Europe will mark the EU-wide Day of Remembrance for the victims of all totalitarian and authoritarian regimes on 23 August, the European Commission said.
The date commemorates the anniversary of the Molotov – Ribbentrop Pact, signed in 1939 between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, according to a statement issued on Friday by Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen and Commissioner Michael McGrath.
The pact and the war that followed brought suffering to millions of people across Europe and beyond, with the subsequent years marked by occupation, repression, deportation and violence on a massive scale, they said.
The Commissioners pointed out the day honours the memory of people who suffered under totalitarian and authoritarian regimes, including victims, survivors and their families.
Remembering the past
Every EU country is now home to a generation that has grown up free from tyranny and oppression, Virkkunen and McGrath said.
They added the day serves as a reminder of the consequences of hatred, intolerance and the denial of human dignity.
The statement said the day also calls for vigilance in defending the values on which the European Union is founded — including respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and fundamental rights.
