ΓΙΑ ΝΑ ΜΗ ΞΕΧΝΑΜΕ ΤΗΝ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ

Greek American Tribute to Greek Victims of Communism
August 3, 2010
Lee Edwards, Ph.D.
Alex Aliferis organized the event to offer tribute. Aliferis' family in 1944 was executed by Communists. "I came to the memorial to honor the over 100,000 Greeks murdered by Communists," said Aliferis. In Greece , there are annual tributes

o the victims of Communism at massacre sites like Meligalas , Greece . Since 2008, Aliferis makes a point to honor the Greek victims of Communism.

While former Communist countries like Bulgaria , Romania , Lithuania , Hungary , Poland , and others remember the victims of Communism, the Greek government ignores it.

"I want to make sure the victims of Communists in Greece are not forgotten," said Aliferis. Alex Aliferis has formed the Greek Victims of Communism Foundation to document the crimes of Communists in Greece . Books and articles have been written in Greek and English documenting about murders, massacres, and abductions by Greek Communists. Nicholas Gage produced a film in 1981 called "Eleni" that documents the execution of his mother by Greek Communists. Actor John Malkovich played the role of Nicholas Gage who seeks the Communist murderer responsible for his mother's death.

Lee Edwards, Chair of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, attended the tribute with Alex Aliferis, Chair of the Greek Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, Nikolaos Taneris of Cyprus Action Network of America, and Ioannis Ioannou of Astoria.

In Washington DC , the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, a non-profit organization was established by act of U.S. Congress. The memorial commemorates more than 100 million victims of communism, to honor those who resisted communist tyranny, to educate current and future generations about communism's crimes against humanity and to pay tribute to those who helped win the Cold War. President Clinton signed H.R. 3000, which passed unanimously in Congress, on December 17, 1993. This American law created and built the current Victims of Communism Memorial in Washington D.C. which was dedicated on June 12, 2007 among others by President George Bush and the late Congressman Tom Lantos, and calls for the foundation of a museum in the future.

In the EU Parliament, August 23rd has been declared as a Remembrance Day of Victims of Nazism and Communism.

Greece was the first country to hand communism a defeat in wake of the Cold War, preserving democracy in its birthplace, and thus providing hope once again that totalitarian regimes cannot subjugate a free people.

More than 100,000 Greeks died as a result of the communist insurgency, including over 21,000 government security forces. Additionally, more than 1 million civilians were displaced due to the communist terror, and over 28,000 children were abducted and transported to communist countries. The July 19, 2010 tribute honored the Greek victims of communism who fought for freedom against tyranny.

For more information on the Victims of Communism Memorial go to www.victimsofcommunism.org.

We include, a short comprehensive recommended reading list of scholarly books on the subject, the Foundation encourages further scholarship on this subject, and all inquires for further study should be directed to Mr. Alex Aliferis, Email: greekvictimscommunism@yahoo.com

1. Black Book of Communism by Stephane Courtois

2. The Abducted Greek Children of the Communists by Dr. Nikki Karavasilis

3. The Calvary of Meligalas by Tassos Antonopoulos

4. ΜΑΤΩΜΕΝΕΣ ΜΝΗΜΕΣ 1940-45 ΚÏŒκκινη Τρομοκρατία, ΚατοχικÏŒς ἘμφÏλιος, ΚÏŒκκινη ἈπελευθÎ ρωση, "Λευκή" Τρομοκρατία στή Νοτιοδυτική ΠελοπÏŒννησο (Γαργαλιάνοι - Καλαμάτα - Μελιγαλάς - ΠÏλος - ΠÏργος) by Ioannis Bougas(in Greek about Communist Terror in Messenia-Peloponnesos)

5. Eleni by Nicholas Gage

http://www.victimsofcommunism.org/media/article.php?article=6091