather than
suffer disgrace, Marxist ideologues still defend and spread
their twisted ideas everywhere.
What makes this dedication so important
is the fact that it remembers what has been intentionally
forgotten.
Remembering the victims of Communism is
a continuing indictment of the West. It points to the shameful
silence of leftists and liberal media who do not speak out
against Communism when all know the misery it promotes.
It is a stinging rebuke to decades of failed policies, trade
agreements and compromises that still perpetuate the system.
Remembering victims recalls the insensitivity of so many
indifferent ones who ignore the brutal inhumanity of this
system.
Sadly the memorial reminds us, the
battle is not over.
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