Fourth Anniversary of the Dedication of the Victims of Communism Memorial
"Since we dedicated the Victims of Communism Memorial four years ago, dozens of national leaders from around the world have visited the Memorial to lay a wreath and pay their respects to the one hundred million people who died under the most deadly ism of the 20th century--communism." - Dr. Lee Edwards
Members of the diplomatic corps, representatives of various organizations and a crowd of more than a hundred braved 100-degree temperatures and gathered at the Victims of Communism Memorial on Thursday June 9 to commemorate the victims of communism with a wreath-laying ceremony and mark the fourth anniversary of the Victims of Communism Memorial.
Following an invocation by Reverend Arne Panula, Master of Ceremonies Bill Tucker introduced Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation Chairman Dr. Lee Edwards, who provided an overview of the memorial and its significance in the world today.
After Edwards, Hon. Aldona Wos, former Ambassador of the United States to Estonia and VOCMF board member, spoke. She remarked that "it is our obligation to teach future generations the truth--that communist ideology is responsible for crimes against humanity."
The next speaker was Annette Lantos, chairman of the Lantos Foundation, who noted that "We have a solemn duty to remember these victims and to remain vigilant and alert to the political evil that engulfed them and that has not yet disappeared from the world."
Hon. Paula Dobriansky, former Undersecretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs and VOCMF board member, followed, saying, "As we gather here today, we look to a future that will leave the forces of evil in our wake. And we renew our commitment to support the struggle for freedom, democracy, and self- determination around the world."
Thomas Marsh, who sculpted the Goddess of Democracy icon for the Memorial, described how he had been inspired by the pro-democracy students in Tiananmen Square.
The ceremony concluded with 14 embassies and 14 ethnic organizations, including those representing the Captive Nations, laying a wreath or flowers at the Memorial.
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"In America, prisoners are lucky; they know how long they will be in prison. In China, we never knew." - Chinese former political prisoner (as quoted by Thomas Marsh, June 9, 2011)
The Curriculum on Communism
The Curriculum on Communism is designed for required grade 10 world history courses, and will be marketed as a supplement to required textbooks. With almost 25,000 world history and advanced placement world history educators teaching an average of 50 students, this curriculum could potentially reach 1.25 million students annually.
We will be leveraging the curriculum with much of the information already developed and available in the online Global Museum on Communism. Common themes will be present throughout the lessons, such as communism denies God, opposes private property, and natural human rights; communist regimes are responsible for the death of over 100 million people; and communist oppression is an inevitable consequence of Marxist theory.
Upcoming Event: Captive Nations Week
July 17-23 is Captive Nations Week. On July 20, the Heritage Foundation will be hosting its annual discussion on the nations currently captive to communism--China, Vietnam, Cuba, North Korea, and Laos. More details to follow at
The Gulag Collection
The Gulag Collection, a series of powerful paintings by Gulag survivor Nikolai Getman, is currently on display at the Embassy of Romania in Washington, D.C., and will be on display there until July 1. A schedule of future locations for display of the Collection can be found below. The Gulag Collection will be available for viewing at various locations through 2012.
July 6 - July 20, 2011: Embassy of Kazakhstan (Washington, D.C.)
July 25 - August 5, 2011: Embassy of Bulgaria (Washington, D.C.)
September 5 - October 31, 2011: George H.W. Bush Presidential Library (College Station, TX)
Global Museum on Communism
In 2012, The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation will launch the latest Global Museum on Communism exhibit: The Gulag. Featuring a cutting edge interactive 3D Gulag environment, interviews with renowned experts, videos, witness and survivor accounts and in-depth galleries, the Gulag Exhibit will be a landmark location for online learning and study of the Soviet forced labor camp system. Please contact VOCMF to contribute to this important project as we continue to raise global awareness of Communist crimes.
We also recently welcomed our 130,000th unique visitor to the Global Museum on Communism, visitors who have combined to view 325,000 pages. They have come from 171 countries, led by the U.S. and including visitors from Communist China, Vietnam, and Cuba.
The Global Museum on Communism is available at http://www.globalmuseumoncommunism.org
A Second Stalin
The busts of Joseph Stalin erected on June 1, 2010, at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia, and a second casting by the sculptor placed on display in April 2011 at Lynchburg College in nearby Lynchburg, Virginia, are no longer on display. After overwhelming public opposition, the National D-Day Memorial Foundation removed the Stalin bust from the memorial on September 28, although the foundation indicated it planned to display the bust at a new location at the memorial sometime in the future as part of a display of Allied World War II political leaders. The display at the college of the Stalin bust, accompanied by busts of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill, was scheduled to be displayed for only one month, from April 12 to May 13.
Opponents of these Stalin busts have expressed their opposition directly to the memorial foundation and the college, in the opinion sections of Virginia and Washington newspapers, and to political leaders. They continue to watch to see if the Stalin bust reappears at the memorial and are prepared to respond accordingly.
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In the News:
The Tom Lantos Institute is opening in Budapest, Hungary on June 28. According to Maximilian Teleki, the mission of the Lantos Institute is "to promote tolerance and support minority issues in central and eastern Europe and in the world." http://www.politics.hu/20110502/tom-lantos-institute-set-up-in-budapest/
The relocated Laogai Museum in Washington, DC, opened its doors on April 7. http://www.laogai.org/press_releases/laogai-museum-grand-opening-success