[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 136 (Friday, September 27, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1764-E1765]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




THE FRIENDS OF RAOUL WALLENBERG FOUNDATION--ANALYSIS AND ACTION AGAINST 
                 OPPRESSION AND HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 27, 1996

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, in just a few days we will mark the 15th 
anniversary of the adoption by the Congress and the signature by the 
President of legislation making Raoul Wallenberg an honorary citizen of 
the United States--the second individual after Sir Winston Churchill to 
be so honored by the Congress and the American people.
  As my colleagues know, Raoul Wallenbrg is the Holocaust hero who 
saved the lives of as many as 100,000 people in Hungary during 1944. 
His extraordinary achievement has been rightfully and appropriately 
honored around the world.
  Mr. Speaker, among the unique and important ways the memory of Raoul 
Wallenberg is honored, perpetuated, and memorialized is through the 
establishment of the Friends of Raoul Wallenberg, a nonprofit 
foundation organized in Washington, DC. In a statement explaining the 
purposes which motivated the creation of this foundation, the 
organizers said: ``The experience of this heroic individual 
demonstrates that violations of human rights are neither singular nor 
isolated, and that effective resistance in one such situation may not 
pertain to another. The Friends of Raoul Wallenberg concerns itself 
with the comparative analysis of the many forms of resistance and 
oppression and with the direct application of the resultant knowledge 
to current situations in which the full exercise of human rights is 
curtailed or endangered.''
  Mr. Speaker, currently the Friends of Raoul Wallenberg Foundation is 
pursuing a two-part project. The first calls for the establishment of a 
network of individuals who are qualified and willing to promote the 
cause of human rights through active, peaceful engagement. The second 
is the convocation of a major symposium entitled ``Beyond Lamentation: 
Options in Preventing Genocidal Violence.''
  The purpose of the symposium is to identify successful techniques and 
strategies for preventing and mitigating violence. An important source 
of these techniques is ``The Roots of Evil,'' an outstanding book by 
Professor Ervin Staub, a psychologist whose family was rescued from 
Budapest by Wallenberg himself. Staub--who has spent his professional 
life studying conflict from the point of view of the victim, the 
perpetrator, and witnesses--argues that passive bystanding promotes the 
spread of violence, whereas protest impedes it.
  This conference will take place in Stockholm on June 13-16, 1997. The 
conference will provide an opportunity for agencies and organizations 
with similar concerns to establish connections, and the ideas of 
Professor Staub will be examined in some detail. Targets will be 
identified for a his new army of ``young Raoul Wallenbergs'' who will 
learn how, when, and where to exert the great potential force of 
becoming ``active bystanders.''
  Case studies that will be considered in detail are South Africa, 
where bystanders from many nations had a clear impact; the Scandinavian 
reactions to the Nazi Holocaust,

[[Page E1765]]

which evidenced degrees of activity/passivity; the current problems 
between Israel and the Palestinians; and the case of Bosnia, where 
healing clearly is a critical need. Several important international 
leaders have agreed to participate in this conference, including the 
Dalai Lama, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata, 
and Richard Holbrooke, the former United States Assistant Secretary of 
State, who negotiated the Dayton Peace Agreements on Bosnia. In 
addition to these individuals, journalists, scholars, and interested 
individuals with experience and background in these issues will also 
participate.
  The Friends of Raoul Wallenberg Foundation does not aim to compete 
with existing human rights and humanitarian organizations. It seeks to 
identify and explore the active steps that can be taken beyond the 
perpetuation of grief and the documentation of abuses. It offers a 
force and a remedy. History has thus far not shown us a way to 
eliminate group violence, but there are ways we can reduce that 
violence, and we must examine patterns and encourage constructive 
efforts.
  The Friends of Raoul Wallenberg is administered by a board consisting 
of Wilton S. Dillon, long-time director of international studies for 
the Smithsonian Institution; Stephen P. Goldman, foundation attorney 
and incorporator of Amnesty International, American Branch; Barry 
Jagoda, an investigative journalist and head of communications in the 
Carter White House; and Robert Walker, historian of social change, 
professor and first director of educational and public programs of the 
National Endowment for the Humanities.
  Mr. Speaker, the Congress of the United States relies for its 
effectiveness on educated, concerned, and active voters. Similarly, 
safety and liberty within the community of nations depends on educated 
and concerned activists capable of turning passive bystanding into 
active involvement. No action could more fittingly perpetuate and 
symbolize the honored legacy of Raoul Wallenberg.

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