“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
George Santayana
April 24 marked 45 years since the so-called “Carnation Revolution” in Portugal, a nearly bloodless coup, which ushered in the start of democracy and the end of nearly five decades of nationalist dictatorship. A march through the main avenue in Lisbon, Avenida da Liberdade, brought people of all ages together to remember a brutal authoritarian regime and to reinforce the commitment against fascism.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQWgz7P0ueA[/embedyt]
It was poignant to see what I presumed were some of the participants in the resistance march at the front of the parade. Everyone, including people on the sidewalks viewing, knew the chants.
A display in the local Metro station shows film clips of the political prisoners released from the prison in Peniche when the military took over, and scrolls the names of those imprisoned or murdered by the secret police.
Large photo displays throughout the city showed what happened at that location on April 25, 1974.
Red carnations were everywhere.



Meanwhile, Americans are forgetting the Holocaust.