Speech #860121666

Let there be no doubt in the mind of a single American that the Soviet Union is just as responsible for World War II as was Hitler. And try as anyone may. the MolotovRibbentrop agreement stands as indelible proof of this indisputable fact. It is indeed regrettable that the thousands upon thousands of American Gold Star Mothers whose sons died in World War II. the thousands upon thousands of American veterans who are today still in our hospitals or walking the streets as cripples from injuries received in World War II. the thousands upon thousands of European refugees who are now Americans and who have lost all of their possessions to NaziSoviet aggression. and finally. the thousands upon thousands of Americans whose relatives were destroyed by the Nazi butchers in the concentration camps and the Soviet butchers at Katyn and other Communist torture centers. are being asked by the President and the Vice President and other responsible Americans to pay respect to Mr. Khrushchevone of the coconspirators in the MolotovRibbentrop pact. Those two monuments in front of the National Archives Building on Pennsylvania Avenue proclaim the philosophical message that. "What is past is prologue. study the past." It is clearly apparent to me that those who have engineered the invitation to Khrushchev to visit this country have been blind to this admonition.