[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 74 (Thursday, May 23, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E891]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      THE HONORABLE SID YATES AT THE DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE CEREMONY

                                 ______


                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 23, 1996

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, on April 16, Members of Congress, members of 
the Diplomatic Corps and hundreds of survivors of the Holocaust and 
their friends gathered here in the Capitol Rotunda for the National 
Days of Remembrance commemoration. The United States Holocaust Memorial 
Council was established by Congress to preserve the memory of the 
victims of the Holocaust. I commend the Council and the members of the 
Days of Remembrance Committee, chaired by my good friend Benjamin Meed, 
for their vigilant and genuine adherence to their extraordinarily 
important task.
  One of the first acts of the Council was to establish the annual Days 
of Remembrance commemoration to mirror similar observances held in 
Israel and throughout our nation and elsewhere in the world. This year, 
the commemoration centered on the 50th anniversary of the Nuremberg 
trials. The observance was a reminder of the difficult process of first 
coping and then healing that all survivors and their families and loved 
ones had to endure.
  Our senior colleague, Sid Yates, who himself served with distinction 
in the Navy in World War II, delivered a very poignant speech at the 
ceremony. I was so moved by his powerful speech that I invite my 
colleagues to take a moment to read his remarks.

            The Days of Remembrance Candle Lighting Ceremony

                          (By Sidney R. Yates)

       ``The first to perish were the children,'' said poet 
     Yitzshak Katzenelson, himself a victim of the Nazis, and a 
     witness to their destruction.
       French author, Francois Mauriac who lived in occupied 
     France said: ``Nothing I have seen during these somber years 
     left so deep a mark upon me as those hundreds, of Jewish 
     children standing in Austerlitz station.''
       15.000 children were sent to Terezin concentration camp. 
     Only 100 survived. Jiri Weil writes of these children: ``Only 
     the drawings and the poems--that is all that is left of these 
     children, for their ashes have long since sifted across the 
     fields around Auschwitz.''
       How could any person--kill innocent children--not 1 or 20 
     or 100--but 1.5 million children were exterminated by the 
     Nazis.
       We cannot forget the insane butchery of our young. We mourn 
     for them--for their mothers and fathers and brothers and 
     sisters--and we mourn for ourselves, for having lost them.
       Today as we light the candles we will honor members of the 
     staff who prosecuted the German leaders at The Nuremberg 
     Trials for crimes unprecedented in human history. 
     Unprecedented, yes, and also unspeakable.
       As these candles are lighted we remember the victims of 
     Nazi viciousness.
       As we light these candles we will be remembering the 
     children whose lives were snuffed out.
       There is no punishment adequate for the crimes against the 
     children. There is only our memory to keep them alive--
     forever.
       We will Remember the Children.

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