[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 49 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. CON. RES. 49

   Urging the return of portraits painted by Dina Babbitt during her 
     internment at Auschwitz that are now in the possession of the 
                    Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 14, 2001

    Mrs. Boxer (for herself and Mr. Smith of Oregon) submitted the 
following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
   Urging the return of portraits painted by Dina Babbitt during her 
     internment at Auschwitz that are now in the possession of the 
                    Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.

Whereas Dina Babbitt (formerly known as Dinah Gottliebova), a United States 
        citizen now in her late 70's, has requested the return of watercolor 
        portraits she painted while suffering a 1\1/2\-year-long internment at 
        the Auschwitz death camp during World War II;
Whereas Dina Babbitt was ordered to paint the portraits by the infamous war 
        criminal Dr. Josef Mengele;
Whereas Dina Babbitt's life, and her mother's life, were spared only because she 
        painted portraits of doomed inmates of Auschwitz-Birkenau, under orders 
        from Dr. Josef Mengele;
Whereas these paintings are currently in the possession of the Auschwitz-
        Birkenau State Museum;
Whereas Dina Babbitt is unquestionably the rightful owner of the artwork, since 
        the paintings were produced by her own talented hands as she endured the 
        unspeakable conditions that existed at the Auschwitz death camp;
Whereas the artwork is not available for the public to view at the Auschwitz-
        Birkenau State Museum and therefore this unique and important body of 
        work is essentially lost to history; and
Whereas this continued injustice can be righted through cooperation between 
        agencies of the United States and Poland: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) recognizes the moral right of Dina Babbitt to obtain 
        the artwork she created, and recognizes her courage in the face 
        of the evils perpetrated by the Nazi command of the Auschwitz-
        Birkenau death camp, including the atrocities committed by Dr. 
        Josef Mengele;
            (2) urges the President to make all efforts necessary to 
        retrieve the 7 watercolor portraits Dina Babbitt painted, while 
        suffering a 1\1/2\-year-long internment at the Auschwitz death 
        camp, and return them to her;
            (3) urges the Secretary of State to make immediate 
        diplomatic efforts to facilitate the transfer of the 7 original 
        watercolors painted by Dina Babbitt from the Auschwitz-Birkenau 
        State Museum to Dina Babbitt, their rightful owner;
            (4) urges the Government of Poland to immediately 
        facilitate the return to Dina Babbitt of the artwork painted by 
        her that is now in the possession of the Auschwitz-Birkenau 
        State Museum; and
            (5) urges the officials of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State 
        Museum to transfer the 7 original paintings to Dina Babbitt as 
        expeditiously as possible.
                                 <all>