US: New Museum dedicated to Victims of Communism opens in Washington DC

At Victims of Communism Museum recently inaugurated in Washington, D.C., it was revealed that an estimated 100 million people were slaughtered or died because of Marxist and communist regimes in last 100 years across world. This trdy occurred across Soviet Union, Vietnam, some African countries, China and Fidel Castro’s Cuba. tably ar 1.5 billion, according to museum still suffer from ‘oppressive, tyrannical communist regimes’ even today.

Victims of Communism Museum is result of 30 years of struggle which originated with an idea from Anne Edwards, wife of rewned historian and biographer Lee Edwards, who was driving force behind creation of museum. Founded by Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC), site is a new vital addition to understanding role of communism and dangers it holds.

On June 13, when Museum first opened its doors to public, it was visited t only by leaders and historians but also by several families of victims affected by communism all over world. On occasion of opening day, museum was full of individuals and families who t only fought against murderous regimes but also eir participated in or helped lead Opposition against such governments, said US Ambassador Andrew Bremberg, who is also President of Victims of Communism Museum at inaugural address.

tably, Wang Dan and Jianli Yang, who were student activists during Tiananmen Square riots in 1989 were also in attendance at event. It is worth mentioning that Chinese Army brutally killed by some conservative estimates-as many as 2,000 peaceful protestors who were marching for democracy and freedom in China. According to Museum’s official Twitter account, re are several artefacts from protest in museum, including handmade flags used by students in protests.

Lee Edwards stated point-blank that VOC has a clear political nda: ‘We feel that once we educate young Americans about history, legacy and ideology of communism, we will make m understand that voting for socialist and communist regimes is t bad but also evil.’

Museum reportedly has three galleries with distinct purposes. first gallery explains Mao Zedong’s Communist Manifesto, Bolshevik Revolution and Vladimir Lenin’s rise to power in Russia.

me of second gallery is repression and covers era of Joseph Stalin, from 1920s through World War II, with real pictures of victims shown on large displays. Visitors are confronted with victims of Holodomor-Stalin’s gecide in Ukraine, where nearly 4 million people starved to death during his reign of terror. Several clips and ims from gulags (forced labour camps) where prisoners were worked to death were also attached. tably, Gulag-style prisons are still operational in China and rth Korea. Survivors and families of victims who visited museum have stated that difference between gulag in Soviet communist era and Hitler’s concentration camps was that USSR never got around to using gas to kill ir prisoners-y resorted to bullets, beatings, starvation and working m to death.

me for third and final gallery in museum is resistance. It goes past World Wars and takes visitors to present era. From Mao’s murderous campaigns, Prague Spring, Killing Fields of Cambodia and countless or exhibits, museumgoers will learn about lives of those who are living under communism, today. Interactive screens can be seen guiding visitors through day-to-day choices that people living in se countries today are forced to make as well as outcomes of ir choices.

What is communism?

Communism is both a political system and an ecomic one. In politics, communist parties have absolute power over governance, and elections are single-party affairs. In ecomics, party controls country's ecomic system, and private ownership is illegal, although this facet of communist rule has changed in some countries like China over time, private entities are governed with an iron grip by State.

Examples of Communist States in history

During time of Soviet Union (1922–1991), communist countries could be found in Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa. Some of se nations, like People's Republic of China, were (and still are) communist. Or prominent communist countries such as East Germany, were essentially satellites of USSR that played a significant role during Cold War but longer exist.

Communist countries still surviving today

China, Cuba, Laos, rth Korea and Vietnam