Memorial Honors Veterans, Not Red Army

Re “Soviet Memorial Insults the Victims of Atrocities,” letters, Feb. 27: I feel obliged to offer a clarification about the monument to be built honoring West Hollywood’s Russian-speaking veterans. It is not a “war memorial,” nor a memorial honoring the Red Army or the former Soviet Union, nor an attempt to gloss over the wartime atrocities of Josef Stalin.

This will be a monument honoring American citizens who live in and around West Hollywood for their efforts as American allies in the defeat of fascism and their contributions to our local community.

These now-American, Russian-speaking veterans of World War II are predominantly Jewish and from Ukraine. Many lost loved ones in the Holocaust; they endured Nazi occupation and destruction of their homeland; they were then oppressed and persecuted under Stalin and the communists.

They moved here as refugees and helped build West Hollywood as a city. West Hollywood is proud to honor the service and contributions of these “new” Americans.

Jeffrey Prang

Council Member

West Hollywood