Prague, 3 April Share 2020. April 03. The Platform of European Memory and Conscience hereby expresses its concern regarding the announced erection of a statue of Vladimir Lenin in the German city of Gelsenkirchen. Lenin created the Soviet totalitarian state, killing millions during his reign. His successors and followers, believers in Marxism-Leninism, are responsible for many times more deaths. Even today people are killed in the name of this ideology. Commemorating Lenin in a public space is offensive to the memory of all victims of Communism and painful for their relatives. The Platform commends the efforts of the local authorities of Gelsenkirchen to prevent the erection of the statue and calls on the German government to undertake the necessary steps to avoid further commemoration of mass murderers. We also appeal to the European community to adopt appropriate measures to stop the promotion of totalitarian ideologies. Statement on the issue of the Lenin statue in Gelsenkirchen