Comment on the events in some member-states of the Council of Europe on the occasion of so–called European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism on August 23 and the conference «The Heritage in 21st Century Europe of the Crimes Committed by Communist Regimes» in Tallinn - Statements and comments on the cooperation of the Russian Federation in the Council of Europe
Comment on the events in some member-states of the Council of Europe on the occasion of so–called European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism on August 23 and the conference «The Heritage in 21st Century Europe of the Crimes Committed by Communist Regimes» in Tallinn
Some member-states of the Council of Europe has declared the day when the Treaty of Non-aggression between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Germany was signed as the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism or the Europe-Wide Day of Remembrance for the victims of all totalitarian and authoritarian regimes.
We stand against the attempts to rewrite the history and to distort it to one’s own advantage. The European Union is sure that it is the day of August 23, 1939, when the Treaty of Non-aggression between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Germany was signed which «marked the beginning of one of the darkest periods in the recent history of the continent». At the same time, there is still a question why our partners forget the fact that the flywheel of events which preceded the World War II, started to spin as early as in 1938, when Austria was annexed, two Sudetes crises happened and the Munich Agreement was concluded at the sufferance of the Western democracies. It is a well-known fact that the Munich Agreement triggered the partition of Czechoslovakia which had the strongest military industry at that time and this contributed to arming the German army. They also forget about the signing by Chamberlain and Hitler the declaration between the Great Britain and Germany in September 1938 and the signing byBonnet and Ribbentrop the declaration between France and Germany in December 1938.
Nevertheless, the principal question which outweighs all others is how it can be possible to hush the role of the Soviet Union in the victory over the Nazi Germany up when discussing the World War II? It is possible in the event of historical amnesia.
The fact that Estonia held the conference, which equated the communism with the nazism, bewilders not only us, but also some Tallinn’s partners in the EU.
It is an old and regrettable trend in some European countries to wage a war against monuments, to glorify the former members of «Waffen-SS» and to disparage the history.
Our historians who work on saving the historical memory and the wisdom of our partners are the only hope. The history should be revered. It is well-known that there is no future without the past.