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"Hollywood ignores the reckless disregard for human life exhibited by
Stalin's purges and the collectivization policies that led to the Great
Famine"
By Paul M. Weyrich, CNSNews.com Commentary
Cybercast News Service, Alexandria, Virginia
www.cnsnews.com, June 11, 2003
The history of Communism is rife with examples of brutal oppression and
violent crackdowns on worker unrest.
But unfortunately, Communism gets a pass in today's society. Perhaps that's
because during the Cold War the threat of nuclear warfare led our statesmen
and the news media to try to seek common ground and to present the enemy
in as humanly terms possible.
Several generations of Americans have come to know our enemies best from
TV programs and movies such as "Hogan's Heroes" and "The Russians Are
Coming, The Russians Are Coming." In those portrayals, Nazi and Communist
soldiers are shown to be benign, sometimes even benevolent. Or else young
Americans watch spy pictures in which both sides' agents are shown to be
more alike than different, each relying on situational ethics to survive in
an amoral world.
Too many young Americans simply do not understand the true evil of these
regimes and how they subverted the rule of law and respect for innocent
life.
From my own travels in the former Soviet empire, I have met many brave
people who demonstrated great bravery by refusing to surrender their beliefs
and faith to the State.
There were the courageous Lithuanians who were killed by the Soviets as
they attempted to guard a transmitter. I was honored to attend their funeral
as
an official representative of the United States government. And just a few
short months later, the Baltic States were free.
I also recall the wonderful 85-year-old Greek Catholic priest in Romania who
had spent over 40 years in prison and who had just been released when I
served the Liturgy with him. He had such a wonderful, humble, upbeat,
thankful attitude. The Communists could not simply keep people of true faith
like this priest down.
We need to hear their stories too. They stood up for what was right against
a truly Godless regime. Many times, they were people of faith or, at least,
possessors of an innate sense of basic human decency.
But Hollywood and too many Americans ignore those who fought with bravery
against the Soviet Union and its satellite dictatorships. It ignores the
reckless disregard for human life exhibited by Stalin's purges and the
collectivization policies that led to the Great Famine. Americans need to
learn just how brutal Communist regimes could be in marshalling government
force to make the world conform to their viewpoint, no matter how many
innocent people would be trampled under in the process.
So right now, I am pleased to report of a reinvigorated effort to build a
Victims of Communism Memorial that would fully explain to our country's
citizens the moral bankruptcy of the Communist system. It would also
highlight the bravery of those who fought this evil ideology and the brutal
people who ran Communist governments.
The Memorial's plans call for a "Roll Call of Victims" listing those who
suffered or were even killed by Communist regimes. And a "Hall of Infamy"
would show a Soviet Gulag barracks and a torture room from the "Hanoi
Hilton." No doubt the Memorial would remind Americans that millions still
live under Communism in Cuba, China, and Vietnam.
The drive to establish the Memorial had been led by Lee Edwards, a
distinguished political science professor on the faculty of Catholic
University. He is now being succeeded by Jay Katzen, a former state delegate
from Virginia. Katzen is a former Foreign Service Officer who brings energy
and a can-do attitude to his new position. But this is an ambitious task,
and one obstacle Katzen must overcome is the apathy exhibited by millions
of Americans about Communism.
The Communist system that could kill 100 million people is a monstrous one,
and those who fought it deserve our own country's thanks. Those who were
persecuted and ended up its victims are, sadly, testament to the inhumanity
of this regime. Victimology in its false guises is now in vogue in our
country; this Memorial can demonstrate what it means to truly be a victim.
We need to profit from the modern-day example of commitment and faith
amidst a seemingly hopeless situation that was demonstrated by heroes who
have stood up to the regimes in Russia and the Soviet Bloc and China.
In the end, the supporters of freedom prevailed against the forces of
darkness in Russia and the Eastern Bloc and that is a lesson we can all
benefit from in our own country.
(Paul M. Weyrich is chairman and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation.)
Cybercast News Service, Alexandria, Virginia, June 11, 2003
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCommentary.asp?Page=%5CCommentary%5Carchive%5C200306%5CCOM20030611e.html, For Personal and Academic Use Only
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