[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 20 (Wednesday, February 1, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E239]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

                             [[Page E239]]

         RECOGNITION OF ALBANIA AT THE HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

                                 ______


                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, February 1, 1995
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, this is a deserving, befitting occasion for 
Albania and the friends of Albania everywhere. Today we have rectified 
an unintentional omission of Albania from the scroll of the ``Righteous 
Among Nations'' here at the Holocaust Memorial Museum. This omission 
resulted from the fact that for more than 50 years Albania had been 
sealed behind a wall that was erected by one of the most repressive 
governments in this century. Its citizens were forbidden from any 
contact with the rest of the world, and its history was a forbidden 
topic of discussion among the Albanian population. One of the most 
noble chapters in that history is the contributions that the people of 
Albania made in shielding its Jewish population, as well as many Jews 
who fled to Albania, from the ravages of the Holocaust.
  The evidence of this considerable contribution came to light when my 
good friends and colleagues, former Congressman Joseph DioGuardi, and 
Congressman Tom Lantos visited Albania shortly after the fall of the 
Communist dictatorship there in 1990. They discovered there was hard 
evidence that during the dark days of the Second World War in this 
mostly Moslem country, people of conscience risked their lives to 
protect their fellow men, women, and children from the monstrously 
inhumane period we now call the Holocaust.
  Former Congressman Joe DioGuardi brought back this rudimentary 
evidence and commenced the painstaking task of identifying the names of 
individuals and linking them to the heroic actions which we recognize 
today. Joe's research was then turned over to the experts in this 
country and to those associated with Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial 
in Jerusalem, who after some period of time were able to verify the 
names of the Albanians which are now unveiled on the wall of the 
Righteous Gentiles--names which now are engraved in stone so that 
history will not once again be able to overlook them.
  I salute Joe DioGuardi and Tom Lantos for their excellent work in 
helping to add to our collective consciousness of the fact that out of 
even the most horrible evil, good can surface. In Albania, as in 
everywhere else in Europe that was subjected to the boot of the Nazis, 
people resisted, and attempted, at risk to their lives and those of 
their families, to protect the innocent people who were slated for 
extermination simply by virtue of their adherence to the Jewish faith.
  To our Albanian friends joining us today, it is hoped the examples of 
your forebears whose names are now inscribed in this memorial will 
serve as an inspiration as we again face new conflicts fueled by ethnic 
hatred in the Balkans. May you preserve and keep alive their 
dedication, their spirit of toleration, and reverence for life.


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