August 23, 2022. OTTAWA, ON. On August 23, Canadians commemorate Black Ribbon Day, the National Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Communism and Nazism in Europe.
On Black Ribbon Day, we honour the memory of millions of innocent victims of Nazi Germany and the Communist Soviet Union. May the Memory of the Victims Be Eternal. Вічная Пам’ять.
“The malign doctrines of Nazi Germany and Soviet Communism, both of which targeted Ukraine and its people for conquest and annihilation, are being continued today by the Russian Federation which is engaged in genocidal war against Ukraine and its people,” stated Alexandra Chyczij, National President of the UCC. “We must heed the lessons of history to ensure that the crimes of the past are not repeated by today’s tyrannical dictators.”
Background
Established through a unanimous resolution of Canada’s Parliament in 2009, Black Ribbon Day coincides with the anniversary of the signing of the infamous Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between Nazi Germany and the Communist Soviet Union.
Soon after the Pact was signed, the two regimes jointly invaded and dismembered Poland, starting World War II. Millions of men, women and children were murdered, imprisoned, and subjected to dreadful brutality by the Nazi and Soviet regimes.