RFI Executive Vice President Eric Patterson recently authored a piece in WORLD titled, “Remembering and Aiding the Victims of Communism.” In it, Patterson discusses the newly opened Victims of Communism Museum in Washington, D.C., reflecting on the way the museum lays bare the evil and violence of communist ideology, and its relevance today. Patterson writes:

Visitors to Washington, D.C. have a new museum to visit: The Victims of Communism (VOC) Museum, which offers a powerfully moving testimony to the courage of Cold War victims. Today, the museum is all the more relevant due to the Communist totalitarianism of China, North Korea, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. Modern Communism began with the bloody Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, ostensibly as a way to liberate the Russian people from serfdom. But, Communism just re-enslaved the Russian people—and does so in every environment where it is imposed.

Since Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi, and others glorify the 20th century’s “golden era” of Communism, the accurate history that the Victims of Communism Museum presents is valuable because it unveils the Communist playbook. The museum also inspires by recording how the natural impulse for freedom brought down Communism in several nations.

Every attempt at Communism quickly became a revolution, torching all of society’s authentic institutions—the family, church, civil society, voluntary organizations, and government. All were replaced by a tyrannical elite who eliminated all opposition. The Russian (1917) and Chinese (1949) Communist revolutions were birthed in civil war and then imposed draconian policies.

The Victims of Communism Museum, which opened recently in Washington’s McPherson Square: “memorializes the more than 100 million people murdered by communist regimes. Today, it is estimated that more than 1.5 billion people still live and labor under communist governments that are actively hostile to democracy as well as human and civil rights.”

Read the full article: “Remembering and Aiding the Victims of Communism.”