The Man Who Volunteered for Auschwitz
In Warsaw, Poland, there's a cemetery where many of the country's most famous poets and thinkers are buried.
The grounds are covered by marble monuments.
But in one corner there's an unmarked grave.
And right now, an exhumation is under way in that corner.
There lie the remains of about 100 people executed by the communists who took power in Poland after World War Two.
One of those buried there is believed to be Witold Pilecki.
He's not well known in the US, but he's a hero in Poland.
He fought the Nazi invasion in 1939, then helped to form the underground resistance.
Continue reading at: http://www.theworld.org/2012/08/the-man-who-volunteered-for-auschwitz/
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 21, 2012
CONTACT: Ed Priola 202-536-2373; vocmemorial@aol.com
Washington, DC - Donald Rumsfeld, Former U.S. Secretary of Defense, and Annette Lantos, Chairman of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice, will headline a list of speakers and guests from Capitol Hill and Washington's diplomatic corps at a June 12, 2012 10:00 a.m. EDT wreath laying ceremony at the Victims of Communism Memorial (located on Capitol Hill, see victimsofcommunism.org for map and directions).
Secretary Rumsfeld will be awarded the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom from the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation during the ceremony. The medal is given to individuals who have distinguished themselves in opposing communism and tyranny. Annette Lantos accepted the medal in 2008 on behalf of her husband, the late Congressman Tom Lantos. Other previous medal recipients include Lech Walesa, Vaclav Havel, Elena Bonner, Pope John Paul II, William F. Buckley Jr., Sen. Henry "Scoop" Jackson, Sen. Jesse Helms, Sen. Joseph Lieberman and Former Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives Steny Hoyer.
The ceremony marks the fifth anniversary of the Victims of Communism Memorial. During the 2007 dedication event, Rep. Tom Lantos joined President George W. Bush and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher as dedication speakers before an international crowd of nearly one thousand.
Dr. Lee Edwards, Chairman of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, stated that the outpouring of support by Members of Congress and the diplomatic corps during past ceremonies has been "phenomenal." More than two dozen nations and peoples have been represented during past annual events. The memorial honors the more than 100 million victims of communism.
Ambassadors and diplomats from an array of formerly communist nations, along with leaders of numerous American-based groups and representatives from the still-communist nations of Cuba, China, Vietnam, North Korea and captive Tibet, are expected to participate this year.
Following the ceremony, a preview of the upcoming virtual Gulag exhibit for the online Global Museum on Communism will be presented during a luncheon at the nearby Heritage Foundation. The press is invited to both events. The online museum was launched in June 2009.
The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation is dedicated to educating this generation and future generations about the history, philosophy and legacy of communism.
Global Museum on Communism
The Global Museum on Communism is the first museum on the Internet that tells the whole story of Communism from Karl Marx's The Communist Manifesto to today's brutal suppression of Tibet by Communist China.
Latest news about the Museum:
- Global Museum on Communism (Spring 2010 Trust Magazine perspective)
"In less than two years, the museum moved from an 'inspired idea' to a world-class Internet platform that will help educate this and future generations about the history, philosophy and legacy of communism. The museum has the potential to reach and teach people every hour of every day, regardless of where they are in the world."
- Remembering Gulags' Victims
- Culture challenge of the week: communism's forgotten victims
- GMOC is Communications Arts "Webpick of the week"
- "Communication Arts" is the largest international trade journal of visual communications.