Passed unanimously by Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton on December 17, 1993, PL 103-199 created the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC). The legislation authorized the design and construction of the Victims of Communism Memorial in Washington, D.C. for and with the participation of “all groups that have suffered under communism.”
The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation Memorial statue is located at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, New Jersey Avenue, and G Street, NW, two blocks from Union Station and within view of the U.S. Capitol.
The Victims of Communism Memorial was dedicated by President George W. Bush on Tuesday, June 12, 2007. June 12 was chosen as the 20th anniversary of President Ronald Reagan’s famous Brandenburg Gate speech at which he said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” Two years after the Reagan speech, the Berlin Wall fell, and two years after that, the Soviet empire collapsed.
The Memorial’s front pedestal reads, “To the more than one hundred million victims of communism and to those who love liberty.” Its back pedestal reads, “To the freedom and independence of all captive nations and peoples.”
