[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3001 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
H.R.3001
One Hundred Twelfth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the third day of January, two thousand and twelve
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.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.