Black Ribbon Day

In 2009 the European Parliament designated 23 August as the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism, also known as Black Ribbon Day.  It's to remember the victims of totalitarian regimes, specifically Stalinist, communist, Nazi, and fascist regimes.

In Czechland it is Evropský den památky obětí stalinismu a nacismu and Mezinárodní den černé stuhy.  While Black Ribbon Day is officially commemorated in Czech Republic it's neither a public holiday nor a significant day.

23 August was chosen because it's the anniversary of the signing of the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact which was a non-aggression pact between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.  The pact divided the territories of Romania, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland into Soviet and German spheres of influence.  All of this further led up to WWII.

Russia, especially under Vladimir Putin, isn't a fan of Black Ribbon Day because it continues to downplay the atrocities under Stalin like the Holodomor, the forced starvation of millions, in Ukraine.

Here's a short video I found out on YouTube.

©UATV English