[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 146 (Saturday, October 8, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 8, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
       50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MASS REVOLT AT AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU

                                 ______


                           HON. JIM McDERMOTT

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 7, 1994

  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, October 7 of this year marks the 50th 
anniversary of the revolt of prisoners in the Nazi death camp for women 
at Auschwitz-Birkenau. A group of Sonderkommandos, prisoners who fueled 
crematoria with corpses, took a stand against their oppressors by 
blowing up a crematorium. Many Nazi guards were killed, and hundreds of 
prisoners escaped. This effort was undertaken by a group of very 
courageous women prisoners led by a young Jewish woman named Rosa 
Robota.
  Over a period of months, the small group of women slave laborers who 
made fuses for the V-2 rockets stole small quantities of gunpowder 
which was later smuggled to the camp's underground and used to make 
primitive grenades. The heroine in this operation was 20-year-old Rosa 
Robota. Rosa and three of her suspected collaborators were arrested and 
indescribably tortured by the Gestapo for weeks. Rosa was the only 
person who knew the names of the members of the underground and the 
channels by which they communicated. Despite all of the torture she 
endured, Rosa revealed nothing. On January 6, 1945, Rosa Robota and her 
three comrades were hanged, just weeks before the camp was evacuated.
  Mr. Speaker, it is important to recognize the heroism of these women 
as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the revolt. Contrary to what 
many of us learned in elementary school, Rosa's story is one of many 
which illustrate two important points in history: (1) that the Jews did 
not follow like lambs to the slaughter but, in fact, fought back 
courageously, with every weapon at their disposal, and (2) the heroic 
Jewish women played a crucial role in anti-Nazi resistance.
  A foundation has been established to honor this valorous young woman, 
and I would like to enter into the Record well-deserved recognition of 
her deeds and those of her comrades.

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