Take a stand against memorial
Re: How to Honour the victims of communism, June 27.
Thank you for publishing this excellent opinion by someone who represents one of the victims this bizarre monument is purported to honour. As Irene Tomaszewski points out, this monument ignores other victims of totalitarian regimes, including the Holocaust, and all those on other continents who were massacred in “ethnic cleansing.”
Ottawa does not need another monument. Tomaszewski’s elegant and sensible solution, to establish university chairs to teach students about the wide range of totalitarianism experienced in the 20th century, is brilliant.
I also applaud the Citizen editorial board for taking a strong stand on this matter.
Barbara Florio Graham, Gatineau
Go ahead with the memorial
A loud and well-orchestrated chorus of critics has been working hard to stop, or at least diminish, the planned Monument to the Victims of Communism. They appear to believe that these victims are not worthy of commemoration in a prominent location in Canada’s capital city.
Their objections are a slap in the face to the thousands of Ottawans and millions of Canadians who themselves, or whose parents or grandparents, fled to Canada to escape persecution by brutal communist governments.
I am a Canadian of Ukrainian descent. As is well known, millions of Ukrainians were eradicated by the communist regime of the former Soviet Union. My parents were among the lucky ones who managed to escape. I was born in a refugee camp and came to Canada as a small child. Until I received Canadian citizenship at the age of 7, I was stateless. One can imagine how grateful my family was to Canada for giving us refugee and offering us democratic freedoms. Millions of other Canadians have similar stories to tell, whether they came from the former Soviet Union, eastern Europe, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Cuba or more recently, Venezuela.
Victims of communism and their descendants are very gratified that the sufferings of this large portion of the Canadian population are finally being recognized and honoured. The fact that they were welcomed to this country is part of Canada’s story. The project for the monument should go ahead as planned.
Zonia Keywan, Ottawa
