[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 2 (Wednesday, January 26, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: January 26, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
  RELATING TO TREATMENT OF HUGO PRINCZ BY FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY

  Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the previous order of the 
House, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H.R. 
Res. 323) relating to the treatment of Hugo Princz, a United States 
citizen, by the Federal Republic of Germany.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                              H. Res. 323

       Whereas Hugo Princz and his family were United States 
     citizens residing in Europe at the outbreak of World War II;
       Whereas as civilians, Mr. Princz and his family were 
     arrested as enemy aliens of the German Government (not 
     prisoners of war) in early 1942;
       Whereas the Government of Germany, over the protests of Mr. 
     Princz's father, refused to honor the validity of the Princz 
     family's United States passports on the grounds that the 
     Princz family were Jewish Americans and failed to return the 
     Princz family to the United States as part of an 
     International Red Cross civilian prisoner exchange;
       Whereas the Princz family was instead sent to Maidanek 
     concentration camp in Poland, after which Mr. Princz's 
     father, mother, and sister were shipped to Treblinka death 
     camp and exterminated;
       Whereas Mr. Princz and his two younger brothers were 
     transported by cattle car to Auschwitz to serve as slave 
     laborers, where Mr. Princz was forced to watch as his two 
     siblings were intentionally starved to death while they lay 
     injured in a camp hospital;
       Whereas Mr. Princz was subsequently transferred to a camp 
     in Warsaw and, then, by death march, to the Dachau slave 
     labor facility;
       Whereas in the closing days of the war, Mr. Princz and 
     other slave laborers were selected for extermination by 
     German authorities in an effort to destroy incriminating 
     evidence of war crimes;
       Whereas hours before his scheduled execution, Mr. Princz's 
     death train was intercepted and liberated by United States 
     armed forces, and Mr. Princz was sent to an American military 
     hospital for treatment;
       Whereas although the actions of the United States Army 
     saved Mr. Princz's life, he was sent to an American facility 
     and was never processed through a ``Center for Displaced 
     Persons'', a development which would later affect his 
     eligibility to receive reparations for his suffering;
       Whereas following his hospitalization, Mr. Princz was 
     permitted to enter then-Communist-occupied Czechoslovakia to 
     search for family members, and, after determining that he was 
     the sole survivor, Mr. Princz traveled to America where he 
     was taken in by relatives;
       Whereas in the early 1950s, the Federal Republic of Germany 
     established a reparations program for ``survivors'', to which 
     Mr. Princz made timely application in 1955;
       Whereas Mr. Princz's application was rejected, and Mr. 
     Princz has argued that his rejection was based on the grounds 
     that he was a United States national at the time of his 
     capture and later rescued and not a ``stateless'' person or 
     ``refugee'';
       Whereas Mr. Princz has not received relief from the Federal 
     Republic of Germany in the intervening 40 years;
       Whereas Mr. Princz's diplomatic remedies were exhausted by 
     late 1990, forcing him to sue the Federal Republic of Germany 
     in the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia in 
     1992;
       Whereas the Court denied Germany's dismissal motion and 
     determined that Mr. Princz's situation to be sui generis, 
     given Germany's concurrence with the material facts in the 
     case and its simultaneous failure to accept financial 
     responsibility with respect to Mr. Princz, when it has 
     distributed billions of dollars in compensation to other Nazi 
     death camp survivors, simply because of his American 
     citizenship at the time of Mr. Princz's capture and later 
     rescue;
       Whereas the trial is now stayed pending Germany's appeal to 
     the District of Columbia Circuit to require the case to be 
     dismissed on grounds of sovereign immunity; and
       Whereas Germany's refusal to redress Mr. Princz's unique 
     and tragic grievances and to provide him a survivor's pension 
     undercuts its oft-voiced claims to have put its terrible past 
     behind it: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of 
     Representatives that the President and the Secretary of State 
     should--
       (1) raise the matter of Hugo Princz with the Federal 
     Republic of Germany, including the Chancellor and Foreign 
     Minister, and take all appropriate steps necessary to ensure 
     that this matter will be expeditiously resolved and that fair 
     reparations will be provided Mr. Princz; and
       (2) state publicly and unequivocally that the United States 
     will not countenance the continued discriminatory treatment 
     of Hugo Princz in light of the terrible torment he suffered 
     at the hands of the Nazis.

                              {time}  1250

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Menendez). Pursuant to the rule, the 
gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Hamilton] will be recognized for 20 
minutes, and the gentleman from New York [Mr. Gilman] will be 
recognized for 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Hamilton].
  Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  (Mr. HAMILTON asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, first, I would like to commend the 
gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Pallone] and the other original 
cosponsors to the resolution, for introducing House Resolution 323 and 
bringing this issue to the attention of the House.
  House Resolution 323 is identical to Senate Resolution 162, which was 
passed by unanimous consent in the Senate during the last days of the 
first session.
  This resolution is straightforward--it urges the President and the 
Secretary of State to raise the issue of Mr. Princz's claims for 
compensation arising from his imprisonment in a Nazi concentration camp 
at the highest levels of the German Government and to take steps to 
ensure that this issue is expeditiously resolved.
  As most of you may be aware, Mr. Princz and his family--all of whom 
were U.S. citizens--were arrested as enemy aliens of the German 
Government in 1942.
  Despite their American citizenship, the Princz family was separated 
and sent to a series of concentration camps.
  Mr. Princz was the only member of his family to survive--his mother, 
father, and sister were executed at Treblinka and his two brothers 
starved to death at Auschwitz. Mr. Princz was on his way to almost 
certain death when rescued by U.S. Armed Forces.
  I believe that it is time for the German Government to resolve this 
situation and to come to an agreement with Mr. Princz on adequate 
compensation payments.
  I would note for the Members that there is an ongoing court case with 
respect to this issue--this resolution is in no way meant to influence 
or affect ongoing legal proceedings.
  It is my understanding that this issue will be on the agenda for the 
President's meeting with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl next week.
  It is my hope that this expression of congressional support, coupled 
with the administration's bilateral efforts, will help to move this 
issue to a satisfactory conclusion between Mr. Princz and the German 
Government.
  I would also note for the Members that the committee has received 
comments from the State Department which support this resolution.
  I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  (Mr. GILMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Resolution 
323, now being considered under suspension of the rules. This 
resolution expresses the sense of the House regarding the treatment of 
a claim for reparations by a U.S. citizen by the Federal Republic of 
Germany.
  Mr. Hugo Princz was and American Jewish citizen living with his 
family in Czechoslovakia when World War II broke out. His family was 
arrested, and except for Mr. Princz, all of them perished in 
concentration camps. Mr. Princz was liberated by American soldiers and 
applied for reparations from Germany after returning to the Untied 
States. These reparations were denied because he was an American 
citizen and therefore considered ineligible for refugee or stateless 
status.
  Mr. Speaker, German Prime Minister Helmut Kohl will meet with 
President Clinton on Monday, January 31. Adoption of this legislation 
on the eve of his visit is an important indicator of congressional 
intent and support. As a cosponsor of this measure I believe the 
Federal Republic of Germany should fulfill its obligation to right the 
injustices endured by Mr. Princz. Accordingly, it is hoped that 
President Clinton will raise Mr. Princz' case with Prime Minister Kohl 
during this visit and take all appropriate steps necessary to ensure 
that this matter will be expeditiously resolved and that fair 
reparations will be provided Mr. Princz and therefore urge my 
colleagues to support House Resolution 323.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the measure, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from Maryland [Mr. Hoyer].
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Resolution 
323, which seeks to help right a wrong that has existed for more than 
40 years. Hugo Princz and his family, as we have already heard, were 
American citizens residing in Europe during World War II. Despite their 
American citizenship, they were arrested by the Nazis.
  The entire family was sent to the concentration camps where all of 
the family faced tragic death by extermination except Princz himself. 
He survived, but with that survival spent time in the hellish death 
camps of Auschwitz and Dachau.
  For his suffering and the death of his loved ones, Mr. Princz sought 
war reparations from the German Government. He has been denied.
  Reasons given for this denial have been that he does not ``fit'' the 
German criteria for reparations eligibility. This is not acceptable.
  There is, in my opinion, no additional criteria needed for this man 
to receive reparations. He suffered. Every day he witnessed the death 
of men, women, and children, including his own family. And he endured.
  He now seeks compensation for the horrors of his lifetime and I urge 
German authorities to provide this compensation.
  I personally raised this issue with Secretary of State Christopher 
prior to his departure for Europe, late last year, hoping that a 
resolution could be worked out. My colleague, Frank Pallone, has worked 
tirelessly in seeking the justice Hugo Princz deserves. Not only has he 
pushed for this resolution to come to the floor, but he has talked with 
Members of this body, members of the administration, and members of the 
German Government, and he is to be commended.
  In this resolution, we call on President Clinton and Secretary of 
State Christopher to raise this issue with German officials and seek a 
speedy resolution of this case.
  This opportunity will come next week, Mr. Speaker, when 
administration officials, including the President, meet with their 
German colleagues.
  In closing, I urge all in this body to support this resolution and 
end this horrible injustice for an American who has suffered for so 
long, Hugo Princz.
  Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Pallone]. He is the principal sponsor of 
the resolution, and should be commended for his work on it.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Chairman Hamilton and 
the House Foreign Affairs Committee for taking action today on House 
Resolution 323. Adoption of this resolution could go a long way to 
right a wrong that has been outstanding for more than 40 years.
  In introduced the resolution on behalf of one of my constituents, Mr. 
Hugo Princz of Highland Park, NJ. Mr. Princz and his family were 
American citizens living in Europe at the outbreak of World War II. In 
1942, his family was arrested by the Nazis. Because they were Jewish, 
the Nazi regime refused to allow the Princzs' to return to the United 
States. The Princz family was separated and Hugo's parents and sisters 
were sent to the Treblinka death camp where they were killed. Hugo and 
his brothers were sent to Auchwitz as slave laborers. His brothers died 
at Auchwitz, and at the end of the war, as the Nazis tried to cover up 
evidence of the camps, Hugo was sent by train for extermination.
  Hugo Princz's life was saved when his death train was intercepted by 
U.S. forces. The American soldiers, recognizing him as an American by 
the U.S.A. stenciled on his clothing, sent him to a U.S. military 
hospital. Upon his release from the hospital, Mr. Princz searched for 
his family. After he learned that his entire family had perished in the 
Holocaust, Mr. Princz came to the United States.
  In 1955, Mr. Princz made a timely application to the reparations 
program set up by postwar Germany to provide restitution for victims of 
the Holocaust. However, because he did not meet the criteria that 
Germany had set up for eligibility, his application was denied. German 
officials do not deny that Mr. Princz is a Holocaust survivor but have 
consistently refused to compensate him because they claim that his 
status as a U.S. citizen at the time he was captured, and the fact that 
he was liberated without being processed through a displaced persons 
camp make him ineligible for reparations.
  I have introduced House Resolution 323 to provide the assistance of 
the United States Government to Mr. Princz in his efforts to obtain the 
reparations that are due him. This resolution calls upon President 
Clinton and Secretary of State Warren Christopher to raise Mr. Princz's 
case with the German Government and to take all appropriate steps 
necessary to ensure that he receives fair reparations.
  I believe that the Federal Republic of Germany should take action to 
correct this omission. Mr. Princz should not be denied compensation on 
the basis of a technicality. His suffering and the loss of his family 
are as painful as that of any other Holocaust survivor. The German 
Government should put aside the technical rules of the reparations 
program and acknowledge this injustice. Germany has paid out billions 
of dollars in compensation to other victims of the Holocaust. It is 
time for Germany to do justice and provide Mr. Princz with the 
reparations that he has sought for so long.
  Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished 
gentlewoman from California [Ms. Schenk].

                              {time}  1300

  Ms. SCHENK. Mr. Speaker, as the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, I 
know firsthand how difficult it has been for survivors seeking 
compensation. For 12 years, my father fought to obtain the compensation 
he was entitled to. In comparison to Mr. Princz, my father was lucky. 
Mr. Princz has been embroiled in the controversy for 39 years.
  My father is a Holocaust survivor. He was a German slave. He was used 
like an animal. He was beaten, he was abused. His physical and mental 
suffering cannot be imagined by any one of us who did not live through 
it. He applied for reparations to the Germans. There were 
``technicalities.'' Those technicalities only served to magnify his 
suffering by adding humiliation to it.
  My father and our family were luckier than Mr. Princz. We finally 
won. The money is not a great deal, but the vindication, the 
vindication is beyond any measure and beyond any description.
  The Holocaust, Mr. Speaker, was not a technicality. Mr. Princz should 
not live out the rest of his days, and he is about the same age as my 
father, in his eighties, he should not pass from this Earth without his 
own vindication. Mr. Princz has suffered enough. The payments he seeks 
can never truly compensate him for what he endured.
  It is unconscionable after once depriving him of his family, his 
home, his dignity, and his possessions, the German Government is now 
attempting to deprive him of the small amount he unquestionably 
deserves. This is not about money, this is about justice, it is about 
accepting responsibility. Matters of morality cannot be based on 
technicalities, and I urge my colleagues to adopt this resolution. Let 
us help Mr. Princz get his vindication.
  Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Menendez], who was a chief cosponsor of 
the resolution.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding the 
time, and I thank my colleague, the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. 
Pallone] for bringing this to our attention. It is a rightful cause, 
and I was happy to have participated.
  Mr. Speaker, as we approach the 50th anniversary of the end of the 
Holocaust, we have before us a reminder of that sordid period.
  For the story of Hugo Princz is a story of human tragedy. In 1942, 
Mr. Princz, his mother, his father, his sister, and his two younger 
brothers--all American citizens--were arrested by the Nazis and sent to 
the Maidanek concentration camp in Poland. It was not long before both 
his parents and sister were sent to be killed in the infamous Treblinka 
death camp. He later was transported to Auschwitz, where he was forced 
to watch his brothers starve to death.
  The story of Hugo Princz is a story of survival. He was not supposed 
to live. Hugo Princz was living evidence of Nazi atrocities, and so was 
sent to be exterminated at the Dachau slave labor facility.
  The story of Hugo Princz is a story of heroism. Just hours before his 
scheduled execution, U.S. Army soldiers intercepted his death train and 
saved Mr. Princz' life.
  The story of Hugo Princz, unfortunately, is a story of neglect--of 
shameful neglect. It seems that red tape has prevented the German 
Government from paying Mr. Princz his rightfully due reparations for 
which he applied in 1955.
  And finally, Mr. Speaker, the story of Mr. Princz is a story of great 
irony. What has prevented Mr. Princz from receiving these benefits all 
along has been his American citizenship.
  And so, I ask my colleagues to support this sense of the House 
resolution. It states first, that the U.S. Government should urge the 
German Government to take all steps necessary to resolve this matter, 
to fairly compensate Mr. Princz; and, second, to state publicly and 
unequivocally that the United States will not countenance the continued 
discriminatory treatment of Hugo Princz.
  Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from New York [Mr. Schumer].
  (Mr. SCHUMER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and 
want to thank him for scheduling this resolution in such a timely and 
quick way. I also want to thank and congratulate the gentleman from New 
Jersey on his resolution which I rise in support of.
  We have heard the story before from the previous speakers, and I 
guess what I would like to do is share with my colleagues that fact 
that we can never really forget. I do not know how many of my 
colleagues have had the opportunity to see the movie, ``Schindler's 
List'', but I commend it to everybody.
  The horror of the Holocaust, of course, fades in most people's minds 
as we move in history. But it cannot fade in the mind of a Mr. Princz, 
it cannot fade in the minds of hundreds of thousands whose parents 
survived the Holocaust and of millions like myself who had relatives 
perish in the Holocaust. It cannot fade in our minds.
  For the German Government not to listen to the deserved cries from 
Mr. Princz is an affront. It is not just an affront to the Princz 
family and to Mr. Princz himself, it is an affront to the memory of all 
of those who perished and suffered in the Holocaust, Jew and non-Jew 
alike. Nothing is ever going to erase the brutality and the horror that 
happened there. But at least it is a little bit mollifying to know that 
the rest of the world and the German nation in particular understands 
that horror and is willing to make some small recompense for it.
  So this resolution is an important resolution. It urges the 
Chancellor, Mr. Kohl, to do the right thing, to do what is just and 
fair, and I hope that it will not fall on deaf ears.
  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the 
resolution, and I commend the chairman for bringing this important bill 
to the floor and the gentleman from New Jersey and others for 
sponsoring it.
  Mr. Speaker, in my district in New York City I am proud to represent 
thousands of Holocaust survivors and their families. These men and 
women suffered through the worst episode of man's inhumanity to man.
  Nothing we could ever do or say could erase the searing memories of 
this horrible trauma. Nothing we could ever do or say could bring the 6 
million who died back to life.
  But as the magnificent new museum just 1 mile from this Chamber 
teaches us, we must do everything in our power--even little things--to 
ensure that the lessons of the Holocaust are not forgotten.
  And we must do whatever we can today to correct the injustices of 
yesterday.
  Hugo Princz' American citizenship didn't protect him from years of 
hell in Auschwitz and Dachau. It didn't protect him from seeing his 
family taken away and murdered.
  After he was liberated by American GI's from a train taking him to 
certain executing, Mr. Princz' American citizenship saved his life. Yet 
this stroke of good luck has prevented him from his rightful 
participation in the reparations program.
  For nearly 40 years, he has suffered the indignity of having to wage 
bureaucratic battles against the German Government.
  He is the only known survivor to live in this bureaucratic purgatory. 
The time for technicalities is over. The time for justice is now.
  Let's pass this resolution. Thank you.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 
323 expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that President 
Clinton and Secretary of State Christopher should publicly and quickly 
resolve the case of Hugo Princz with the German Government. The support 
of our Government, at the highest levels, is what is needed to ensure 
that Mr. Princz finally obtains the compensation he deserves.
  The story of Hugo Princz and his family is, by now, well known. 
Although he was a U.S. citizen, he and his family were arrested by the 
Nazis and deported to concentration camps. Only Mr. Princz survived his 
internment at Auschwitz and Dachau.
  Unlike many survivors of the Holocaust, Mr. Princz has been denied 
reparations by the German Government because he was never formally 
processed as a refugee through a center for displaced persons. 
Ironically, it was his American citizenship which landed him instead in 
an American military hospital rather than a D.P. center.
  Mr. Speaker, Hugo Princz has diligently pursued his every legal 
option since 1955 without success. His case is compelling. The 
injustice he has suffered--first at the hands of the Nazis, then 
through the indifference of the post-war government--is enormous. It is 
not too late to provide Hugo Princz with the compensation he rightfully 
deserves.
  As the representative of a district with what is quite possibly the 
largest population of Holocaust survivors in the United States, I 
understand that compensation will never heal the wounds of that 
terrible era. Compensation will never restore the families slaughtered, 
the communities obliterated, the refugees scattered, the homes 
destroyed. But compensation is nonetheless owed to every survivor, it 
is owned, Mr. Speaker, to Hugo Princz.
  I urge my colleagues to vote for House Resolution 323 and I urge 
President Clinton and Secretary Christopher to act quickly and with 
conviction to press the German authorities to recognize their debt to 
Hugo Princz.
  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Resolution 
323. The issue here is a very simple one. While the German Government 
has distributed billions of dollars in compensation to survivors of the 
Nazi death camps, for some inexplicable reason it has refused to 
compensate Hugo Princz, an American citizen who was a victim of the 
concentration camps in Maidanek, Auschwitz, and Dachau. His father, 
mother, and sister, all U.S. citizens, were exterminated at the 
Treblinka death camp. At Auschwitz, Hugo Princz watched as his two 
brothers, also U.S. citizens, were intentionally starved to death. Mr. 
Princz himself was saved from death only by the last minute 
interception by U.S. troops of the train that was carrying him to his 
death.
  Mr. Princz complied with all requirements for applying for 
reparations for concentration camp survivors from the German 
Government. It appears highly likely that the only reason for the 
denial to him of such benefits were circumstances related to his U.S. 
citizenship. All he now seeks is that this injustice be rectified. This 
resolution merely asks the President and the Secretary of State to 
support his efforts. It is outrageous that a U.S. citizen who suffered 
the worst of the Nazi death camps should be denied compensation which 
has been granted to other victims.
  The House has already expressed its agreement with this principle, 
and its concern about this case, when it approved H.R. 2333, 
authorizing appropriations for the Department of State, the U.S. 
Information Agency, and related agencies. In adopting this resolution 
separately, we have an opportunity to draw attention to our particular 
concern about this injustice.
  Mr. HUGHES. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Resolution 323 
which seeks to correct a wrong that has existed for far too long.
  Hugo Princz is a man who has suffered the tragedy of a lifetime. As 
Jewish Americans living in Czechoslovakia, he and his family were 
arrested and forced to endure the unspeakable horror of the Holocaust. 
He alone survived as a slave laborer in Auschwitz and Dachau.
  After being liberated by American soldiers, Hugo Princz returned to 
the United States. He filed for war reparations and found that as an 
American citizen he did not meet the German criteria of having been 
displaced. I can think of no more terrible displacement than to lose 
one's family in the Holocaust.
  This resolution calls upon President Clinton and Secretary 
Christopher to press the German Government to ensure that Hugo Princz 
receives the reparations to which he is entitled. The Senate has 
already passed a companion resolution. Now more than 40 years later, 
let us correct this injustice.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Resolution 
323 which would begin the process of righting a historic injustice.
  The facts about this case are nothing less than amazing.
  Hugo Princz, of Highland Park, NJ, is a survivor of the Nazi death 
camps. The rest of his family were murdered in those camps.
  After liberation, Mr. Princz made his way to the United States where 
he married, raised a family, and somehow found the strength to rebuild 
his life.
  In 1955--having learned that the Federal Republic of Germany had 
agreed to pay reparations to survivors of the Holocaust--Mr. Princz 
made application for compensation.
  His application was denied.
  And denied again. And again. And again.
  For 40 years, the German Government has refused to recognize their 
obligation to compensate Hugo Princz.
  Its reason was simple.
  Mr. Princz was an American citizen.
  And that was true. At the time that the Princz family was arrested by 
the Nazis, they were Jewish Americans residing in Europe.
  That made no difference to the Nazis when they threw them in the 
camps.
  It has made every difference to the post-war German Government when 
it denied Hugo Princz reparations on the ground that, as an American, 
he didn't fit the German criteria for reparations.
  This bill calls on the United States Government to raise the Princz 
case with the German Government at the highest levels.
  President Clinton will be meeting with Chancellor Kohl on January 31 
and passage of this resolution will give him additional leverage in 
pressing the Chancellor to reverse this injustice--an injustice that 
casts a shadow on our relationship with Germany.
  So let's pass this resolution and right this terrible wrong.
  Mr. TORRICELLI. Mr. Speaker, today I join my colleagues in urging 
President Clinton and Secretary of State Christopher to engage in 
strong and swift diplomatic action with the German Government to 
resolve the case of Hugo Princz. I am proud to be a cosponsor of House 
Resolution 323 and to lend my strong support to its passage.
  First, I would like to commend Chairman Hamilton and my colleagues on 
the Foreign Affairs Committee for their swift and forthright action in 
bringing this resolution to the House floor. The story of Mr. Princz is 
one of an American citizen who needs the help of this Congress and I am 
glad we could be there to provide it.
  Mr. Princz was an American Jew living in Czechoslovakia with his 
family during the outbreak of World War II until Nazi authorities 
arrested him and his family and sent them to the concentration camps at 
Dachau and Auschwitz. Mr. Princz was the only one who survived. In 1945 
on a train to certain death, Mr. Princz was liberated by American 
soldiers. Army officials recognized Mr. Princz as an American and 
brought him to an Army hospital for treatment. While this action 
probably saved his life, it has prevented Mr. Princz from receiving the 
reparations paid by the German Government to Holocaust survivors.
  Astonishingly, the German Government has refused Mr. Princz' request 
because he is an American citizen and was never processed by German 
officials as a refugee or stateless person. Mr. Princz, with assistance 
from the U.S. Congress and the State Department, has attempted to 
rectify this injustice over the past 40 years.
  It is incomprehensible that the German Government could deny Mr. 
Princz the reparations to which he is entitled. His pain and suffering 
was equally as horrific as that of any other survivor who has received 
compensation. Mr. Princz has already suffered enough. Please join me in 
sending a message to the Clinton administration and the German 
Government to take the appropriate steps to ensure that Mr. Princz 
receives the reparations he deserves.
  Mr. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, today the House of Representatives has 
the opportunity to go on the record in support of righting an historic 
wrong. The tragedy of the Holocaust is well known. Not so well known 
are the individual stories that make up the larger horror. The tragedy 
that surrounds Hugo Princz is one of those unknown stories. Mr. Princz 
is an American citizen who survived the camps of Auschwitz and Dachau, 
though his wife and children did not.
  In 1942, Mr. Princz and his family were U.S. citizens living in 
Europe. He and his family were arrested by the Nazis who ignored their 
valid U.S. passports on the grounds that they were Jews. Princz and his 
family were deported to concentration camps where all but Princz were 
exterminated.
  Following the liberation, Hugo Princz, as an American, was sent to a 
U.S. military hospital and did not go through a displaced persons camp. 
Because Princz bypassed the DP camp, he has been refused German 
reparations for over 40 years.
  Mr. Speaker, it appears that Mr. Princz' case is unique. Nonetheless, 
that fact in no way diminishes the horror Mr. Princz experienced nor 
the loss he incurred. It is wrong that the German Government has not 
paid reparations and I thank my colleagues for bringing this issue to 
the attention of the House.
  It is my hope that the House of Representatives, acting as did the 
Senate, to call upon the German Government to release reparations 
payments to Hugo Princz, will help resolve this dark chapter. 
Reparations can never diminish the loss that Hugo Princz experienced. 
They can, however, acknowledge his loss and suffering and therefore, I 
urge my colleagues to support House Resolution 323.
  Mr. GEPHARDT. Mr. Speaker, I want to express my strong support for 
House Resolution 323--a bill to secure reparations from the German 
Government for Hugo Princz, a Jewish United States citizen interned in 
a German concentration camp during World War II.
  Hugo Princz and his family were U.S. citizens residing in Europe 
during World War II. In 1942, they were arrested by the Nazis who, 
ignoring their valid U.S. passports on the ground that they were 
Jewish, deported them to concentration camps where all died except for 
Mr. Princz. Mr. Princz survived his interment as a slave laborer at 
both Auschwitz and Dachau concentration camps.
  In 1946, Mr. Princz was liberated by U.S. Armed Forces and was sent 
to a U.S. military hospital for treatment. After returning to the 
United States, Mr. Princz pursued a pension through the German program 
established to compensate survivors of the Holocaust. For the past 40 
years, his claim has been repeatedly refused. Because his interment was 
not processed through a center for displaced persons in Germany 
following the war, Mr. Princz was not considered stateless or a refugee 
and thus did not meet the German eligibility criteria for the 
reparations program.
  In 1992, after exhausting diplomatic channels, Mr. Princz, brought a 
lawsuit against the Federal Republic of Germany in Federal Court in 
Washington, DC. Germany's motion to dismiss the suit was denied by the 
district court, and its appeal of that decision was recently heard by 
the D.C. Circuit. On December 15, 1993, the appellate court issued an 
order instructing the parties to advise it in 90 days of the status of 
executive and legislative branch activities bearing on this outstanding 
case.
  This unusual directive gives added impetus to already underway 
appeals made by both the executive and legislative branches. Congress 
and the State Department have made repeated efforts to persuade the 
German Government to settle Mr. Princz' case. The introduction of House 
Resolution 323, and its companion resolution, Senate Resolution 162, 
together sent a clear message to the German Government of American 
concern for the prompt resolution of this issue.
  Furthermore, I join my colleagues in urging President Clinton and 
Secretary of State Christopher to raise this issue with Chancellor Kohl 
in their upcoming bilateral meeting on January 31 and to take all 
appropriate steps necessary to ensure that Mr. Princz' case is 
satisfactorily resolved by extending full and fair reparations for this 
gross injustice.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Menendez). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Hamilton] that the House 
suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, House Resolution 323.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof), the rules were suspended and the resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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