Victims of Communism Memorial Day

Each year on November 7, the free world marks the National Day for the Victims of Communism to remember those who have suffered and died at the hands of communist regimes in the past, and to stand for those who are fighting for freedom today. On this day, we remember the more than 100 million killed by the most deadly ideology known to humanity and the more than 1.5 billion people that are still oppressed by tyrannical regimes that imprison, enslave, and kill opposition and “undesirables” across China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam.

Today at the VOC Museum, we remember the victims at our inaugural VOC Day International Cultural and Food Fair. Over 20 embassies, partners, and cultural institutes will gather at the Museum to honor the victims and celebrate the vibrant cultures that have stood and continue to stand against communism. 

On this solemn day, VOC is proud to highlight our partnership with Florida as they commemorate VOC Memorial Day by launching their Portraits in Patriotism curriculum which mandates the study of communism and other forms of totalitarian rule. VOC helped to produce a series of witness interviews for their K-12 programming which will be used in classrooms across the state and seen by millions of students.

As Governor Ron DeSantis said when he signed Florida’s VOC Memorial Day bill into law, it is important “to honor those who have suffered under communism and remind people of the destruction communism has caused worldwide, including a death toll exceeding 100 million. In Florida, we will tell the truth about communism.”

Bear witness to four of these Portraits in Patriotism stories below.

• Channy Laux fled the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot’s tyranny in Cambodia and today is a speaker, author, and small business owner.
• Francisco Márquez was arrested under the authoritarian regime of Nicolás Maduro in Venezurela and is now a political rights activist.
• Tatiana Menaker grew up in the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin and was part of the “refuseniks,” eventually escapaing to the United States.
• Lily Tang Williams endured Mao Zedong’s Cultural revolution in China as a child and travels the country to tell her story.