110 HCON 256 IH: Honoring Theodor Criveanu for being named U.S. House of Representatives 2007-11-13 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

IV 110th CONGRESS 1st Session H. CON. RES. 256 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES November 13, 2007 Mr. Hastings of Florida (for himself, Mr. Burton of Indiana, Ms. Linda T. Sánchez of California, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Linder, Mr. Kirk, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Gonzalez, and Mr. Wexler) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Honoring Theodor Criveanu for being named by Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority, as Righteous Among the Nations for his heroic efforts to save Romanian Jews during the Holocaust.

Whereas 6,000,000 European Jews and other targeted groups were killed by German Nazis and their collaborators during World War II; Whereas approximately 60,000 Jews were murdered in Bessarabia, Romania and Bukovina, Romania by Romanian and German military units, assisted by the local police and residents, and the Jews remaining in those towns were forced over the river to the Transnistria region, where approximately 120,000 Jews perished; Whereas according to the Elie Wiesel Commission that submitted its report to the President of Romania in 2004, it is estimated that between 280,000 and 380,000 Jews were murdered by the Romanians during the Holocaust; Whereas Theodor Criveanu, a lawyer from Brashov, Romania, served as a reserve officer in the Romanian military and was assigned the tasks of presenting military authorities with a list of Jews who would be required to work in the ghetto, instead of being deported to Transnistria, and issuing work permits to individuals on that list; Whereas Theodor Criveanu defied Nazi orders and secretly issued work permits in numbers that exceeded the work permit quota, and to Jews who were not essential to the workforce, disregarding the dangerous risk such actions posed to his own life; Whereas the work permits illegally issued by Theodor Criveanu served as a passport to life for many Romanian Jews; Whereas Theodor Criveanu married Malvina Hefter, the daughter of one of the Jews he saved, and in 1945, they had a son, Ze’ev (Willie) Criveanu; Whereas in 1988, Theodor Criveanu passed away in Romania; Whereas in 1963, Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, initiated a worldwide project to grant the title of Righteous Among the Nations to individuals who were not Jewish and who risked their lives to rescue and protect Jews during the Holocaust; Whereas more than 21,000 gentiles, including 53 Romanians, have been honored as Righteous Among the Nations; Whereas on August 8, 2007, Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, named Theodore Criveanu as Righteous Among the Nations, posthumously honoring him for his courageous work to block the deportation of Romanian Jews to Nazi death camps; Whereas at the ceremony to name Theodor Criveanu as Righteous Among the Nations, his son, Willie Criveanu, stated My father’s life was based on justness, correctness. He was a great humanitarian, that was his nature … . He was a gift from God for my mother’s family and to so many more; Whereas the Holocaust is the greatest tragedy of the Jewish people and the most extreme act of anti-Semitism in history; Whereas some individuals still seek to deny the greatest tragedy of the Jewish people, demonstrating the need for the 2,000-year old fight against anti-Semitism to continue; Whereas there has been a reemergence of anti-Semitism in recent years around the globe, and hate speech, neo-Nazi activities, and targeted violence against Jews and their institutions are becoming increasingly commonplace; and Whereas Theodor Criveanu and other righteous gentiles deserve recognition and honor for their selfless acts to save innocent lives: Now, therefore, be it

That Congress— (1)honors and memorializes Theodor Criveanu for his compassion and brave efforts to rescue innocent people who were being persecuted, and for being named by Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, as Righteous Among the Nations for his heroic efforts to save Romanian Jews during the Holocaust; and (2)promotes education to further the understanding and preservation of the legacy of the rescue acts of the righteous gentiles who risked their lives to save innocent Jews, with hopes that, by remembering and revering their heroic acts, future generations will be inspired by their deeds.