International Congress of Victims of Communism “Voices for Freedom” was held in Madrid

On 19 and 20 April we held the International Congress of Victims of Communism “Voices for Freedom” at the CEU San Pablo University. With the objective of “remembering our past in order to better understand the present and to have a vision for the future”, according to the director of CEU-CEFAS, Elio A. Gallego García, during the opening ceremony, this congress has hosted for two days testimonies of national and international victims, representatives of associations and experts on this topic.

100 million murdered

In the inaugural conference, the director general of the Foundation for the Memory of the Victims of Communism (USA), Ken Pope, spoke about the work that his institution is carrying out to raise awareness of the consequences of communist ideology. “We have to remember all the problems that this ideology has generated and teach it in schools,” Pope said. In this sense, he expressed his concern that the real legacy of communism is not taught in schools. In addition, he pointed out to the culture of cancellation that we live in today, is a consequence of communism.

The breakup of the countries under USSR rule

During this first day, the reconstruction of the countries that were under the domination of the USSR was also discussed. The historian of the “House of Terror” Museum in Hungary, Dorottya Baczoni, stressed the importance of keeping justice in mind when studying history and stated that in Hungary “justice has not been done and it is key for our country to move it forward”. He also pointed out that “the interpretation of the historical past has been monopolised by communism”.

Meelis Maripuu, a member of the board of the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory, gave a presentation on Estonia’s historical relationship with communism. “Estonia regained independence in 1991, and since then there has been no communist party, nor are there any conditions for one to emerge in the future,” Maripuu said.

Baczoni and Maripuu were joined by Argita Daudze, PhD in History from the University of Latvia and former Latvian ambassador to Spain, who began her speech by saying that she had known communism for most of her life. In this sense, she stated that in Latvia, communism has led to the loss of freedom and the spread of lies. In relation to the reconstruction process, Daudze said that in his country “citizens had the courage to resist and fight against repression through armed resistance, sabotage and the opposition of exiles”.

Remembrance and dignity of the victims

The president of the Hungarian National Memory Committee, Réka F. Kiss, addressed the importance of the recognition of the victims and said that “we must try to make history known and, through its recognition, compensate the victims”.

In addition, during his speech, he stressed that it is very difficult to do a balance account of the communist dictatorship in Hungary because “there are no reliable written documents, as these were written by the dictatorship itself”.

Testimonies marked by bullets

The president of the Association of Relatives of Victims of Terrorism in Peru, Ruthie Ballón, shared with the audience how she experienced the savage murder of her father and said that “Peru has turned its back on the victims of terrorism and this generates frustration, impotence and desolation”. Consuelo Martínez-Sicluna, professor of Philosophy of Law (UCM) and relative of several victims of the Paracuellos del Jarama massacre, told how her family suffered the persecution of communism until they were murdered in the Paracuellos del Jarama massacre. “I cannot conceive of my life without what Paracuellos has been for my family. We must remember what happened in Paracuellos”.

The president of Dignity and Justice, Daniel Portero, stressed during his speech that “ETA learned from the other terrorist organisations of the time, but understood that it was necessary to weave a network to establish itself and inoculate itself in society”. For his part, Matteo Re, doctor of Contemporary History and expert on the Italian Red Brigades, explained what the Red Brigades were in Italy and highlighted the whitewashing that is taking place around these events: “The memory of these events is fading and the facts and the culprits are being confused”, said Re.

China, a global threat against human rights

The first day of the Congress ended with a talk by Chinese dissident journalist Yuan Lee, who addressed the threat to human rights posed by China. “Communism is taking away our human dignity. We are all affected by the loss of human rights in China”, said the journalist. During his speech, he wanted to make those present aware of the power of the Chinese communist regime throughout the world and he stressed the importance of the media telling us what is happening because “to stop communism we have to know about it”.

The first cracks in the Wall

The second day of the conference continued to deal with the events that led to the fall of the Wall in countries such as Yugoslavia, Hungary and Poland. Stephen Bartulica, Croatian national MP and Associate Professor of Political Philosophy at the Catholic University of Croatia, pointed out that none of the crimes of the communist era in Croatia have been prosecuted and stressed that “the collapse of communism in Croatia was not only due to the failure of the economic model or the lack of human rights, the spiritual vacuum was also a determining factor”.

In the case of Hungary, the Vice-President of the Hungarian National Memory Committee, Áron Máthé, wanted to highlight the suffering of the victims and their families during the communist period and the silence that is currently eliminating the collective memory. For his part, the deputy director of the Institute of National Thought Romana Dmowskiego and Ignacego Jana Paderewskiego of Poland, Pawel Skibinski, pointed out to “the Catholic Church, private property, solidarity and the polish cultural environment” as the elements that brought about political change in Poland and also in other countries”.

Victims of extreme left-wing terrorism in Spain and Latinoamerica

During her speech, lawyer and writer Carmen Ladrón de Guevara presented the work she has done in her book “Las víctimas del terrorismo de extrema izquierda en España: Del DRIL a los GRAPO (1960-2006). Ladrón de Guevara reviewed the murders of the different extreme left-wing terrorist groups in Spain and pointed out the importance of remembering all the victims. “I was struck by the number of widows and orphans left behind by the murders of the extreme left in Spain,” she said.

During the second day, the presence of indigenism and populism in Latin America was also discussed. The national deputy in Argentina, secretary general of the National Democratic Party and president of CELTYV, Victoria Villarruel, spoke about the situation of the Mapuche community in Argentina and stated that “indigenism reduces the power of the state and the relationship of effective power”.

The founder of the citizens’ initiative “Cuba Decide”, Rosa María Payá, spoke about the reality that Cuba has been experiencing for more than 60 years and stressed that the Cuban communist party “has been a machine of propaganda and lies that has not only affected the Cuban people”.

The former Peruvian Foreign Minister and victim of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, Francisco Tudela, also spoke, warning of the use of democracy by the left to destroy it from within. He also pointed out the importance of treating society as an adult in order to transcend populism and achieve a free society. During his speech, the former Peruvian Foreign Minister recounted his kidnapping from the Japanese embassy in 1996 by the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement.

The whitewashing of communism

The influence of communism today was one of the topics addressed during the second day. Joanna Rak, Professor of Political Culture at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, based on research she has just published, explained the dangers facing democracies today: “Anti-democrats have found channels to interfere in political structures and we have to protect ourselves against this,” she said.

Professor of Philosophical Hermeneutics at the University of Trieste (Italy) and promoter of the manifesto “Nuremberg Trial for Communism”, Renato Cristin, called for the need for “a tribunal of political and moral conscience that definitively condemns communism”. He also addressed the current whitewashing of communism, stating that “whitewashing, as a symbol of the communist lie, is still a current practice”.

This idea was also expressed by the president of SalL (Portugal), Afonso Teixeira da Mota: “The threat of communism has not ended, but today it has a friendly face, that of cultural Marxism”. He said that “communists are ready to do anything as long as they destroy the structures of Western civilisation: family, homeland and common good” and that “almost all the offences against fundamental freedoms have their origin in the communist environment we are living in”.

Hermann Tertsch MEP (VOX) and president of the Ibero-American ECR Group in the European Parliament, stressed that “the communists want to do away with concepts that have maintained us and identified us as a civilisation” and added: “Natural law as a concept is the only real equality that we have to hold sacred and it is the first one that they have destroyed”.

Red terror in Spain

The journalist and president of the Libertad Digital group, Federico Jiménez Losantos, closed the congress with a speech entitled “Red Terror in Spain”. During his speech, he analysed the influence of communist ideology in the history of Spain, as well as in the rest of the world. “Communism is the greatest killing machine that history has ever known and it is still alive”, he said. Regarding current affairs, Jiménez Losantos said that “Spain is the only Western country that has communists in government” and stressed that “all the laws that this government has made are communist from beginning to end”. Finally, he encouraged us not to forget in the face of those who want to dominate the memory of the facts. “The only thing a person cannot renounce is the dignity of their memory”, he shared.