[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 PRISONER REVOLT AT AUSCHWITZ

                                 ______


                        HON. PETER J. VISCLOSKY

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 7, 1994

  Mr. VISCLOSKY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend and call 
attention to four brave, young women: Rosa Robota, Ester Wajcblum, Ala 
Gertner, and Regina Safirztain. These women were instrumental in 
fueling the only mass revolt in the history of the concentration camp, 
Auschwitz-Birkenau. These women were imprisoned and eventually murdered 
in what is referred to as ``an earthly hell in Poland'' and the most 
malicious concentration camp of World War II. October 7, 1994 marks the 
50th anniversary of this monumental event which is being commemorated 
by the Rosa Robota Foundation.
  In October of 1944, during this valiant prisoner revolt, a 
crematorium was destroyed, guards were killed and prisoners escaped. 
The pivotal heroine in this drama was a 20 year-old Polish Jewish 
woman, Rosa Robota. Explosives for the revolt were obtained by a number 
of young women working as slave laborers in the Krupp ammunition 
subsidiary ``Weichsel-Union'' at Auschwitz. This ammunition was then 
passed through Rosa Robota to the Sonderkommando and the camp 
underground. As a result of strong people like Rosa and her 
collaborators, the Jewish community can hold their head up high in 
knowing that, during a period of hardship and despair, their ancestors 
fought passionately for the civil rights of all Jewish people.
  The Rosa Robota Foundation has been established to educate American 
citizens about the four heroic, young women. Moreover, this foundation 
strives to contest historical lies and to prove that Jews did not go 
like lambs to the slaughter but fought back courageously with ingenuity 
and with every weapon at their disposal. In addition, the foundation 
emphasizes that heroic Jewish women played a crucial role in the anti-
Nazi resistance.
  The foundation was conceived of by members of the Mallenbaum family 
who are in the process of documenting their family relationship to Rosa 
Robota. Members of the honorary board include prominent national and 
local elected officials, physicians, lawyers, clergymen and other 
activists and leaders. I am proud to serve on this distinguished 
honorary board. My goal as a board member is to educate American 
citizens about the bravery and heroism of the Jewish community during 
the tormenting period of World War II and the concentration camps 
created by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in commemorating October 7, 1994 as 
the 50th anniversary of the prisoner revolt in Auschwitz initiated by a 
brave, young soul named Rosa Robota. We can all learn from the passion 
and selflessness which Rosa utilized to courageously defend her fellow 
Jews, along with her ideology and virtuous beliefs.

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