site.btaAugust 23: European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism


Since 2009, August 23 has been observed as the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism. The day was proclaimed by a resolution of the European Parliament on April 2, 2009, based on a declaration adopted by the European Parliament in Brussels on September 23, 2008.
The purpose of proclaiming this day is "to preserve the memory of the victims of mass deportations and exterminations, and at the same time rooting democracy more firmly and reinforcing peace and stability in our continent". On this date in 1939, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed a non-aggression pact, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, in Moscow.
The Representation of the European Commission in Bulgaria recalled in a Facebook post on Saturday that 36 years ago on this date, nearly two million citizens of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia gathered in a political demonstration to defend freedom, democracy and human rights. The demonstration, now known as the Baltic Way, was timed to coincide with the signing date of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The demonstrators joined hands to form a human chain spanning over 600 km and linking the capitals Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn as a symbol of solidarity among the three Baltic republics and their desire for independence from the Soviet Union. Six months later, Lithuania became the first republic to break away from the former Soviet Union.
"August 23 is the day on which Europe honours the victims of all totalitarian and authoritarian regimes," the EC Representation in Bulgaria said.
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