[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 50 (Thursday, April 24, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E735]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             HONORING RAOUL WALLENBERG AND LILLIAN HOFFMAN

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DAN SCHAEFER

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 24, 1997

  Mr. DAN SCHAEFER of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, today at 10:30 a.m. at the 
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the U.S. Postal Service will unveil its 
new postage stamp honoring Raoul Wallenberg. This is a fitting tribute 
to a great man whose contributions to humanity deserve to live on in 
perpetuity.
  Raoul Wallenberg was a young Swedish diplomat who risked his own life 
in rescuing many tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews during World War 
II. Through great acts of personal bravery, Wallenberg saved many 
would-be victims of the Nazi executioners by providing Swedish 
protective passports to thousands of Jews he had never met. He pulled 
some out of death trains and others from the ranks of death marches.
  In one notable incident, Wallenberg, a slightly built 32-year-old, 
boldly threatened a Nazi general preparing to bomb a Jewish ghetto to 
the ground. Through this intervention alone, some 70,000 Jews were 
saved from death. He demonstrated how a strong character and unwavering 
determination could force even the brutal Nazi occupiers to spare some 
of the Hungarian Jews who had been marked for death.
  Upon the cessation of hostilities in World War II, Wallenberg's 
trials did not likewise end. Because of his implacable hostility toward 
oppression, Soviet military officials persecuted him and ultimately 
arrested him early in 1945. After his incarceration, he disappeared 
into the Soviet gulag prison camp, never to emerge again. Though the 
Soviets claimed in 1957 that he had died in 1947 of a heart attack, 
reliable eyewitnesses report sightings of Wallenberg long after that 
year. To this day, no one outside of Russia knows what truly happened 
to Wallenberg, whether he is still alive, or when he may have died.
  On this occasion, it is wholly appropriate to also honor the hard 
work and dedication of the late Lillian Hoffman of Denver, CO, who 
worked tirelessly to ensure that Wallenberg's contributions to the 
world lived on. She purchased and donated the bronze bust of Raoul 
Wallenberg that currently resides in the Capitol rotunda. During her 
own distinguished lifetime, Lillian spent more than two decades working 
to further the cause of human rights wherever they were in danger or 
violated. Continuing the legacy of Raoul Wallenberg, Lillian chaired 
the Colorado Committee of Concern for Soviet Jewry. In this capacity, 
Lillian personally assisted numerous people who were persecuted in 
Russia and the Soviet Union because of their religious beliefs. She 
helped them obtain exit visas so they could begin new lives in freedom 
in Israel and the United States. It was one of the most enjoyable 
experiences of my career knowing and working closely with Lillian for 
so many years. Her passing, like that of Wallenberg's, was mourned by 
all freedom and tolerance loving peoples around the world.
  So, today it is fitting to salute both Raoul Wallenberg for his 
humanitarian deeds and Lillian Hoffman for her generosity in donating 
the bust of Raoul Wallenberg to the people of the United States. In 
Raoul and Lillian's honor, we must never forget what transpired during 
that dark chapter in human history, nor the shining acts of personal 
bravery that guided us through it. By so doing, both Raoul and Lillian 
will live on through all of us.

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