European Day of Victims of Totalitarian Systems

In 2021, IDMC commemorated August 23rd by reading parts of the satirical poem "The Locust Epic" by Uran Kostreci. Young people interpreted the work under the direction of well-known actors and professor Rozi Kostani.

Uran Kostreci (1938-2021) wrote "The Locust Epic" during his hard time in Burrel Prison (1971–1981) and in the internment camp of Kurtaj, Peqin (1986). Unforgettable memory of him and the hundreds of Albanians who were exiled, imprisoned and killed during the communist dictatorship!

The European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism, known as Black Ribbon Day in some countries, is an international day of remembrance for victims of totalitarian regimes, specifically Stalinism, Communism, Nazism and Fascism. It is observed on 23 August and symbolizes the rejection of "extremism, intolerance and oppression".

It was conceived by the European Parliament in 2008/2009 as "a Europe-wide Day of Remembrance for the victims of all totalitarian and authoritarian regimes, to be commemorated with dignity and impartiality", and has been observed annually by the bodies of the European Union since 2009.

23 August was chosen to coincide with the date of the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, a 1939 non-aggression pact between the USSR and Nazi Germany which contained a protocol dividing Romania, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland into designated German and Soviet spheres of influence. The treaty was described by the European Parliament’s president Jerzy Buzek in 2010 as "the collusion of the two worst forms of totalitarianism in the history of humanity".