Memorial to Victims of Communism opens without any names on its remembrance wall
The Dec. 12 ceremony was briefly interrupted by a protestor who shouted, "No Banderites, No Nazis," referring to concerns that many of its planned honourees were Nazis and Nazi collaborators.
More than a decade after it was first proposed and $6 million over budget, Ottawa’s troubled Memorial to the Victims of Communism was officially inaugurated at a sparsely attended Dec. 12 ceremony, which was briefly disrupted by a heckler.
The monument, designed by Toronto-based architect Paul Raff, consists of 4,000 metal rods, which together create 365 “vertical fins” representing each day of the year, and an empty wall of remembrance.
“As a memorial, it invites you to walk your own path and reflect freely,” Raff explained in his remarks at the unveiling. “It is a testament to the value of our liberty and to the value of all our lives—past, present, and future.”
The accompanying wall was supposed to list the names of 553 people who allegedly died at the hands of Communist regimes, but it turned out that anywhere from 10% to 60% of its proposed names belonged to people who were either outright Nazis or Nazi collaborators during the Second World War.
In remarks at the ceremony, the chair of Tribute to Liberty, the organization that was originally supposed to pay for the monument in its entirety but is instead paying one-fifth of its cost, said names are coming soon.
“Friends,” said Ludwik Klimkowski, “we hope to see you again in 2025 to tell you all about the journey of those who are meant to be on the side of this wall of remembrance.”
At this point, a heckler shouted “No Banderists, no Nazis,” referring to followers of Stepan Bandera, the Ukrainian nationalist leader who collaborated with the Nazis in pursuit of an ethnically pure Ukrainian state free of Jews, Poles and Russians.
A spokesperson for Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge told Ottawa Citizen reporter David Pugliese, that, contrary to what Klimkowski said, the names won’t necessarily be up next year, because the ministry is “still conducting due diligence on the names.”
In an October appearance on the Orchardcast, Pugliese said the decision “link a monument to individuals,” rather than specific events was problematic from the outset.
Many of these individuals, who are regarded as national heroes by powerful elements in Eastern European diaspora communities for fighting Communism, did so in support of Nazi ideology, in which anti-Communism played a key role.
As Taylor Noakes reported for the CBC in 2021, donations were made to Tribute to Liberty for the memorial in honour of Ante Pavelić, the leader of Croatia’s Ustaša Nazi puppet government, which murdered 32,000 Jews, 25,000 Roma and 330,000 Serbs; the Knightly Order of Vitéz, which ran a Nazi puppet government that deported 437,000 Hungarian Jews; and Roman Shukhevych, commander of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, which massacred tens of thousands of Belarusians, Jews, Poles and Ukrainians.
The monument’s unveiling was supposed to occur a year ago, but was postponed due to a combination of concern over the list of names and international embarrassment from Ukrainian-Canadian Waffen-SS veteran Yaroslav Hunka receiving two standing ovations in the House of Commons in September 2023.
The monument was first conceived by then-secretary of state for multiculturalism Jason Kenney in 2007 after he toured Masaryktown, a Scarborough park privately owned by the local Czech and Slovakian communities, which included a statue of a man crucified by a hammer and sickle.
Building a similar monument in Ottawa was a clever way for Kenney, and by extension the Conservative government of then-prime minister Stephen Harper, to project their vehemently anti-Communist ideology while creating synergy with voters in various anti-Communist diaspora communities—Ukrainian, Croatian, Czech, Slovakian, Polish, Hungarian, Chinese, Tibetan and Korean, among others.
The memorial was originally supposed to cost $1.5 million, which was to be funded entirely through private donations to Tribute to Liberty.
In 2013, with costs increasing, the Harper government agreed to match Tribute to Liberty’s $1.5 million contribution.
The monument’s cost had increased to $5.5 million, with the Harper government agreeing to pay $4.2 million of it, by the end of 2014.
Support for the project increased after the Liberals came to power in 2015, despite Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s pledge not to contribute any public funding for it.
By the time of the 2021 budget, delivered by diehard Ukrainian nationalist Chrystia Freeland, its cost had increased to $7.5 million, of which the government agreed to pay $6 million.
Liberal MP Yvan Baker, whose Etobicoke Centre constituency includes many Eastern European immigrants who fled Communist regimes, was supposed to speak at the monument’s opening, but didn’t show up, nor did anyone from the federal government.
“We are very disappointed that the prime minister cannot be here, or chose not to be here,” Tribute to Liberty board member Robert Tmej told CBC News.
“It's unfortunate that this memorial project, which was started many years ago under a different administration, is not wholeheartedly supported by this government. It's a shame. This is a national memorial.”
Baker told the CBC that he instead attended a private ceremony to celebrate the monument’s unveiling, “along with members of Tribute to Liberty, a Canadian veteran, survivors and representatives of many communities in Canada.”
Baker said he is a “longstanding advocate for this project” who is “proud that the government of Canada provided $6 million in funding towards this project.”
The A/V Corner
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$6 million bucks for 4000 metal rods. What a racket? I think I’m going to come up my own memorial to the victims of capitalism? How about a memorial to the victims of the Irish potato famine?
thanks very much for an excellent column, about the NAMES not being on the monument against communism. I too have heard the smattering of "good guys'" names won't be going up anytime soon