The National D-Day Memorial Foundation has erred again, and badly. Its decision to remove the Stalin bust but to reinstall it in the future is a grave insult to the brave Americans and others who stormed the Normandy beaches on June 6, 1944 – no Soviet troops participated in D-Day operations. It is also a serious misreading of the history of World War II, which was launched following the Stalin-Hitler pact of August 1939. There would have been no need for the D-Day invasion if there had been no cynical “non-aggression” agreement between the Soviet and German dictators.
The D-Day Memorial Foundation attempted to cover up its retreat on the June installation of the Stalin bust by stating it would remove not only the Stalin bust but all the busts of World War II leaders, including FDR and Churchill. It would then “reintroduce” all of the busts, including the Stalin bust, and “congregate them” somewhere in the memorial. This plan is even worse than the original placement of the Stalin statue because grouping Stalin with FDR, Churchill and other allied leaders would give the Soviet dictator a moral as well as a political equivalence he does not deserve.
The D-Day Memorial Foundation insisted that its decision was not “a reaction to special interests” that had expressed their opposition, thereby insulting the American Legion which had urged the removal of the Stalin bust. As for the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, we admit proudly that we have a special interest in educating people about the myriad crimes and victims of communism, millions of whom died as a result of Joseph Stalin’s tyranny.
Stalin-who was responsible for more deaths in the 20th century than any other dictator save Mao Zedong – has no place at a National D-Day Memorial. The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation pledges to continue its national campaign for the permanent removal of the Stalin bust from the D-Day Memorial.
JBANC
