[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3001 Engrossed in House (EH)]
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 3001
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Raoul Wallenberg, in recognition
of his achievements and heroic actions during the Holocaust.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Raoul Wallenberg Centennial
Celebration Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) Raoul Wallenberg was born in Europe on August 4, 1912,
to Swedish Christian parents.
(2) In 1935, he graduated from the University of Michigan
in Ann Arbor, completing a five-year program in three-and-a-
half years.
(3) In a letter to his grandfather, Wallenberg wrote of his
time in America: ``I feel so at home in my little Ann Arbor
that I'm beginning to sink down roots here and have a hard time
imagining my leaving it. . . . Every now and then I feel
strange when I think about how tiny my own country is and how
large and wonderful America is.''.
(4) Raoul returned to Sweden, where he began a career as a
businessman, and afterwards, a Swedish diplomat.
(5) In 1936, Raoul's grandfather arranged a position for
him at the Holland Bank in Haifa, Palestine. There Raoul began
to meet young Jews who had already been forced to flee from
Nazi persecution in Germany. Their stories affected him deeply.
(6) He was greatly troubled by the fate of Jews in Europe,
confiding to actress Viveca Lindfors the horrific plight of
Jews under Nazi Europe.
(7) Under the direction of President Franklin D. Roosevelt,
the War Refugee Board was established in January 1944 to aid
civilians that fell victim to the Nazi and Axis powers in
Europe.
(8) One of War Refugee Board's top priorities was
protection of the 750,000 Hungarian Jews still alive.
(9) It was decided that Raoul Wallenberg, aged 31 at the
time, would be most effective in protecting Jews and victims of
the Nazis in Hungary under the War Refugee Board. He was
recruited by Iver Olsen, an agent for the Office of Strategic
Services and sent to Budapest, Hungary, under his official
profession as a Swedish diplomat. He was instructed to use
passports and other creative means to save as many lives as
possible.
(10) Wallenberg created a new Swedish passport, the
Schutzpass, which looked more imposing and official than the
actual Swedish passport. He reportedly put up huge place cards
of it throughout Budapest to make the Nazis familiar with it.
He unilaterally announced that it granted the holder immunity
from the death camps. The Schutzpasses alone are credited with
saving 20,000 Jewish lives.
(11) In one example of his heroism, Wallenberg was told of
a Nazi plot to round up several thousand Jewish women and acted
swiftly to save them. Former Wallenberg staffer, Agnes Adachi,
recalls the time when she and other staff, spent the whole
night making around 2,000 Schutzpasses before 6 a.m. They were
all completed and personally delivered to the women in time to
save their lives.
(12) Using the money the United States put into the War
Refugee Board, Wallenberg was able to purchase about thirty
buildings, which he used as hospitals, schools, soup kitchens,
and safe houses for over 8,000 children whose parents have
already been deported or killed.
(13) Tommy Lapid, a young boy who was staying with his
mother in a Swedish safe house (his father was already dead),
gave an eyewitness account of how his family was helped by
Wallenberg and the War Refugee Board: ``One morning, a group of
Hungarian Fascists came into the house and said that all the
able-bodied women must go with them. We knew what this meant.
My mother kissed me and I cried and she cried. We knew we were
parting forever and she left me there, an orphan to all intents
and purposes. Then two or three hours later, to my amazement,
my mother returned with the other women. It seemed like a
mirage, a miracle. My mother was there--she was alive and she
was hugging me and kissing me, and she said one word:
Wallenberg.''.
(14) Even as the war was coming to a close, Wallenberg
remained vigilant and attentive to the people under his care.
Adolf Eichmann, the SS colonel charged with the extermination
of Jews in Eastern Europe, was determined to exterminate the
70,000 Jews kept as prisoners in a guarded ghetto in Budapest.
As soon as Wallenberg heard of the plot, he sent Pal Szalay, an
Arrow-Crossman senior official, who defected and turned to
Wallenberg. Szalay was sent to speak to General Schmidthuber,
who was ordered to spearhead the ghetto extermination in
Budapest. Szalay informed Schmidthuber that, seeing as the war
was coming to an end, if the planned massacre took place,
Wallenberg would see to it personally that Schmidthuber would
be prosecuted as a war criminal and hanged. The plans were
ultimately abandoned and considered Wallenberg's last big
victory.
(15) Of the 120,000 Hungarian Jews that survived, Raoul
Wallenberg, acting under the War Refugee Board, is credited
with saving an estimated 100,000 of them in a six-month period.
(16) Raoul Wallenberg's fate remains a mystery. In January
13, 1945, he contacted the Russians in an effort to secure food
for the Jews under his protection--as he was still working hard
to protect them.
(17) In 1981, President Ronald Reagan made Raoul Wallenberg
an honorary citizen of the United States, an honor only
previously extended to Winston Churchill.
(18) These findings show that Raoul Wallenberg showed
exceptional heroism and bravery with his actions during the
holocaust. Working with the War Refugee Board, a United State's
agency, he was able to save about 100,000 Hungarian Jews, many
of which were later able to immigrate to the United States.
(19) Indeed, hundreds of thousands of American Jews can
directly or indirectly attribute their own lives to Raoul
Wallenberg's actions during World War II. Many of the people
Wallenberg saved have been influential citizens contributing to
American institutions and culture, including Congressman Tom
Lantos (February 1, 1928-February 11, 2008), Annette Lantos,
and the Liska Rebbe, Rabbi Yoizef (Joseph) Friedlander, who
carried forth the Liska Hassidic dynasty from Hungary to the
United States after being saved by Raoul Wallenberg.
(20) His actions and character make him an excellent
contender for a Congressional Gold Medal in time for the
centennial of his birth, to celebrate his achievements and
humanitarian accomplishments.
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.
(a) Presentation Authorized.--The Speaker of the House of
Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make
appropriate arrangements for the presentation, on behalf of the
Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design to the next of kin or
personal representative of Raoul Wallenberg, in recognition of his
achievements and heroic actions during the Holocaust.
(b) Design and Striking.--For the purpose of the presentation
referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury shall
strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions to
be determined by the Secretary.
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.
Under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may
prescribe, the Secretary may strike duplicate medals in bronze of the
gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 and sell such duplicate medals
at a price sufficient to cover the costs of the duplicate medals
(including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead expenses)
and the cost of the gold medal.
SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS.
(a) National Medals.--The medals struck pursuant to this Act are
national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States
Code.
(b) Numismatic Items.--For purposes of section 5134 of title 31,
United States Code, all medals struck under this Act shall be
considered to be numismatic items.
SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF SALE.
(a) Authorization of Charges.--There is authorized to be charged
against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund, such amounts as
may be necessary to pay for the costs of the medals struck pursuant to
this Act.
(b) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of duplicate
bronze medals under section 4 shall be deposited in the United States
Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
Passed the House of Representatives April 16, 2012.
Attest:
Clerk.
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 3001
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Raoul Wallenberg, in recognition
of his achievements and heroic actions during the Holocaust.