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EXCLUSIVE:

A first-of-its-kind museum dedicated to the victims of communist regimes is opening on Capitol Hill.

The nonprofit Victims of Communism Museum will throw open its doors to the public on June 13. (A press preview is scheduled for Thursday.)

Ambassador Andrew Bremberg emphasized the urgency of the museums message, noting public surveys showing a general acceptance of socialist and communist ideas among young people.

Its imperative that we teach Americans about the victims, failures and holes of communism because Americans reject communism as soon as they learn anything about it, Amb. Bremberg said in an exclusive interview with The Washington Times. The problem is that today, many young people just have no idea who Joseph Stalin was or who Mao Zedong was, and they were the greatest mass murderers of the 20th century.

The ambassador, who served as U.S. permanent representative at the United Nations in Geneva from 2019 to 2021, is president and CEO of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit authorized by a unanimous act of Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1993.

Amb. Bremberg said the foundation raised millions of dollars to rehabilitate and build out two floors of its building for the museum, which is within view of the U.S. Capitol, two blocks from Union Station. Then-President George W. Bush dedicated the Victims of Communism Memorial statue at a nearby intersection in 2007.

The new museum is opening as a growing number of states have enacted laws requiring that public schools teach about the evils of communism efforts the foundation is supporting by developing a web-based curriculum.

More people are realizing that the experience of communism really hasnt gotten the heavy attention, especially here in the United States, that it needs to educate our citizenry about it, Amb. Bremberg said. A museum is a tremendous way of doing that.

The two-floor museum at 900 15th St. NW seeks to honor the more than 100 million people killed by communist regimes such as the now-defunct Soviet Union and the 1.5 billion people who still live in communist nations like China and Cuba.

The museum consists of a permanent gallery, a temporary gallery and an education space that includes an education hall with documentary videos for school groups.

It also includes a small number of historical artifacts, including photographs and personal possessions, that are a mix of reproductions and items that people in communist nations donated.

Amb. Bremberg said the permanent gallery orients visitors to the lies spread by communism in the 20th century through a digital interactive educational experience for students.

The temporary exhibit showcases more in-depth exhibits on people living and dead whose lives were ruined by communism, he added.

For most Americans growing up, anyone younger than me has no memory or experience of the Berlin Wall falling, said Amb. Bremberg, 43. Thats concerning because they havent learned about it. Thats why we see more Americans interested in communism who think it just hasnt been tried right yet.

Founded by 19th-century German political theorist Karl Marx, communism calls for a single-party, government-run economy in which private property is outlawed. During the 20th century, Marxist regimes imprisoned, tortured and executed millions of people.

Link:
Victims of Communism Museum to open in nation's capital - Washington Times