Victims of Communism Memorial
 |
|
 Location within Washington, D.C.
|
|
| Coordinates | 38°53′54.56″N 77°0′43.39″W / 38.8984889°N 77.0120528°W |
|---|---|
| Location | Washington, D.C. |
| Designer | Thomas Marsh |
| Type | Statue |
| Beginning date | September 27, 2006 |
| Opening date | June 12, 2007 |
The Victims of Communism Memorial is a memorial in Washington, D.C. located at the intersection of Massachusetts and New Jersey Avenues and G Street, NW, two blocks from Union Station and within view of the U.S. Capitol.
The memorial is dedicated "to the more than one hundred million victims of communism". The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation says the purpose of the memorial is to ensure "that the history of communist tyranny will be taught to future generations."
The Victims of Communism Memorial was dedicated by President George W. Bush on June 12, 2007, the 20th anniversary of President Ronald Reagan's "tear down this wall" speech in front of the Berlin Wall.
The Memorial features a ten-foot (3 m) bronze replica from photographs, of the Goddess of Democracy, erected by students during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. The monument's design and the statue are works of sculptor Thomas Marsh. He led a project in 1994, to re-create the Goddess of Democracy in Chinatown, San Francisco. The inscription reads:
(front)To the more than one hundred million victims of communism and to those who love liberty
(rear) To the freedom and independence of all captive nations and peoples
A bill, H.R. 3000, sponsored by Representatives Dana Rohrabacher and Tom Lantos and Senators Claiborne Pell and Jesse Helms, to authorize the memorial passed unanimously on December 17, 1993 and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton, becoming Public Law 103-199 Section 905. Because of delays in establishing the memorial, the authorization was subsequently extended through Section 326 of Public Law 105-277, approved October 21, 1998, until December 17, 2007. The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation has the duty of funding and directing the first stages of planning the memorial.
...
Wikipedia