Victims of Communism Memorial
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[[Image:President Bush dedicates the Victims of Communism Memorial.jpg|200px|thumb|President [[George W. Bush]] dedicates the Victims of Communism Memorial on [[June 12]], [[2007]]]]
The '''Victims of Communism Memorial''' is a [[memorial]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] at the intersection of [[Massachusetts Avenue (Washington, D.C.)|Massachusetts]] and New Jersey Avenues and G Street, N.W., two blocks from [[Union Station (Washington, D.C.)|Union Station]] and within view of the [[United States Capitol|U.S. Capitol]].
According to the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, the intended purpose of the memorial is "that the history of communist tyranny will be taught to future generations."<ref>[http://www.victimsofcommunism.org/about/ "Legislative history"], at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation</ref>
The Victims of Communism Memorial was dedicated by [[President of the United States|President]] [[George W. Bush]] on [[June 12]], [[2007]],<ref name=Bush>[http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/06/20070612-2.html "President Bush Attends Dedication of Victims of Communism Memorial"], Office of the [[White House Press Secretary|Press Secretary]], the [[White House]], [[June 12]], [[2007]]</ref> the 20th anniversary of President [[Ronald Reagan]]'s "[[tear down this wall]]" speech in front of the [[Berlin Wall]].
==Background==
A bill, H.R. 3000, sponsored by [[United States House of Representatives|Representatives]] [[Dana Rohrabacher]] and [[Tom Lantos]] and [[United States Senate|Senators]] [[Claiborne Pell]] and [[Jesse Helms]], to authorize the memorial passed unanimously on [[December 17]], [[1993]] and was signed into law by President [[Bill Clinton]], becoming Public Law 103-199 Section 905. Due to delays in establishing the memorial, the authorization was subsequently extended through Section 326 of Public Law 105-277, approved [[October 21]], [[1998]], until [[December 17]], [[2007]]. The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation has the duty of funding and directing the first stages of planning the memorial.
In November 2005, the [[National Capital Planning Commission]] gave approval to the monument's design, featuring a 10-foot (3 [[Metre|m]]) bronze replica of the ''[[Goddess of Democracy]]'' erected by students during the [[Tiananmen Square protests of 1989]]. The monument's design and the statue are works of sculptor [http://www.tmarshsculptor.com/ Thomas Marsh]. Its stated purpose is "to commemorate the more than 100 million victims of [[communism]]." <ref name="VOCM Foundation">[http://victimsofcommunism.org/history_communism.php "History of Communism"], at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation</ref>
After raising over [[United States dollar|US$]]825,000 for construction and maintenance costs, the groundbreaking ceremony was held in September 2006.
The statue drew criticism from the [[People's Republic of China|Chinese]] embassy because the memorial evokes the Tiananmen Square protests. The embassy called its construction an "attempt to defame China."<ref>{{cite news|title=New DC memorial dedicated to communism's victims|publisher=[[Chicago Tribune]]|author=Leora Falk|date=[[June 12]], [[2007]]|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-070612monuments,1,2433167.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed}}</ref>
==Dedication ceremony==
On [[June 12]], [[2007]], the Memorial was officially dedicated. Among the hundreds of invited guests were people from many countries who suffered certain hardships under [[Communist state|Communist regimes]], such as [[Vietnamese people|Vietnamese]] [[poet]] [[Nguyen Chi Thien]], [[Chinese people|Chinese]] [[political prisoner]] [[Harry Wu]], [[Lithuania]]n [[Anti-communism|anti-communist]] journalist Nijolė Sadūnaitė and others.<ref>[[Monika Bonckute|Monika Bončkutė]]. [http://www.lrytas.lt/?data=20070614&id=11817208641180235078&view=4 Monumento komunizmo aukoms atidarymo iškilmėse - ir kovotojai už Lietuvos laisvę]. 2007-06-14</ref> During the opening ceremony, President George W. Bush named some of those who suffered from Communism in anonymity:
{{cquote|They include innocent [[Ukrainians]] starved to death in [[Stalin]]'s [[Holodomor|Great Famine]]; or [[Russians]] killed in Stalin's [[Great Purge|purges]]; [[Lithuanians]] and [[Latvians]] and [[Estonians]] loaded onto cattle cars and [[Population transfer in the Soviet Union|deported]] to [[Kolyma|Arctic death camps]] of Soviet Communism. They include [[Chinese people|Chinese]] killed in the [[Great Leap Forward]] and the [[Cultural Revolution]]; [[Cambodians]] slain in [[Pol Pot]]'s [[The Killing Fields|Killing Fields]]; [[German Democratic Republic|East Germans]] shot attempting to scale the [[Berlin Wall]] in order to make it to freedom; [[Poles]] massacred in the [[Katyn Forest]]; and [[Ethiopia]]ns slaughtered in the "[[Red Terror (Ethiopia)|Red Terror]]"; [[Miskito Indians]] murdered by [[Nicaragua]]'s [[Sandinista]] dictatorship; and [[Cubans|Cuban]] balseros who drowned escaping tyranny.<ref name=Bush/>}}
President Bush also said, "We'll never know the names of all who perished, but at this sacred place, communism's unknown victims will be consecrated to history and remembered forever. We dedicate this memorial because we have an obligation to those who died, to acknowledge their lives and honor their memory."<ref name="RFE">[http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/06/89ea315d-2c46-4c40-a890-ae59f312b6d1.html "U.S.: Bush Dedicates Memorial To Victims Of Communism"], ''[[Radio Free Europe]]'', [[June 13]], [[2007]]</ref>
Bush went on to equate [[Communism]] to current [[terrorism]] and extremism facing America today. He claimed:
{{cquote|Like the Communists, the [[Terrorism|terrorists]] and [[Islamic Extremism|radicals]] who have attacked our nation are followers of a murderous ideology that despises freedom, crushes all dissent, has [[expansionist]] ambitions and pursues [[Totalitarianism|totalitarian]] aims.<ref> [[The Washington Post]] [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/12/AR2007061201125.html The Toll of Communism]</ref>}}
== See also ==
* [[Anti-communism]]
* [[Communist terrorism]]
* [[Cold War]]
* [[Criticisms of communism]]
* [[Criticisms of Communist party rule]]
* [[Great Leap Forward]]
* [[Great Purge]]
* [[Gulag]]
* [[History of communism]]
* [[Red Terror]]
* [[Reeducation camp]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://www.victimsofcommunism.org/ Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation]
* Quin Hillyer, [http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=11552 "The Victims of Communism Memorial"], ''[[The American Spectator]]'', [[June 8]], [[2007]]
* Philip Kennicott, [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/12/AR2007061202211.html "The Meaning of a Marker For 100 Million Victims"], ''[[The Washington Post]]'', [[June 13]], [[2007]]
{{coor title dms|38|53|54.56|N|77|0|43.39|W|region:US_type:landmark}}
{{Washington DC landmarks}}
[[Category:Monuments and memorials in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Anti-communism]]
[[Category:Communism]]
[[Category:Human rights abuses]]
[[Category:Political repression]]
[[no:Victims of Communism Memorial]]
[[pt:Memorial das Vítimas do Comunismo]]
[[ro:Monumentul Victimelor Comunismului din Washington, SUA]]
[[ru:Памятник жертвам коммунизма]]
[[fi:Kommunismin uhrien muistomerkki]]
[[vi:Đài Tưởng niệm Nạn nhân của Chủ nghĩa Cộng sản]]
[[zh:共產主義受難者紀念碑]]