[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 155 (Friday, November 7, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2183]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          A MEMORIAL DAY FOR THE VICTIMS OF RUSSIAN COMMUNISM

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 5, 1997

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, the Congress of Russian-Americans has 
strongly supported the transformation of the Russian Federation into a 
prosperous and democratic society based on a market economy since 
Russia became independent in 1991 upon the dissolution of the Soviet 
Union. In fact, the Congress of Russian-Americans has joined the 
Government of the United States and numerous private organizations in 
directly supporting that transformation through humanitarian donations 
and cultural and educational contacts.
  Now, as we approach November 7, a day that was celebrated by the 
former Soviet regime in honor of the Communist coup in Russian in 1917, 
and is now noted as a Day of Forgiveness and Reconciliation by the 
Russian Federation, the board of directors of the Congress of Russian-
Americans has issued a statement calling for November 7 to be honored 
instead as a Memorial Day for Victims of Communism.
  Mr. Speaker, we are all aware of the many millions of people of 
Russian, Ukrainian, and other ethnic backgrounds who suffered and died 
at the hands of Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin during the Communist 
dictatorship over Russia and its neighbors. I believe that the Congress 
of Russian-Americans makes a compelling point in suggesting that the 
Russian Government should take the opportunity every November 7 to 
remember those in Russia who died tragic and horrible deaths at the 
hands of the Bolshevik, Soviet dictatorship. I commend the following 
statement by the board of directors of the Congress of Russian-
Americans to the attention of all my colleagues.

     November the 7th----Memorial Day for the Victims of Communism

       On the 7th November of 1917, in defiance of the people's 
     will, bolsheviks brutally seized power in Russia: during the 
     elections to the Constitutional Assembly, they received less 
     that 25% of the vote. Lenin's program to bring about Russia's 
     defeat in WWI (sponsored and financed by the German General 
     Staff), led to the downfall of the new-born Russian 
     democracy, to Russia's disintegration, and to a long and 
     bloody Civil War.
       Immediately after the November putsch, Lenin introduced 
     mass terror tactics and executions by firing squad on the 
     basis of social standing that resulted in the physical 
     annihilation of Russian Orthodox clergy, the intelligentsia, 
     the officer corps, and millions of workers and farmers. The 
     genocide that began on November 7, 1917, was continued and 
     ``perfected'' by Stalin. It resulted in a loss of over 100 
     million of Russian and other lives, led to today's poverty, 
     and, facilitated by the destruction of Orthodox ethics, to 
     the universal spread of crime and corruption.
       This is why November 7th is not a holiday for the Russian 
     people!
       It is the Memorial Day for the Victims of Communist 
     Genocide!
       Although after 1991 marxism ceased to serve as the official 
     ideology and communism has lost its significance, communists 
     remain active and are attempting to return to power, while 
     communism still has not been condemned for what it is: an 
     inhuman and anti-people doctrine that brought Russia to a 
     dead end. Communism must be denounced, just as Nazism was in 
     postwar Germany.
       As a first step in this direction, Lenin must be exposed as 
     a betrayer of Russia. His mummy, which still lies in honored 
     repose beside the Kremlin walls and disgraces Moscow and all 
     of the Russian people, must be removed (together with all his 
     statues throughout Russia).
       We call upon the government of the Russian Federation to 
     replace the November 7th ``celebration'' with a national 
     Memorial Day for Victims of Communism, to remove all 
     communist regalia, to restore to cities, districts, and 
     streets their traditional historical names, and to assign 
     proper names to towns and streets built after 1917.
       We believe, that the Russian people, having overcome 
     numerous difficulties in their thousand-year old history, 
     will survive the after effects of communism as well as the 
     chaos of the present ``Troubled Times,'' that they will 
     resurrect Orthodox ethics, and then will rebuild the economy 
     of the richest country on earth. The commemoration of 
     November 7th, as the Memorial Day for Victims of Communism 
     must become a Russian tradition for ages to come.--National 
     Board of Directors, Congress of Russian-Americans.

     

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