Victims of Communism Memorial

This small bronze memorial near Union Station commemorates the tens of millions estimated to have died under communist regimes worldwide. Its centerpiece is a replica of the Goddess of Democracy statue that Chinese students erected in Tiananmen Square during the 1989 protests before it was destroyed. Dedicated in 2007 with survivors and dissidents present, the figure holds aloft a torch of freedom atop a modest pedestal. Compact and easy to overlook, it carries strong symbolic weight tied to Cold War history and human rights causes.