[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 146 (Tuesday, September 19, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13870-S13871]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




GERMANY'S AGREEMENT TO COMPENSATE HUGO PRINCZ FOR HIS SUFFERING IN NAZI 
                          CONCENTRATION CAMPS

 Mr. BRADLEY Mr. President, Hugo Princz's war has ended.
  By now, we are all familiar with the tragic story of Hugo Princz. He 
and his family were American citizens living in Slovakia when World War 
II broke out. In 1942, before they were able to get visas to America, 
Hugo Princz and his family were rounded up and put on a grain to the 
Treblinka concentration camp.

[[Page S13871]]

  While all of his family perished in the camps, Hugo Princz managed to 
survive Treblinka, Auschwitz, a labor camp in the Warsaw ghetto, and 
Dachau, It is a story of remarkable strength and courage. In 1945, 
while en route to an extermination camp, Hugo Princz was rescued from 
his death train by an American tank division.
  However, Hugo Princz's tragedy did not end with his liberation. 
Because he was an American citizen and was not processed through a 
Displaced Persons Center, in 1955 he was declared ineligible by the 
German Government for the reparations paid to other Holocaust 
survivors.
  Hugo Princz did not let the matter drop, for Hugo Princz's war was 
not yet over. While living in New Jersey, where he worked, paid taxes, 
raised a family, and was a credit to his community, Hugo Princz 
continued to pursue justice from the German Government. He showed the 
same courage and perseverance that had brought him through the horrors 
of the Holocaust.
  Slowly, over time, Hugo Princz began to find support in this country 
for his quest. He enlisted the help of two talented lawyers, Steve 
Perles and Bill Marks, who pursued his claims in the courts. The 
adminsitration raised the case with the German Government at the 
highest levels. Congress, belatedly, went into action and threatened to 
strip German's sovereign immunity.
  Finally, yesterday, 50 years after the formal end of World War II and 
the formal liberation of the concentration camp prisoners, Hugo Princz 
made his own peace and accepted a settlement. It is not enough in 
dollar terms, Indeed, no amount of money could ever compensate Hugo 
Princz for his suffering--both during the war and during his quest for 
reparations. But by accepting German's settlement, Hugo Princz has 
vindicated his life of courage. He has won recognition of the justice 
of his cause.
  Hugo Princz is an inspiration to the people of New Jersey and the 
United States. I am proud to congratulate him and wish him well in his 
new, post-war life.

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