[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 62 (Wednesday, May 18, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 18, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                E X T E N S I O N   O F   R E M A R K S


                       REMEMBERING THE HOLOCAUST

                                 ______


                           HON. LOUIS STOKES

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 17, 1994

  Mr. STOKES. Mr. Speaker, recently, individuals in communities 
throughout the United States gathered for the Jewish observance of Yom 
Hashoah, which commemorates the Holocaust. In memorial ceremonies 
marking this bleak period in modern history, individuals paid tribute 
to Holocaust victims, survivors, and rescuers.
  In my congressional district, more than 1,000 people attended a 
special memorial service. One of the highlights of the service was the 
opportunity for school students to express their feelings regarding the 
Holocaust. I am proud to report that the winning high school entry was 
submitted by Adam D. Borland, an eleventh grade student at Orange High 
School. His poem is entitled, ``The Phone Number.'' I commend Adam for 
preparing this moving work and I am pleased to share it with my 
colleagues and the Nation.
  During the observance of Yom Hashoah, the Plain Dealer newspaper 
published an editorial entitled, ``Remember.'' The editorial states in 
part, ``It is worth taking time * * * to remember the brutality that 
one people can inflict upon another and to renew the vow of `never 
again.''' I want to also bring this important editorial to the 
attention of my colleagues and the Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, many of our families and friends were greatly affected 
by the Holocaust. During Yom Hashoah, we pause to recognize the 
tremendous sacrifices made by these individuals and the suffering they 
endured. At the same time, we gather to renew our commitment to prevent 
such tragedies in the future.

                            The Phone Number

                          (By Adam D. Borland)

     Daily he quietly sits on the park bench, warmed by the sun 
           and the sounds of life.
     He hears the sounds that annoy others, hungry baby birds 
           screeching and overtired babies gently crying.
     For a long moment he remembers when there were no sounds of 
           life only of cruel death.
     He sees the panicked faces, hears the piercing and silent 
           screams, smells the burning flesh.
     The moment abruptly ends and the sun warms the numbers on his 
           arm, faded but forever ingrained.
     And when the freckle-faced boy asks him why he wrote his 
           phone number on his arm, the old man's heart smiles, 
           warmed by the sun and the sounds of life, and he gently 
           replies, ``So I won't forget.''
     And so we don't forget.

            [From the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Apr. 7, 1994]

                                Remember

       Sundown tonight through sundown tomorrow marks the Jewish 
     observance of Yom Hashoah, which commemorates the Holocaust. 
     That horror is well worth vigilance and recollection--not 
     just for Jews.
       The Holocaust was born of a nation's insecurity, out of a 
     madman's mind and the need for a scapegoat. Twelve million 
     innocents perished in the carefully planned purge. Jewish 
     victims numbered 6 million; the other half included gays, 
     Gypsies, the infirm, and religious and political dissidents.
       Those horrific years ended with World War II in 1945. But 
     the factors present then in Germany--insecurity, a madman 
     with power, the need for a scapegoat--still surface around 
     the world. Resentment against foreigners flares in Germany 
     and other European nations, arising in part from economic 
     woes that leave the wounded looking for someone to blame. A 
     nationalist zealot spewing policies of hate and destruction 
     gains credence in Russia.
       These are days of conflicting forces. The movie 
     ``Schindler's List'' and The United States Holocaust Memorial 
     Museum in Washington, D.C., have brought genocide's horror to 
     a broader audience. Yet, as the last survivors and 
     eyewitnesses pass away, so-called Holocaust revisionists try 
     to rewrite history to satisfy their hatred.
       If the factors of wartime Germany are ignored, allowed to 
     fester or to be distorted, they could combine to let cruelty 
     reign again, be it another Holocaust or the earlier tragedy 
     of slavery committed against Africans.
       It is worth taking time tonight or tomorrow to remember the 
     brutality that one people can inflict upon another and to 
     renew the vow of ``never again.''

                          ____________________