By Daniel Nardini
I have seen such displays in local libraries. Local libraries, in keeping with the tradition of when the world learned about the Nazi concentration camps that were liberated by the Allied forces in April of 1945 during World War II, have set up book displays of authors who have written books on the Holocaust and the evil genocidal policies of the Nazis. This is necessary for future generations to not forget what happened in Nazi Germany and what the Nazis did during World War II. But in my view there is an inconsistent policy; we have all kinds of memorials for those who died under Nazism but almost none who died and were murdered under Communism.
I have seen no such book displays of the crimes of Communism in local libraries here in Illinois. This is because no legislation has been passed currently in Illinois or many other states to remember the crimes, atrocities and mass murders of Communism. Florida is one of the handful of states that passed such legislation to teach about the crimes of Communism in Florida state classes and has designated November 7th as Victims of Communism Day (November 7th being the Communist revolution in Russia in 1917). In the U.S. Senate, senators John Kennedy (Republican-Louisiana) and Rick Scott (Republican-Florida) have introduced legislation to teach all students in the United States about the evils of Communism. In so many ways this is long overdue.
Communism is a political ideology that has haunted this world for over a century. It has killed more than 100 million people and destroyed the lives of hundreds of millions more. How can we teach about the evils of Nazism and yet ignore that of Communism? America has fought against both ideologies, and yet it seems that we avoid the topic of Communism. Worse, an entire generation has grown up since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and they know little to nothing of the history of this deadly ideology. There are some forces in this country that want to make Communism attractive by passing it off as an alternative to “evil capitalism.” But capitalism has not destroyed whole groups of people and whole regions of this planet. Communism has.
Additionally, Communism is again wreaking havoc in the world today. Part of Russia’s imperial conquest of Ukraine is due to the attempt to recreate some form of the Soviet Union. Current Russian President (if he can be called a president) Vladimir Putin is trying to rehabilitate the legacy of the former Soviet Union and its leaders Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin—both men guilty of murdering millions of people. The People’s Republic of China is endeavoring to conquer Taiwan and from there expand into the Pacific to threaten the U.S. territories of Guam and maybe even the state of Hawaii. Communism is as much about conquest and repression of peoples of different countries as it is about tyranny and mass murder. There are reasons why Americans should now more than ever memorialize those who were butchered under Communism. We should learn about this deadly and disastrous ideology to prevent future American generations from subscribing to a failed political force that has led to death and destruction in other lands.
Creating a Victims of Communism Day
By Daniel Nardini
I have seen no such book displays of the crimes of Communism in local libraries here in Illinois. This is because no legislation has been passed currently in Illinois or many other states to remember the crimes, atrocities and mass murders of Communism. Florida is one of the handful of states that passed such legislation to teach about the crimes of Communism in Florida state classes and has designated November 7th as Victims of Communism Day (November 7th being the Communist revolution in Russia in 1917). In the U.S. Senate, senators John Kennedy (Republican-Louisiana) and Rick Scott (Republican-Florida) have introduced legislation to teach all students in the United States about the evils of Communism. In so many ways this is long overdue.
Communism is a political ideology that has haunted this world for over a century. It has killed more than 100 million people and destroyed the lives of hundreds of millions more. How can we teach about the evils of Nazism and yet ignore that of Communism? America has fought against both ideologies, and yet it seems that we avoid the topic of Communism. Worse, an entire generation has grown up since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and they know little to nothing of the history of this deadly ideology. There are some forces in this country that want to make Communism attractive by passing it off as an alternative to “evil capitalism.” But capitalism has not destroyed whole groups of people and whole regions of this planet. Communism has.
Additionally, Communism is again wreaking havoc in the world today. Part of Russia’s imperial conquest of Ukraine is due to the attempt to recreate some form of the Soviet Union. Current Russian President (if he can be called a president) Vladimir Putin is trying to rehabilitate the legacy of the former Soviet Union and its leaders Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin—both men guilty of murdering millions of people. The People’s Republic of China is endeavoring to conquer Taiwan and from there expand into the Pacific to threaten the U.S. territories of Guam and maybe even the state of Hawaii. Communism is as much about conquest and repression of peoples of different countries as it is about tyranny and mass murder. There are reasons why Americans should now more than ever memorialize those who were butchered under Communism. We should learn about this deadly and disastrous ideology to prevent future American generations from subscribing to a failed political force that has led to death and destruction in other lands.