When the anti-communist revolutions of 1989 and 1990 shook off the shackles of dictatorships, we saw that the historical justice that was done to the Nazis after World War II was also done to the Soviet Union. I expected. we were disappointed. The world did not have the courage and honor to end the era of socialism by exposing and condemning the crimes of socialism. It took more than 20 years since the regime change before our region finally took the initiative to pay tribute to the victims of totalitarian dictatorships on the European Union Day of Remembrance, which began in 2011.
August 23rd reminds us of the handshake of two dictators and the anti-human regime they ran. For those who, before August 23, 1939, thought communism was the promise of heaven on earth and that only the Nazis were entitled to elicit contempt and bad taste, the Hitler-Stalin pact was a sobering one. must be. face. The two dictatorships agreed on how to divide the world, but it became clear to everyone that the ideological differences between the Nazis and the Communists were only superficial, and their true nature was revealed. showed. “One appears as a savior, and under his robes a demon lurks. The other disguises himself as Satan, but is actually Satan,” writes Nobel Prize-winning author Imre Kertesz. Then less than a week later, Hitler and Stalin’s nefarious rule sparked World War II.
We Hungarians, and inhabitants of Central and Eastern Europe more broadly, experienced firsthand the ruthless and raw rule of the Nazi and Soviet dictatorships. We have been stripped of our sovereignty, stripped of our independence, oppressed and exploited, and a terrorist regime based on hate and exclusion has been put in place to legitimize the regime. Totalitarian dictatorships pit people against each other and against each other, creating a climate of fear, suspicion and distrust that has been reinforced by a system of informants and whistleblowers. Both the Communists and the Nazis used violence on a hitherto unknown scale, or against real enemies, to commit crimes on a scale unprecedented in history. “Expulsion from human existence, pain, starvation, slave labor, death by torture are the same in Lesk and Dachau, and Kolyma is no different in this respect from Mauthausen. (…) Concentration camps and the Nazi network of camps. Both were created for the same purpose, and the millions of victims testify to the fact that they served that purpose,” Kertesz wrote. It was none other than Stalin who best summed up the cynicism, immorality and anti-humanity of those who ran dictatorships. “Death solves all problems, neither people nor problems.”
When we think of the victims of totalitarian dictatorships in Europe, we don’t just think of those murdered because of their political views, beliefs or race. We must also count those whose family traditions, pasts and upbringings have forced them to flee their homes, dispossess their property and ultimately their future. And we have to think about ourselves too. Because what they tried to strip us of was ultimately our past, our traditions, our values. But on this day, we must remember not only the victims of dictatorships, but also those who fought them with deeds, words and deeds. Their courage, their loyalty to their nation and their faith are examples of the duty we all have to resist evil. Their overwhelming desire for freedom fueled an anti-communist revolution that put us back under the control of fate.
For us Hungarians and peoples of Central Europe with a common historical heritage of the 20th century, it increases the possibility of understanding and belonging among us. It is precisely because of this trauma that we become more able to understand the suffering of others and see our own pain, anxiety and loss in it. But all of this comes with great responsibility in a Europe today where the Western half is ignorant of the price and meaning of freedom, of ignorance of dictatorships for what they really are, of ignorance and devaluation of national traditions and identities. There is also a thing. importance of family and religion.
As owners of this precious heritage, we must follow Arthur Koestler’s advice and light the ‘candle of truth’ to pass on our knowledge.
Dr. Rajimund Fekete is a historian and director of the Institute of Communism. This article was published in the August 23, 2023 edition in Hungarian. Nemzet in Magyar. This article is republished here with permission of the author.