[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 78 (Thursday, May 11, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6507-S6508]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                    THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF V-E DAY

  Mr. HEFLIN. Mr. President, on August 19, 1944, Parisians rose up in 
defiance of their German occupiers as Hitler ordered his army to 
destroy the city. His generals, however, delayed the order, and 
American and Free French Forces liberated Paris on August 25. 
Meanwhile, General Patton was racing eastward toward the German border 
and Rhine River. To the north, British Forces led by Field Marshall 
Montgomery swept into Belgium and captured Antwerp on September 4. On 
September 17, about 20,000 paratroopers dropped behind German lines to 
seize bridges in the Netherlands. But bad weather and other problems 
hampered the operation.
  Adolf Hitler pulled his failing resources together for another 
assault. On December 16, 1944, German troops surprised and overwhelmed 
the Americans in Belgium and Luxembourg, but they lacked the troops and 
fuel to turn their thrust into a breakthrough. Within 2 weeks, the 
Americans stopped the German advance near Belgium's Meuse River. This 
offensive in the Ardennes Forest of Belgium and Luxembourg became known 
as the ``Battle of the Bulge,'' because of the bulging shape of the 
battleground as it appeared on a map. It was to be among the war's most 
bloody battles. Although Hitler's men knew they were beaten, it became 
clear that complete victory over Germany would have to wait until 1945.
  Soviet Forces entered Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria in January 1945. 
The Germans had pulled out of Greece and Yugoslavia in the fall of 
1944, But held out in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, until February 
1945. Vienna fell to Soviet troops in April. By then, Soviet troops 
occupied nearly all of Eastern Europe, a sign of victory then, but, in 
retrospect, also an ominous harbinger of the nature of the post-World 
War II world.
  The Allies began their final assault on Germany in early 1945. Soviet 
soldiers reached the Oder River, about 40 miles from Berlin, in 
January. Forces in the West occupied positions along the Rhine by early 
March. British and Canadian Forces cleared the Germans out of the 
Netherlands and swept into northern Germany as the Americans and French 
raced toward the Elbe River in central Germany. Hitler ordered his 
soldiers to fight to the death, but large numbers surrendered each day.
  The capture of Berlin was left to the Soviets. By April 25, 1945, 
they had surrounded the city. From a bunker deep underground, Hitler 
ordered German soldiers to fight on. On April 30, he committed suicide. 
He remained convinced that his cause had been right, but that the 
German people had ultimately proven weak and unworthy of his rule.
  Grand Adm. Karl Doenitz briefly succeeded Hitler as the leader of 
Germany, almost immediately arranging for Germany's surrender. On May 
7, 1945, Col. Gen. Alfred Jodl, Chief of Staff of the German Armed 
Forces, signed a statement of unconditional surrender at General 
Eisenhower's headquarters in France. World War II in Europe had, at 
last, come to an end. Fifty years ago, the Allies declared May 8 ``V-E 
Day''--Victory in Europe Day. America could now concentrate all of its 
strength toward the battle still being waged in the Pacific, which 
would last for 3 more months.
  Today, the world celebrates a victory that represented the triumph of 
good over unspeakable evil, and the promise of a peaceful future for a 
Europe battered and torn by the bloodiest war in its history. May 8 is 
particularly special this year, since it marks the 50th anniversary of 
the end of the European chapter of World War II.
  As the Allies had advanced in Europe, they discovered the horrifying 
remnants of the Nazis' ``final solution.'' Hitler had ordered the 
imprisonment of Jews and members of other minority groups in 
concentration camps. The starving survivors of the death camps gave 
proof of the terrible suffering of those who had already died.
  Today, we are familiar with those faces and pictures of death and 
destruction, but that familiarity has not led to understanding in many 
cases. We have the Holocaust Memorial Museum as a reminder of the past 
and as a warning to future generations of the grave dangers that are 
the ultimate fruits of hate, division, depravity. Victory in Europe 
Day, then, is also a time to reflect and to ask ourselves how such 
brutality could have been inflicted on the human race, and how it can 
be prevented from ever occurring again.
  Hitler's rise to power was based upon a message of hate, of pitting 
one class 
[[Page S6508]] against another, of demonizing Jews and others. His was 
a message of division, of blaming others for one's problems. During the 
early 1930's, Hitler instituted a policy of elimination of political 
opponents, of ``enemies of the state.'' According to the statutes of 
the security police, Jews, politically active churches, Freemasons, 
politically dissatisfied people, members of the Black Front, and 
economic manipulators, among others, were singled out for persecution.
  Hitler set down his political goals in his notorious book, ``Mein 
Kampf.'' His foreign policy plans revolved around the central aim of 
exterminating the Jews as the mortal enemy of the Aryan race. During 
the first stage, following the seizure of power, the ``cancerous 
democracy,'' as he called it, was to be abolished, and Jews, 
Bolsheviks, and Marxists were to be banished from the national 
community. Following the internal consolidation of the
 Reich, the German position in central Europe was to be secured step by 
step and then strengthened into world dominance.

  While Hitler had fought the existing government aggressively prior to 
his imprisonment for high treason, during which he wrote ``Mein 
Kampf,'' he adopted a new tactic after his early release from jail. 
Power was to be won slowly and legally as he systematically and 
methodically built up the Nazi empire. He used the Reichstag fire of 
February 27, 1933, as an opportunity to replace the constitutional laws 
of the Weimar Republic by passing an emergency decree ``to protect the 
people and the state.'' This marked the beginning of the hounding and 
arresting of political opponents, especially those on the left. The 
public was subjected to propaganda on a grand scale, instructed ``to 
think nothing but German, to feel German, and to behave German.'' 
Germans were also placed under heavy surveillance by the police and 
secret agents.
  Hitler was able to create the Nazi state by fanning the flames of 
paranoia, distrust, and fear. By making the Jews and others ``faceless 
rats'' devoid of humanity, he was able to make his henchmen commit acts 
which shock and offend our sensibilities as human beings. He was 
successful in making these groups scapegoats responsible for all of 
Germany's economic and social ills. Just as some today try to divide, 
demonize, and scapegoat, Hitler managed to unite his people through 
their hatred of common enemies.
  Too often today, the solution to our problems seems to be to blame 
someone else--the poor, minorities, immigrants, and bureaucrats. The 
politics of blame is a basic tactic of those who preach intolerance and 
division, whether on the left or right. Hitler was perhaps history's 
most terrible and tragic example of what can result when the politics 
of blame and hate are allowed to fester and grow. Too often, people 
attempt to glorify themselves by tearing down those with whom they 
disagree and by pitting one group against another. We need a return to 
moderation, tolerance, responsibility, and compassion so that nothing 
approaching the Holocaust and the hatred which fostered it will ever be 
allowed to again scar humanity in such a way.
  It is appropriate to take the time to not only celebrate V-E Day and 
reflect upon the roots of what led to World War II, but to also 
remember the selfless heroism of the 15 million Americans and the 
millions of other Allied servicemen who fought valiantly to preserve 
the democratic ideals that we so cherish. All risked their lives, and, 
sadly, some 407,000 Americans gave their lives to defend those ideals 
and the individual freedom and human rights upon which they are based.
  Fifty years after V-E Day, the light of history has shone brightly on 
the complex and harrowing events of World War II. Much of what has been 
revealed makes us shudder, and we would just as soon it not be 
illuminated. But only by looking can we learn, and as each year passes, 
we realize more fully just how much we owe our veterans for their 
patriotism, bravery, and sacrifice in serving on the battlefields of 
Europe during World War II.


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