“Remember. August 23» – an international educational campaign dedicated to the memory of the victims of totalitarian regimes / Article

This is a translation of the article into Latvian.

Also read in other languages:

► English ► Belarusian ► in Russian ► Polish ► Ukrainian

For the tenth time, the European Network of Remembrance and Solidarity (ENRS) draws attention to the importance of these historical events and encourages to honor the memory of the victims of totalitarianism in its international educational campaign “Remember. August 23”.

Short films dedicated to people whose lives were marked by extraordinary resistance against totalitarian systems, commemorative badges, media and environmental campaign in several European capitals, articles on contemporary contradictions related to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and ‘Guide to celebrating 23 August’ just some of this year’s campaign activities. The campaign will end with the unveiling of a mural in Warsaw. This picture will encourage reflection and the preservation of living evidence of the past.

The heroes of this year’s campaign are Johann Trollmann (1907-1944), a German boxer of Romani origin who suffered Nazi persecution; he killed headwhom he had previously defeated in the ring; and Emilija Mahalkova (1926–2017), a woman of Roma origin in the Czech Republic who survived the Holocaust and was a promoter of Roma culture.

In previous years, ENRS presented what happened to these people:

Vladislav Bartoszewski (1922-2015), Polish social worker, historian and politician, prisoner of the Auschwitz concentration camp, soldier of the “Armia Krajowa”, imprisoned several times during the communist regime,

Boris Romanchenko (1926 – 2022), Ukrainian activist, Holocaust survivor, victim of Russian aggression against Ukraine,

Doina Korna (1929 – 2018), a Romanian dissident who had the courage to publicly oppose the bloody rule of communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in the 1980s,

Eva Las (1916 – 2002), a Latvian translator and French teacher who was imprisoned twice for dissident activities,

John Cross (1920–2007), Estonian poet and writer, arrested during the Nazi German occupation of Estonia, but later imprisoned by the NKVD and sent to the gulag,

Kazimežs Močarskis (1907 – 1975), Polish journalist, writer, “Armia Krajowa” soldier, author of the book “Conversations with the Gang” (“Rozmowy z katem”),

Milada Horakova (1901 – 1950), Czech politician who was sentenced to death in Stalinist Czechoslovakia,

Juliana Zarhiwhose mother was German and father – a Lithuanian Jew, lived both a totalitarian regime,

Mala Cimetbaum, a Jew, and Edeks Galińskis, a PoleAuschwitz concentration camp prisoners,

Peter Mansfeldthe youngest victim of the Hungarian repression in 1956.

As part of the memorial on the website www.enrs.eu A publication by Professor Jan Riedel will be read, which explains the broad consequences of the events of August 1939, as well as a guide with useful information about the commemorations of 23 August. On the same day, near the University of Warsaw, a mural by Marcin Čaja will be unveiled on the wall of a building (address: ul. Lipowa 5) – a unique view of 85-year events in intergenerational memory and their traces. in our daily life.

Posters with pictures of individual heroes will be placed in the center of the capitals of European countries, and among these cities will be Warsaw, Vienna, Prague and Berlin. A badge with the inscription “Remember. August 23” will be added to the international campaign in the media and the environmental campaign in European capitals. Every year, this symbolic commemoration encourages politicians, journalists, artists, social activists and young people across Europe to reflect on the Second World War and its consequences. The badges will be available in museums and memorials throughout Europe, and also at the ENRS office in Warsaw (address – ul. Zielna 37).

More information about the campaign can be found here here.

All videos are also available on the ENRS “YouTube” channel here.

Organizer:

European Network “Remembrance and Solidarity”

ENRS Treasurers:

Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage;

Commissioner for Culture and Media of the German Federal Government

Hungarian Ministry of the Interior

Slovak Ministry of Culture

Romanian Ministry of Culture

Initiatives are co-financed European Union

The European Network “Remembrance and Loyalty” is an international initiative that aims to study and document the history of Europe in the 20th century and the cultures of remembrance in Europe, paying special attention to periods dictatorships, wars and resistance to political violence, as well as increasing public knowledge about these issues. The members of the network are Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Germany, its consulting institutions include representatives from Albania, Austria, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

 www.enrs.eu