Remembering communism’s victims
June 12, 2007| By DeEtte Chatterton
Memorials across Washington, D.C. celebrate the freedoms we enjoy here in the United States. Now a new monument in the nation’s capital serves as a permanent reminder of the horrors that arise when these freedoms are lost.
This morning, President George W. Bush joined Heritage scholar Lee Edwards to dedicate the new Victims of Communism Memorial, located just blocks from the Capitol.
President Bush used his remarks today—exactly 20 years after President Reagan challenged Soviet leader Mikhail Gobachev to “tear down this wall”—to highlight the importance of remembering those killed in the name of Karl Marx’s murderous ideology. And he took the opportunity to thank Lee Edwards for his contributions to making the memorial possible.
“Building this memorial took more than a decade of effort,” the President said, “and its presence in our capital is a testament to the passion and determination of two distinguished Americans: Lev Dobriansky...and Dr. Lee Edwards. They faced setbacks and challenges along the way, yet they never gave up, because in their hearts, they heard the voices of the fallen crying out: ‘Remember us.’”
For Edwards, founder and chairman of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, this memorial to the over 100 million victims of communism is long overdue.
Writing yesterday in The Washington Examiner, Edwards makes clear the necessity of acknowledging and remembering the victims of communist tyranny. “We must remember and memorialize the more than 100 million victims of communism,” he writes, “so that never again will nations and peoples allow so evil a tyranny to terrorize the world.”
Edwards notes that the deadly grip of Communism has not ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union. It persists today in China, Cuba, Vietnam and elsewhere.
Worse, he observes that the public is largely unaware of communism’s extensive brutality. “The widespread ignorance about the staggering cost of communism must be corrected, and the Victims of Communism Memorial is a major step.”
The memorial features a 10-foot high bronze replica of the Goddess of Democracy statue originally raised by students in Tiananmen Square. It is Edwards’ hope—and that of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation—that this monument will serve to remind the world of the dangers of totalitarianism. And they hope to ensure the protection of future generations from the tragic loss of life and liberty endured by so many.
DeEtte Chatterton is an intern at The Heritage Foundation.
