Victims of Communism (Vietcong)

VOC Remembers Victims, Honors Heroes

In a ceremony on Capitol Hill on June 11th, the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC) awarded its 57th Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom to Ukrainian human rights advocate and former Gulag prisoner Myroslav Marynovych. VOC also announced it will award the Medal of Freedom to Mustafa Jemilev, political leader of the Crimean Tatars.

Eighteen embassies as well as two dozen civil society groups and individual sponsors laid wreaths at the Memorial, which is dedicated to every single victim of communism.

The ceremony was about “one thing—the brutal, bloody reality of communism, which over the last century has taken the lives of more than 100 million men, women and children and which controls the lives of over 1 billion people today,” said VOC Chairman Dr. Lee Edwards.

Mr. Marynovych travelled to the United States to accept his Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom. In his remarks, he reflected on the legacy of communism in Ukraine.


Selected English-language press coverage of the event at:

National Review
AFGE Local 1812 Voice of America, China Branch
Daily News Hungary
CNS News

Generous sponsors made possible the day's activities. Thank you very much to every one of the June 11th sponsors. If you did not sponsor, but would like to:

VOC Launches Witness Project Video Series

Witness Project is an original film interview series capturing first-hand accounts of life under communism. Many people who lived under communism survived, but they are passing away year by year. VOC believes their stories must be preserved and told.

This project is gathering stories of almost unbelievable inhumanity, fortitude, and heroism. Witness Project features stories of people from every walk of life, from former heads of state to ordinary citizens.

Witness Project interviews released to date include:
Bela Krasznay (Hungary)
Laszlo Tokes (Romania)
Tony Nguyen (Vietnam)

Marion Smith on Sun News

Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation’s Executive Director Marion Smith speaks about the legacy of communism on The Source with Ezra Levant on Canada’s Sun News Network.

Mr. Smith explained how "25 years after the fall of the Iron Curtain we're still dealing with the toxic legacy of communism."

RIP R.J. Rummel

Professor of political science at the University of Hawaii Dr. Rudolph Joseph Rummel died on March 2, 2014, in Kaneohe, Hawaii. Dr. Rummel was a leading expert in the history of 20th century "democide" or "death by government." His research provides some of the best estimates available about the number of citizens killed by communist governments. Dr. Rummel was one of VOC's earliest academic advisors and served on the National Advisory Board since 1993.

http://victimsofcommunism.org/