WASHINGTON NOTEBOOK: Memorial to recall victims of communism (03/09/97)

WASHINGTON NOTEBOOK

by Volodymyr Chornodolsky
Ukrainian National Information Service

Memorial to recall victims of communism

In Washington, there are plans to erect a memorial to an ideology that touched every continent of the world. It is to be a memorial to the 100 million victims of communism that have died throughout the world.

Dr. Lee Edwards, president of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, suggests that 100 million is a conservative estimate of the number who perished at the hands of Communist dictators. Dr. Edwards, senior editor of the World and I and a visiting fellow at The Heritage Foundation, and Dr. Lev Dobriansky, his colleague on the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, were interviewed recently in Washington.

Speaking of the memorial's genesis, Dr. Dobriansky, former president of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America and retired U.S. ambassador to Bermuda said, "the memorial is not an idea of just one person, but the idea of many people dating back to the 1950s." Since the break-up of the Soviet Union and the collapse of communism in many countries, efforts were renewed to commemorate its victims. The idea was promoted through the National Captive Nations Committee (NCNC) under the leadership of Drs. Dobriansky and Edwards.

Many members of the Senate and House of Representatives also support the effort. Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), Reps. Dana Rohrbacher (R-Calif.) and Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), and members of the Democratic leadership backed a resolution providing for establishment of a museum to honor the victims of communism. On December 17, 1993, Congress passed Public Law 103-199. Soon afterwards, it was signed by President Bill Clinton.

Dr. Edwards explaind that many organizational aspects of the memorial must still be taken care of. The public law established that an independent entity, the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, was to be formed and remain responsible for the museum's construction and upkeep. A board of directors has been set up, as well as a congressional advisory board and an international council comprising prominent foreign leaders such as Yelena Bonner of Russia, Vyacheslav Chornovil of Ukraine and Lech Walesa of Poland.

The Victims of Communism Memorial Museum has received tax-exempt status, sites have been examined, and architects have begun planning. 1997 has been declared a year for fund-raising. A goal of $100 million has been set to honor the 100 million victims. Dr. Edwards said he believes that the initial museum cost will be approximately $25 million, though future maintenance and continued research will amount to a total of $100 million.

"Under the Public Law, the foundation has seven years from December 1993 to put the memorial museum in place. However, history has shown that seven years is usually not long enough. For example, the Holocaust Museum took 14 years from the time that President [Jimmy] Carter approved it," stated Dr. Edwards. "Hopefully we will have something in place by the year 2000, at which time we will ask for an extension."

According to Dr. Edwards, the memorial museum has several objectives: "The first is to serve as a memorial to the victims and, the second is to serve as a research center on communism both past and present, but hopefully not future. Finally it should serve as a reminder to people that this kind of tyranny should never again be allowed to terrorize and to control people and nations as it has during this century."

When asked what the purpose of the museum is, Dr. Dobriansky stated, "The prime motivation is to give this a historical review that we should never forget the 100 million victims that perished due to this trumped-up ideology. Secondly, tens of hundreds of thousands of those victims were our natural allies who were fighting the Cold War even in terms of passive resistance and we should pay tribute to and honor them."

"This [the museum] is primarily educational for all youth, not only American, and they should see the story and the heavy human cost associated with it," he continued. "When you stop to think that over 100 million perished in concentration camps and man-made famines and so on, this is a story that must be indelibly printed in our history and the history of other countries."

The museum will include permanent exhibits that tell the story of communism. For example, one of the most bloody and tragic cases of Communist oppression was the forced famine in Ukraine in the 1930s. Another idea is a time-line to inform the public about the story of communism. There will also be exhibits that are "temporary," which will describe more specific accounts of Communist atrocities. There has already been a great outpouring of support for the memorial in terms of people donating artifacts and memorabilia. Many foreign governments have also extended their support for the museum.

The Ukrainian American community, Dr. Edwards said, "can specifically make a contribution to the tax-exempt organization ... The money right now can be allotted to several aspects of the memorial project such as design, assisting in the composition of the bibliography of materials and documents around the world."

The Victims of Communism Memorial Museum is a very ambitious project that will require the support and assistance of many individuals and ethnic communities. Michael Sawkiw Jr., director of the Ukrainian National Information Service (UNIS) and executive secretary of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, added, "We must not forget those who gave their lives for a free and independent Ukraine and all the other liberated former Communist countries."

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