[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 542 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 542

  Commemorating the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Dachau 
                concentration camp during World War II.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 12, 2020

Mr. Gardner (for himself, Ms. Sinema, Ms. McSally, Mr. Bennet, and Mr. 
 Inhofe) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Commemorating the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Dachau 
                concentration camp during World War II.

Whereas the Dachau concentration camp, established in March 1933--

    (1) was the first concentration camp established by the German National 
Socialist, or ``Nazi'', government; and

    (2) operated continuously until the end of World War II in 1945;

Whereas the Dachau concentration camp housed Germans who were deemed political, 
        racial, or social threats by the Nazi regime, including Communists, 
        Social Democrats, Jews, Roma, members of the clergy, Jehovah's 
        Witnesses, and other religious and cultural minorities;
Whereas, in addition to Germans, prisoners at the Dachau concentration camp 
        included Poles, Hungarians, Austrians, Italians, Lithuanians, Czechs, 
        Slovenes, Belgians, and other foreign nationals from countries occupied 
        or invaded by Germany;
Whereas the Nazis imprisoned more than 200,000 civilians in the Dachau 
        concentration camp and the more than 100 subcamps of the Dachau 
        concentration camp;
Whereas the Nazis murdered tens of thousands of innocent civilians at the Dachau 
        concentration camp, one of many camps where the Nazis brutally killed 
        millions of people, including 6,000,000 Jews, during the Holocaust;
Whereas the Nazis tortured and conducted medical experiments on civilian 
        prisoners at the Dachau concentration camp, including by--

    (1) subjecting the prisoners to pressure extremes;

    (2) submersing the prisoners in freezing water;

    (3) forcing the prisoners to drink salt water; and

    (4) infecting the prisoners with malaria;

Whereas the Nazis subjected civilian prisoners at the Dachau concentration camp 
        to forced labor--

    (1) first for the initial construction and expansion of the camp; and

    (2) later primarily for armaments production to supply the German 
military;

Whereas, following the advance of Allied Forces, the Nazi regime began the 
        systematic transfer of prisoners from evacuated concentration camps to 
        the Dachau concentration camp for continued imprisonment;
Whereas, in December 1943, Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed as Supreme 
        Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces and led the formal 
        coordination of the Allied Forces, with the mission to liberate Europe;
Whereas, on April 29, 1945, the 45th Infantry ``Thunderbird'' Division of the 
        Seventh Army of the United States (referred to in this preamble as the 
        ``45th Infantry Division''), under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel 
        Felix Sparks, member of the Colorado Army National Guard and Commander 
        of the Third Battalion of the 157th Infantry Regiment of the 45th 
        Infantry Division, along with units of the 42nd Infantry Division and 
        the 20th Armored Division, led the liberation of the main Dachau 
        concentration camp;
Whereas the 45th Infantry Division--

    (1) was composed of National Guard units from Colorado, Oklahoma, 
Arizona, and New Mexico; and

    (2) deployed in June 1943 in support of the Allied Forces during World 
War II;

Whereas, in the European theater of operation, the 45th Infantry Division 
        suffered--

    (1) 1,831 deaths in battle; and

    (2) 7,791 casualties;

Whereas, in 1985, the United States Army Center of Military History and the 
        United States Holocaust Memorial Museum honored the 45th Infantry 
        Division with recognition as a ``liberating unit''; and
Whereas commemoration of the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp will 
        instill in all people of the United States a greater awareness of the 
        unspeakable tragedies of the Holocaust: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) commemorates April 29, 2020, as the 75th anniversary of 
        the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp during World 
        War II;
            (2) condemns the crimes against humanity committed by the 
        Nazi regime; and
            (3) recognizes the valorous efforts of the 45th Infantry 
        Division, the 42nd Infantry Division, and the 20th Armored 
        Division of the Seventh Army of the United States in the 
        liberation of the thousands of individuals imprisoned at the 
        Dachau concentration camp.
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