August 23 marks the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Totalitarian Regimes, proclaimed by the European Parliament in 2008. On this day 84 years ago, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was signed between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union that paved the way for the tragedy of the Second World War and its aftermath: concentration camps, gulags, the Holocaust, crematoria and labour camps, followed by the long years of the Cold War and, for many, further enslavement. To bring the significance of these events to a wider audience, the European Network Remembrance and Solidarity has been running since 2014 a public education campaign “Remember. 23 August”.

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Totalitarian Regimes. With Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine, the commemoration of 23 August takes on a highly topical dimension. The drama of war is unfolding again, bringing new victims of modern Russia’s totalitarianism: in Bucha, Irpin, Borodianka or Mariupol. Today, in the age of disinformation, it is particularly important to tell the 20th-century European history as transparently as possible, without condoning falsehood.

Launched in 2019, the series of campaign spots “Remember. August 23” includes short films telling the stories of victims of totalitarianism whose courage and resistance in the face of evil left a lasting mark on the history of the 20th century. The videos are dedicated to individuals from Poland, Ukraine, Romania, Estonia, Czechoslovakia, Lithuania, Latvia and Hungary

This year we will present Borys Romanchenko (1926-2022) – Ukrainian activist, Holocaust survivor, concentration camp prisoner, and victim of Russian aggression against Ukraine.

More information on the campaign is available at: www.enrs.eu/August23
All videos are also available on the ENRS YouTube profile: https://cutt.ly/Remember-23August

Join the campaign and put on a pin that you can pick up from the Polish Institute Brussels office. The pins are available on the fence display.