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Remembering totalitarianism in Europe
23 August is the European Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Nazism and Stalinism
di Staff
The day – which follows a resolution passed in the European Parliament last April – falls on the 70 anniversary of the Ribbentrop-Molotov non-aggression pact, signed between Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia in 1939.
23 August, the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Nazism and Stalinism, recalls and pays tribute to the millions who fell victim to the deportation and mass annihilation policies pursued by Nazi and Stalinist authorities.
Secretary General of the Memorial Council of War and Martyrdom Andrzej Przewoznik said that both forms totalitarianism affected many Eastern and Central European countries equally.
“In the case of the Polish nation, these two systems have left a mark which will continue to be felt for a long time,” said Przewoznik. “They brought human suffering and material losses, destruction in culture, but also in the moral and spiritual dimension.”
The Day of Remembrance – initiated by the OSCE last year and which draws moral equivalence between Nazism and Stalinism – was being observed throughout Europe for the first time this year.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry, however, has reacted to the move by saying that it is “an unacceptable attempt to distort history for political goals.” The Russian Parliament also issued a statement saying that it was, “a direct insult to the memory of millions of Russian soldiers who gave their lives to liberate Europe from Nazi domination.”
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