As Cuba, North Korea, and China are Ascendant, Organization Remains Determined to Remember Communism's Human Costs
Washington DC– The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation today announced The Witness Project, a year-long initiative to catalog stories from around the world of some of the millions who suffered under communist rule. The project is a timely reminder of the most deadly ideology in the history of the world.
“The Witness Project honors the more than100 million individuals who have died under communist rule and millions more who continue to suffer its evils,” said Marion Smith, the executive director of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.“Too many people consider communism an ideology of the past, but it is still a sad reality in places like North Korea, China, and Cuba.”
The Project will highlight the dramatic stories of communism's survivors across the globe-- from a filmmaker who spent5½ years in the gulags of Hungary to a student leader who witnessed the Tiananmen Square massacre.
The Witness Project will launch with the story of Daniel Magay who was just a child when the Hungarian KGB took his father's estate and livelihood. Magay's family was only spared total ruin because of his talent in fencing, a talent that won him a gold medal in the1956 Olympics, after which he defected to the United States and became a successful businessman.
Describing communism and his defection to America, Magay says,“It's like you are in a cage. That's how you feel. And when they let you out of the cage, you know what that is. What freedom is.”
Watch the full video HERE.
The Witness Project includes more than ten other videos that share stories of individuals who lived under communism and will be continuously updated with new stories. Check them out HERE.
The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation is a Washington-based, non-profit educational and human rights organization devoted to commemorating the more than100 million victims of communism around the world and to the freedom of those still living under totalitarian regimes. Recently VOC has announced its efforts to break ground on an international museum on communism in Washington in2017.
For more information or to schedule an interview with Marion Smith, please contact Vanessa at [email protected] or202-997-1289.
