Last century's collective tragedies, such as the gulags, concentration camps, the Holocaust, deportations and collective hunger, must never be repeated again. In the speech delivered at the commemoration event for victims of all totalitarian and authoritarian regimes, Prime Minister Maia Sandu stated that all these regimes should be treated equally, as anti-human regimes.
After the flag of the Republic of Moldova was put at half-mast and those present at the event on the Great National Assembly Square observed a moment of silence, the prime minister held a speech for those present. In her speech, she said that "Nazism, Stalinism, fascist and communist regimes have sowed hatred and used people to achieve the sordid goals of their fanatical leaders".
Maia Sandu said that these regimes endangered the entire civilization, because they disregarded the supreme value of human life. "The Government of the Republic of Moldova wants to lay the foundations for national reconciliation, based on the spirit of tolerance and mutual respect", Maia Sandu said. She added that the government led by her wanted the citizens of Moldova to live in peace and harmony and to stand in solidarity against the violation of human rights, regardless of ethnicity and political views.
Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Năstase said that the establishment of the commemoration day for victims of all totalitarian and authoritarian regimes represented a modest historical reparation for those who had suffered from the crimes committed in the name of dehumanizing ideologies. "Nazism and Stalinism alike destroyed lives, families, destinies and affected the souls of the survivors", Andrei Nastase specified. "We owe it to the victims of tyranny, but also to our children, to always remind them of the dehumanization that last century dictatorships brought and to remind them under whose rule this world suffered", the Deputy Prime Minister said.
The government declared August 23rd the day of commemoration for victims of all totalitarian and authoritarian regimes, such as Nazism, Stalinism, the fascist and the communist regimes. Prime Minister Maia Sandu urged the press to support the initiative and to observe a moment of silence in the evening, at 20:00, when most citizens watch the television, in the memory of those killed, deported, starved or tortured.
