‘Remember. 23 August’ International Public Education Campaign Honours the Victims of Totalitarian Regimes

The following is a press release kindly provided to us by the European Network Remembrance and Solidarity (ENRS).

On 23 August, we observe the European Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Totalitarian Regimes, established by the European Parliament in 2008. It was on this day, 86 years ago, that the Ribbentrop–Molotov Pact was signed—an agreement between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union that paved the way for the outbreak of the Second World War. In its aftermath came the horrors of concentration camps, gulags, the Holocaust, decades of the Cold War, and for many, the continuation of oppression.

For the eleventh consecutive year, the European Network Remembrance and Solidarity (ENRS) invites the public to take part in the public and education campaign ‘Remember. 23 August’, aimed at raising awareness among contemporary Europeans about the consequences and significance of past totalitarian crimes. In a year that marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, the campaign carries particular resonance.

This year’s edition of the campaign is held under the motto: ‘The wounds can be healed’, focusing on intergenerational trauma—one of the most complex and least visible legacies of twentieth-century totalitarianism. To explore this subject, we invited distinguished scholars to share their insights: Yael Danieli, a clinical psychologist and pioneer in the field of collective trauma therapy; Simona Mitroiu, an expert in postmemory narratives; and Michał Bilewicz, a social psychologist and author of Traumaland, a study on the social consequences of violence and collective memory. Their reflections, recorded especially for the campaign, offer a profound perspective on how inherited trauma shapes individuals and societies alike. The expert interviews are accompanied by a comprehensive brochure explaining what intergenerational trauma is, how to recognize it, and how to address it.

The central theme of this year’s campaign also finds expression in a new short film—the latest instalment in a series launched in 2019:

The Wounds Can Be Healed

A series of short documentary portraits, now a hallmark of the initiative, recalls the lives of individuals who, defying circumstances and the instinct for survival, found the courage to stand up to totalitarian evil. Previous editions have featured:

• Johann Trollmann (1907–1944), a German boxer of Roma origin, a victim of Nazi persecution, murdered by a kapo whom he had previously defeated in the ring;
• Emílie Machálkova (1926–2017), a Czech woman of Roma origin, Holocaust survivor and promoter of Roma culture;
• Władysław Bartoszewski (1922–2015), Polish social activist, historian and politician, Auschwitz concentration camp prisoner, Home Army soldier, imprisoned several times by the communist authorities;
• Boris Romanchenko (1926–2022), Ukrainian activist, Holocaust survivor, victim of Russian aggression against Ukraine;
• Doina Cornea (1929–2018), a Romanian dissident who had the courage to publicly oppose the bloody rule of communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu in the 1980s;
• Ieva Lase (1916–2002), a Latvian translator and French teacher who was twice imprisoned for her dissident activities;
• Jaan Kross (1920–2007), Estonian poet and writer, arrested during the German occupation of Estonia and later imprisoned by the NKVD and sent to the gulags;
• Kazimierz Moczarski (1907–1975), Polish journalist, writer, Home Army soldier and author of Conversations with an Executioner;
• Milada Horáková (1901–1950), Czech politician, sentenced to death during the Stalinist period in Czechoslovakia;
• Juliana Zarchi (1938–1991), a Lithuanian of German-Jewish origin who experienced both totalitarianisms;
• Mala Zimetbaum, a Jew, and Edek Galiński, a Pole, prisoners in the Auschwitz concentration camp;
• Péter Mansfeld (1941–1959), the youngest victim of the 1956 Hungarian repression.

As part of the campaign, additional resources are available at www.enrs.eu, offering a deeper reflection on the legacy of totalitarian regimes. These include an essay by Professor Jan Rydel, in which the author examines the far-reaching consequences of the events of August 1939, as well as a practical guide with useful information on how to commemorate 23 August.

All our materials may be freely reproduced, provided that the source is cited.

Since 2014, the campaign has been accompanied by pins bearing the inscription ‘Remember. 23 August’, distributed in museums and sites of remembrance across Europe, as well as available at the ENRS headquarters (Zielna Street 37, Warsaw). Wearing the pin—or sharing its image on social media or a website—offers a simple yet powerful gesture of solidarity and shared remembrance for the victims of totalitarian regimes.

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.

Related articles:

The post ‘Remember. 23 August’ International Public Education Campaign Honours the Victims of Totalitarian Regimes appeared first on Hungarian Conservative.