August 23 marks the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Totalitarian Regimes, proclaimed by the European Parliament in 2008. On this day 85 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. 

For the tenth time, the European Network Remembrance and Solidarity (ENRS) highlights the importance of these historical events and encourages to honour the victims of the totalitarianisms through the international public education campaign ‘Remember. August 23’.

Short film spots dedicated to people whose lives were marked by dramatic struggles against totalitarian systems, commemorative pins, a media and outdoor campaign in selected European capitals, articles on contemporary controversies surrounding the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, and a ‘Guide to the Commemoration of 23 August’ – are just some of the activities of this year’s campaign. It will culminate in the unveiling of a mural in Warsaw, encouraging reflection and the preservation of living testimonies of the past.

The heroes of this year’s campaign are Johann Trollmann (1907–1944), a German boxer of Roma origin, a victim of Nazi persecution, murdered by kapo whom he had previously defeated in the ring, and Emílie Machálková (1926–2017), a Czech woman of Roma origin, Holocaust survivor and promoter of Roma culture.