European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism

Since 2008, the European Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Stalinism and Nazism has been celebrated annually on August 23. It was established on the basis of a petition submitted by representatives of the EU Parliament from the Czech Republic, Estonia and Hungary. European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism is dedicated to the victims of totalitarian ideologies. Despite the controversial decision of the OSCE PA to equate communism with fascism and the Russian delegation's boycott of the vote, the resolution initiated by parliamentarians from Lithuania and Slovenia was adopted. In the USA and Canada, on August 23, Black Ribbon Day, victims of totalitarianism are also remembered. Nazism and Stalinism are, of course, two criminal regimes that were accompanied by genocide and crimes against humanity. However, equating Marxism with National Socialism is not correct. The authoritarian power of the Fuhrer and the reigning power in Germany in the 30s and 40s. XX century the ideology was based on asserting the advantage of one nation over others. This concept is based on the superiority of the German people (Italian during the reign of Mussolini), their exploitation and destruction of representatives of other ethnic groups. Communism, on the contrary, is the ideology of equality, fraternity and general welfare, creating a perfect social formation of society. His ideas, when implemented, were distorted by the leaders of the USSR, which, however, is not a basis for equating the two political systems. There is an opinion that the ideas of communism and their implementation under the leadership of Stalin brought the Russian people much greater demographic, spiritual and cultural losses than Nazi Germany. Although on the fields of the Second World War, according to rough estimates, about 40 million Soviet soldiers died for the freedom of their country and neighboring states. In the multinational USSR, not only Tatars, Chechens, Kalmyks, Balkars, Ingush and other nationalities who lost their land and territorial autonomies were persecuted. The Stalinist regime destroyed the flower of the Russian nation - army officers, managers of the NKVD and the Red Army, medical luminaries, representatives of creative professions and members of their families were subjected to repression. However, this does not give EU parliamentarians the right to equate communism with Nazism, paying tribute to the enormous role played by the Red Army in the war, having an idea of ​​​​the terrible price that the Soviet Union paid for the liberation of Europe from fascism. According to the international organization "Memorial", about 38-39 million people became victims of torture in the dungeons of the Lubyanka, murders, exile in the Gulag and deportation of the peoples of the USSR. 6 million Jews died in German concentration camps - victims of the Holocaust. Criminal dictatorial regimes have brought grief to many peoples. It is necessary to remember the dead, lay flowers at memorials, and meet with surviving eyewitnesses of the repression and persecution of Jews. But we must also not forget that Soviet soldiers went into battle shouting “For the Motherland! For Stalin!” and died in the fight against Nazism from the bullets of Wehrmacht soldiers. And their children and grandchildren are forced to admit that communism, which their grandfathers built, and Hitler’s fascism are one and the same. Distorting history and belittling the role of Soviet soldiers in the victory over Nazism in World War II is unacceptable. As does the wording of the name of the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Totalitarian Regimes.