A man walks past Tiananmen Square. Reuters This Thursday, June 4, marks the 26th anniversary of the pro-democracy student protests that led to bloodshed in China's Tiananmen Square in 1989.

China has done its best to scrub the event from collective memory.

The country has already detained dozens of dissidents and activists ahead of the anniversary, even putting some "on vacation" with police, Radio Free Asia reported. Meanwhile thousands rallied in Hong Kong last week to remember the victims from 1989.

On the major 25th anniversary last year, China went to great lengths to censor discussion about the tragedy, when Chinese troops killed unarmed civilians in the center of Beijing. (The exact death toll is in dispute, but some estimate that more than 1,000 pro-democracy protesters were killed.)

In an apparent effort to keep people from recalling the violence, China took the drastic measure last year of blocking access to Google in the country. The country also took measures to quell protestors themselves. For example, Chinese authorities arrested a well-known artist named Guo Jian after he created a diorama of Tiananmen Square covered in ground meat.

We've gathered some of more iconic images to remember the historic event.

Adam Taylor wrote the original version of this post.