Those people who’re called the victims of Communism are not bricks of repression, but the building blocks of our freedom – said Tibor Navracsics, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Administration and Justice at the governmental commemoration of the Victims of Communism, held at the House of Terror Museum in Budapest this Tuesday.
In his speech, the Minister emphasized that the fate of individual victims drift together in the history of the nation, as there are as many stories and wounds as many lives. He believes that there is no verb to describe what those people have felt whose land had been took or had not have chance to study further, became ill, suffered depression or committed suicide.
According to the Deputy Prime Minister, even those who had “escaped” all these, who had not been executed, they were sometimes “compromised to denunciation and despicable bargains”.
To his words, while the perpetrators of Nazi crimes are known, this cannot be said regarding Communism. Therefore Tibor Navracsics called it important as well to make Western Europe and the next generations understand what it means to be a victim of Communism. As he said, their death meant the greatest sense of man: freedom, democracy and independence.
He added that because of common hardships, it is easier for people “from Vilnius to Sofia” to understand each other, rather like people in Vienna.
Mária Schmidt, General Director of the House of Terror Museum also spoke at the commemoration on that while the international community condemns Nazism it does not Communism and there were democracies which regarded Communism as a cooperating partner. She noted that Communism too, was based on collective stigmatization, terror and based its power on fear.
Maria Schmidt called the success of the region that it defeated Communism and won freedom. “We cannot forget what we owe to those who have stood for this”, as she added.
János Horváth (of governing party FIDESZ), the Vice-of-Age of the Parliament said in his recall of personal tone that after the Second World War, they believed international promises on human rights and democracy, but these were only “straws or spider webs”. He recalled the outrage of the West when Béla Kovács, the Secretary-General of the Independent Smallholders’ Party was kidnapped; all the U.S. inventories and indices and steps taken to enforce compliance with the Yalta agreement. As he phrased it, decades have passed till the oppressive Soviet regime “went bankrupt”.
János Horváth called the 25th of February a landmark to be remembered the same way as other historic victories and falls.
The memorial service was attended by the wife of late PM József Antall, Dalma Mádl, the widow of former President of the Republic Ferenc Mádl, former PM Péter Boross, former Head of Parliament and president of the Community for Social Justice Katalin Szili and András Schiffer, the co-president of green party LMP.
Participants lit candles at the Wall of Heroes right after the speeches, where civil commemorators have arrived as well.
The Hungarian Parliament declared by decision the 25th of February as the Memorial Day for Victims of Communism on 13 June 2000, in order to commemorate that Béla Kovács, the Secretary-General of the Independent Smallholders’ Party was illegally arrested and deported to the Soviet Union on this very day in 1947 .
(Ministry of Public Administration and Justice)
