Victims of Communism Day - 2025
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Today is May Day. Since 2007, I have advocated using this date as an international Victims of Communism Day. I outlined the rationale for this proposal (which was not my original idea) in my very first post on the subject:
May Day began as a holiday for socialists and labor union activists, not just communists. But over time, the date was taken over by the Soviet Union and other communist regimes and used as a propaganda tool to prop up their [authority]. I suggest that we instead use it as a day to commemorate those regimes' millions of victims. The authoritative Black Book of Communism estimates the total at 80 to 100 million dead, greater than that caused by all other twentieth century tyrannies combined. We appropriately have a Holocaust Memorial Day. It is equally appropriate to commemorate the victims of the twentieth century's other great totalitarian tyranny. And May Day is the most fitting day to do so….
Our comparative neglect of communist crimes has serious costs. Victims of Communism Day can serve the dual purpose of appropriately commemorating the millions of victims, and diminishing the likelihood that such atrocities will recur. Just as Holocaust Memorial Day and other similar events promote awareness of the dangers of racism, anti-Semitism, and radical nationalism, so Victims of Communism Day can increase awareness of the dangers of left-wing forms of totalitarianism, and government domination of the economy and civil society.
While communism is most closely associated with Russia, where the first communist regime was established, it had comparably horrendous effects in other nations around the world. The highest death toll for a communist regime was not in Russia, but in China. Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward was likely the biggest episode of mass murder in the entire history of the world .
November 7, 2017 was the 100th anniversary of the Bolshevik seizure of power in Russia, which led to the establishment of the first-ever communist regime. On that day, I put up a post outlining some of the lessons to be learned from a century of experience with communism . The post explains why the lion's share of the horrors perpetrated by communist regimes were inherent flaws of the system. For the most part, they cannot be ascribed to circumstantial factors, such as flawed individual leaders, peculiarities of Russian and Chinese culture, or the absence of democracy. Some of these other factors, especially the last, probably did make the situation worse than it might have been otherwise. But, for reasons I explained in the same post, some form of dictatorship or oligarchy is virtually inevitable in a socialist economic system where the government controls all or nearly all of the economy.
While the influence of communist ideology has declined since its mid-twentieth century peak, it is far from dead. Largely unreformed communist regimes remain in power in Cuba and North Korea. In Venezuela, the Marxist government's policies have resulted in political repression, the starvation of children , and a massive refugee crisis - the biggest in the history of the Western hemisphere.
In Russia, the authoritarian regime of former KGB Colonel Vladimir Putin has embarked on a wholesale whitewashing of communism's historical record . Putin's brutal and indefensible invasion of Ukraine owes more to Russian nationalist ideology than communism. But it is nonetheless fed in part by his desire to recapture the supposed power and glory of the Soviet Union, and his long-held belief that the collapse of the USSR was "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century." It is also telling that most communists in Russia and elsewhere have joined with many far-right nationalists in backing Putin's line on the war.
In China, the Communist Party remains in power (albeit after having abandoned many of its previous socialist economic policies), and has recently become less tolerant of criticism of the mass murders of the Mao era (part of a more general turn towards greater repression ).
China's horrific repression of the Uighur minority is reminiscent of similar policies under Mao and Stalin, though it has not - so far - reached the level of actual mass murder. But imprisoning over 1 million people in horrific concentration camps is more than bad enough.
Far-left support for Hamas since the horrific October 7, 2023 terrorist attack is yet another reminder of the inherently evil nature of communist ideology. Backing terrorism is part of a long history of support for repression and mass murder. Not all extreme socialists of the type who support Hamas are communists. But the latter are a subset of the former.
Victims of Communism Day is also a good time to remember our duty to help those victims. Among other things, it is unjust to deport migrants fleeing oppressive Marxist dictatorships, like those Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, as the Trump Administration seeks to do to hundreds of thousands who entered the US legally under the CNVH program .
In a 2012 post , I explained why May 1 is a better date for Victims of Communism Day than the available alternatives, such as November 7 (the anniversary of the Bolshevik seizure of power in Russia) and August 23 (the anniversary of the Nazi-Soviet Pact). I also addressed various possible objections to using May Day, including claims that the date should be reserved for the celebration of labor unions.
But, as explained in my 2013 Victims of Communism Day post , I would be happy to support a different date if it turns out to be easier to build a consensus around it. If another date is chosen, I would prefer November 7; not out of any desire to diminish the significance of communist atrocities in other nations, but because it marks the establishment of the very first communist regime. November 7 has in fact been declared Victims of Communism Memorial Day by three state legislatures .
If this approach continues to spread, I would be happy to switch to November 7, even though May 1 might be still more appropriate. For that reason, I have a dopted the practice of also commemorating the victims of communism on November 7.
I would also be happy to back almost any other date that could command broad support. Unless and until that happens, however, May 1 will continue to be Victims of Communism Day at the Volokh Conspiracy.
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A good time to remember the tens of millions of victims of Communism, the ideology that killed more people in a century than any other in the history of the world. The sheer numbers of are to even grasp, events like Mao's Great leap forward, the biggest episode of mass murder in the history of the world, would be the equivalent of a US President killing everyone in New York and the entirety of New England.
Another ludicrous article. May Day predates both Communism and Nazism. May Day can be celebrated without ANY recognition of communism.
Thoroughly deceitful article.
May Day in the US stems from the Haymarket Riot of 1889. Here is a wikipedia article, thousands of words long , about Haymarket. In an article of thousands of words the word "communist" does not appear even once.
Haymarket affair - Wikiwand
and i could counter that may day celebrations existed in the US before 1889 in communities, by immigrants , before it was usurped as a labor celebration . that is my point . that no one actually has a claim to it or its historical use that predates another .
simply have to recognize that some will use it for their own use and claims , even if its not correct to some or an individual.
The seeded article strongly suggest that the main purpose of May Day is to promote communism. "modern" May Day in America began as a protest by workers who were seeking an 8 hour work day.
What Soviet Russia did with the day has next to nothing to do with May Day in America, unless you are a Stephen Miller type who sees communists under every ( anti-Trump) American bed.
As i said john , we cant help what someone does with something that already existed and using it for their own ends , bread and circuses for the crowd to sway their thinking .
your objections are noted though .
Why dont they just have "victims of communism" day on another date? I dont think a soul on earth would object to that. They use May 1st in order to try and delegitimize the workers movement.
Most issues people encounter can be summed up and solved with 3 words on contemplation .
Not My Problem .
socialists celebrating May Day in Moscow
No, they are Nazis from Germany 80 years ago.
The Nazis Russian socialists helped us whoop!
Yes, they are Nazis celebrating the socialist May Day holiday in Moscow during WWII.
Bullshit! Nazis and Russia were enemies in the Second World War! The Nazis were Russian enemies and they would never have celebrated May Day in Moscow or anywhere else for that matter. Why lie about history?
should have said they celebrated together prior to outbreak of hostilities between the 2 .
which didnt start until June 41, up til then , both participants were fine with diplomatic cutting up of territory for their mutual benefit , in effect making them at best uneasy allies .
may day was usurped , by some from a pagan holiday celebration that had gone on for centuries marking the midway point between the spring equinox and mid summer solstice which has happened also for centuries , the taking of older celebrations and renaming or repurposing them anew for more contemporary reasons . the bread and circuses for the populus mentality of existing governments .
You should read your history.
Would have been awkward for the Nazis to participate after Barbarossa. The picture is from the 1941 May Day parade in Moscow.
and a month later , things were not as friendly between the two .....
that statement depends on who you ask , and where you are . And is very much open to debate .
Those in Russia are or were taught that it was russians and the soviet government that did the fighting and winning with minor help from other countries . and that is why they do notcall it WW2, but the great patriotic war .
there are those in the USA , through arrogance , that think everyone else was there to help us . and that this country saved the day .
have to remember , until Dec 41, this country was divided on if they should get involved in another war , especially in Europe .
Back to post number two. Those are not "socialists" celebrating May Day in Moscow. They are fucking German Nazis. So, let us not be pedantic just for penance sake. I know both their histories...
I think that was already established that it was taken in May of 1941, when both the german nazis and soviet socialists , had a very uneasy alliance (Molotov -Ribbentroff non aggression pact unless i am mistaken ) which went tits up in June of 1941 , about a month after that picture was taken , when germany decided to invade the SU.
The soviet union basically got their tit caught in a wringer with the invasion and the breaking of that pact . it wasnt until then they switched sides .
your attempted spin of history is noted . i give the spin a rating of 1 AOC, 1 kamala , edging into hillary territory .
It depicts national socialists marching with their revolutionary socialist allies, no doubt celebrating their teaming up to destroy Poland.
i dont think they were actually marching , more observing the celebrations .