Nebraska Governor Ricketts designates July as ‘Victims of Communism Remembrance Month’

According to a press release from the governors office, " An estimated 100 million people died from political purges, religious persecutions, mass starvations, and other crimes against humanity carried out by communist regimes such as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the People’s Republic of China."

Joined at the June 30 ceremony were Nebraskans "familiar with communist oppression," including former State Senator Lydia Brasch whose family escaped from Ukraine as Soviet tyranny increased.

Brasch said during her speech that her immigrant parents told her America and its freedoms were "a glimpse of heaven."

Elaina Newman talked about her life going up as a refugee, fleeing with her family "from a territorial dispute that turned into a religious persecution." She arrived in America in 1993.

She invited the crowd to join her on a "mental journey," describing the conditions she grew up in. She described bread lines, living a life in hiding due to a person’s background, limited water use, and dilapidated and dangerous housing.

Being forced from heir homes, Newman described the choice her family was faced with: "stay and die, or leave and live."

During the ceremony, Governor Ricketts "reminded Nebraskans of the hundreds of millions of people who continue to live under communist regimes that curtail freedoms and lack respect for human rights."

He also slammed the Chinese Communist Party in particular for "holding ethnic Uyghurs in internment camps, violating the religious freedom of the Chinese people, and quashing political dissent in Hong Kong and elsewhere."

Ricketts assured Nebraska’s commitment "to be a home for people from around the world seeking to live, work, and worship freely according to their conscience."

Ricketts proclamation comes at the Chinese Communist Party celebrated their 100th year on July 1. He addressed this celebration in a thread of tweets posted that same day.