Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism

Black Ribbon Day, officially known in the European Union as the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism was observed this Sunday at the Gulag monument in Budapest.

This international day of remembrance for victims of totalitarian regimes, specifically Stalinist, communist, Nazi and fascist regimes is observed annually on August 23 and symbolizes the rejection of extremism, intolerance and oppression.

The Gulag monument was inaugurated in Budapest's District 3 in 1993. As a result of the battles of World War II and the occupation of Hungary, 616,000 Hungarian citizens were sent to Soviet labor camps, and only about 440,000 of them returned home. In the territory of the Soviet Union, Hungarian prisoners were imprisoned in about 2,000 camps. Years later, those who returned home unharmed were intimidated by the Hungarian state defense authorities and forced to remain silent. Their suffering could not be publicly discussed until the change of regime.