On V-E Day, honor all victims of communism.

Remembering the Realities of V-E Day

Victory in Europe Day

On May 8th, we celebrate V-E Day, Victory in Europe Day, marking the Third Reich’s unconditional surrender to Allied forces. It’s a day that commemorates a triumph over one of the evilest regimes in history. However, we must remember that the end of Hitler’s Germany didn’t bring the end of their sorrows. The West was freed from Nazi tyranny, but the East faced another half-century of communist slavery under the Soviet boot.

The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact

Soviet leader Joseph Stalin started the war as Adolf Hitler’s willing partner in war crime. Less than two weeks before the first shots of WWII were fired, Hitler and Stalin signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop non-aggression pact, agreeing not to declare war on each other and to carve up Poland together. By this pact, the Soviet communists greenlit the most destructive conflict in history, not just by joining Hitler’s invasion of Poland, but by enabling his aggression to the West.

The Reality of Life Under Soviet Control

During and after the war, the Soviets looted priceless works of art from Poland as the Nazis did, squeezed hundreds of millions of dollars from several Eastern European countries, and started massive campaigns of ethnic cleansing in conquered territories. Soviet “liberating” troops engaged in wide-scale rape and looting of populations who had suffered for years of Nazi war crimes.

To further cement Soviet control over what would become known as the Iron Curtain, Stalin imposed on Eastern Europe communist dictators whose brutality makes Attila the Hun look like Mother Theresa. Such tyrants ruled Eastern Europe until the fall of communism in the ‘80s and ‘90s, subjecting their victim populations to terror and poverty.

Honoring Their Memories

This V-E Day, we must honor the memories of those who suffered under Soviet-imposed communism for decades. We owe it to the people of Eastern Europe to remember their suffering and the realities of life behind the Iron Curtain. Let us never forget the darkness of prison camps and the fear of being shot or imprisoned for complaining about your horrible life.

Let us remember their stories and honor their memories.

Elad Vaida is a staff writer for Common Sense Society.