“We have a global responsibility to remember the millions of people that suffered at the hands of the tyrannical rulers of the Nazi and Soviet regimes,” said Robert E. Wanner, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.
“Together we stand with survivors and make a commitment to continue to help others in their fight for freedom and in the struggle to flee oppression.”
Black Ribbon Day Ceremony
Thursday, August 23, 2018, at 5 p.m.
Legislature Rotunda
Speaker Wanner will host the event, and there will be remarks by Members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and leaders from the various sponsoring community organizations.
Dr. Gergely Bodnar from the Embassy of Hungary will deliver a keynote address. The program will also include a prayer invocation by Father Mieczyslaw Burdzy and a performance by Laszlo Szajko, Jr. accompanied by Amanda Andrishak.
Sponsoring community organizations:
- Canadian Hungarian Heritage Council
- Canadian Polish Congress Alberta Society
- Ukrainian Canadian Congress (Alberta)
- IMANTA Latvian Society of Edmonton
Black Ribbon Day was declared a national day of remembrance by the Parliament of Canada on November 30, 2009, and is recognized each year on August 23, the anniversary of the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact.
The Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, formed between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939, led to the occupation of numerous eastern and central European nations and the victimization of millions of people. It also contributed to the start of the Second World War.