Ludwik Klimkowski, chair of the board of Tribute to Liberty, addresses the audience during the opening ceremony of the Memorial to the Victims of Communism in Ottawa on Dec. 12, 2024. Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times
A key organizer of the Memorial to the Victims of Communism installed in Ottawa says he has received several violent threats in recent months.
“We are strong in our faith but clearly uneasy about the seriousness of the threats,” Ludwik Klimkowski told The Epoch Times, specifying that he had received “a few” threatening messages from an individual he didn’t know, with the most serious threat stating for him to “kill myself to save them from killing me.”
Tribute to Liberty is a Canadian charity that helped establish the memorial in 2024 and assisted in raising funds for it. The memorial was launched to recognize those who have suffered or perished under oppressive communist regimes and to highlight Canada as a safe haven for those who have escaped such regimes.
Klimkowski said threats were sent to him following the July 26 publication of an article in Jacobin magazine alleging that certain individuals proposed for commemoration at the monument included Nazi collaborators.
Rejecting the account, Klimkowski noted that his own grandfather was murdered by German Nazis and that he served as a member of the Canadian advisory council for the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.
He said following the threats, Tribute to Liberty director Marcus Kolga contacted the RCMP, York Regional Police, and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
Klimkowski said police later told him the sender had claimed he was intoxicated at the time of sending the emails in question and stated that he has not received further threats since police were contacted.
York Regional Police confirmed it had received a complaint related to the alleged threats and completed its investigation without laying any charges, adding that it can’t provide any further information.
The site of the monument has also been subject to vandalism, including in 2020 while it was under construction.