The greatest killers in the known history of the world never    faced justice, and in the void left by their unpunished crimes    the world risks slipping backward into the mistakes of history.    That is the message delivered by Marion Smith, the executive    director of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, in an    interview with Epoch Times.  
    Communism has claimed the lives of more than 100 million people    in the less than 100 years since Russias Bolshevik Revolution    in October 1917, according to the Victims of Communism Memorial    Foundation. Its death toll is higher than that of World War I    and World War II combined.  
    Communism began a wave of famine and killing that swept through    Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. In every country it    touched, totalitarian regimes took power or violent guerrilla    movements launched campaigns of terror and tyranny.    The appalling ignorance of many Americans about the evils of    communism is a great disservice to the memories of the millions    who died under communist regimes, said Smith in a phone    interview.  
    It is also making it much harder to combat those communist    regimes still in existence who are tormenting citizens,    clamping down on free speech, and posing a danger to the rest    of the free world, Smith said.  
    The U.S.-based Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation is a    nonprofit organization formed in 1994 by an Act of Congress to    memorialize the victims of communism, educate younger    generations about the nature of communism, and document    evidence of its crimes.  
    Smith said education on the nature of communism is important,    not only because of its crimesmany of which have still not    seen justice, but also because it still exists in todays    world. And in countries including China, North Korea, Vietnam,    and Cuba it is continuing its abusive legacy.  
    Smith recently returned from a monthlong trip to Hong Kong    where activists are now protesting for democratic, free    elections under threat of mainland Chinas communist rule. He    met with business leaders, human rights campaigners and    leaders, student leaders and protesters, academics, and even    police officers to gain a better understanding of the    situation.  
    The people of Hong Kong have a culture of liberty that they    think is being threatened, he said, adding that the protesters    believe if they do not take a stand for free elections,    theyre afraid they may not be able to have another    opportunity.  
      The Victims of Communism Memorial in Washington is shown      during the memorials dedication June 12, 2007. The memorial,      established by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation,      is a replica of the Goddess of Democracy statue erected by      protesters in Tiananmen Square in 1989. (Karen      Bleier/AFP/Getty Images)    
    At its core, Smith said, what is now unfolding in Hong Kong is    just another case of a Communist regime attacking the freedom    of a democratic state. He said, it is China trying to curtail    the freedoms of Hong Kong, which has been for decades a free    society.  
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Faced With Communism, Hong Kong Should Remind Us of the Value of Democracy