The Motherland Calls Memorial Complex in Volgograd (Stalingrad)
The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) paid tribute to the victory of the heroic Red Army and the Soviet people at Stalingrad on the 80th anniversary of the final Nazi surrender, February 2, 1943.
The KKE has also been fighting against the now relentless attempts by many governments to conflate the USSR with the Nazis and the disgraceful actions of some governments tearing down monuments to the millions of Red Army soldiers who gave their lives to liberate Europe.
On 2/2/23, the KKE commemorated the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Red Army in the Battle of Stalingrad. In the morning, it laid a wreath at the Monument of the Soviet Soldier in Kalithea (a region of Athens). “Today the KKE commemorates the great victory at Stalingrad, against Hitler’s troops, which changed the course of the history of the Second World War with the great victory of the Red Army against fascism. The KKE calls upon our people to wage a struggle against capitalism, which gives rise to fascism,” said KKE MP Christos Katsotis.
In the afternoon of the same day, a large number of people participated in an event for the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad in Kalithea organized by the Party Organizations of the Southern Sector of Athens, thus launching a series of related commemoration events organized by the Party Organization of Attica of the KKE.
Christina Panagiotakopoulou, member of the CC of the KKE and candidate in the parliamentary elections, noted that through the commemorative events for the Battle of Stalingrad, “we honour the Soviet Union, its people, and the Red Army; we honour the Bolshevik Communist Party, which led and guided this titanic struggle. It determined not only the outcome of the battles of the Eastern Front, but the overall outcome of the Second World War, giving fresh impetus to the people’s liberation movements and the development of the armed struggle that made history in our country as well, with the KKE at the forefront ...”.
She highlighted that this epic, like many other battles, clearly confirms that “when the armed people are under the guidance of the vanguard of the working class, i.e. the Communist Party, and have faith in their cause, confidence in their strength, and iron discipline, they can and will achieve the impossible; they can win”.
Hands off the anti-fascist monuments that represent the modern history of the workers' - popular struggle and symbolize internationalist solidarity, friendship of peoples, peace.
The Anti-Fascist Victory of the Red Army, the heroic feats of the USSR, and the struggles of the working class in every country cannot be erased from the memory and conscience of the people! The struggle against fascism and the capitalist barbarism that gives birth to it and nourishes it continues!
The statement was made after a question to the European Commission by KKE in late 2022 regarding the destruction of these monuments was rejected. The question read:
Since the dissolution of the USSR, a plan has been carried out to destroy and vandalise monuments commemorating the great anti-fascist victory of the peoples in several EU Member States.
The anti-communist, anti-Soviet campaign is also encouraged by the President of the European Commission, with a recent unacceptable statement on the so-called 'day of remembrance of victims of totalitarian regimes' that the EU is trying to establish. With it he attempts the unhistorical equation of the monster of fascism with socialism and the unfounded identification of today's capitalist Russia with the Soviet Union.
The destruction by the authorities of the largest anti-fascist monument in Riga required the cover of powerful police forces and took place under the condemnation of World War II veterans and their families. In the city of Balvi, the construction workers' union refuses to participate in the dismantling of monuments.
What is the Commission's position?
1.The fact that monuments of major importance representing the modern history of the popular struggle and symbolising internationalist solidarity, friendship of peoples, peace, are being destroyed or vandalised by the authorities of EU Member States?
2.The fact that the EU, through its official policy and statements, is encouraging and de facto attempting to legitimise such atrocities at the expense of the historical and cultural heritage of the European peoples by invoking the unhistorical identification of horrific fascism with socialism and the unacceptable view that today's capitalist Russia is a so-called historical continuation of the USSR?
The Commission responded February 1 by saying "The Commission attaches the utmost importance to the preservation of all forms of cultural heritage. However, the EU does not have a specific competence in this area. Preserving, preserving and promoting all forms of cultural heritage is first and foremost a national responsibility", an obvious copout.