[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 57 (Tuesday, May 6, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E843]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E843]]

                      COMMEMORATING THE HOLOCAUST

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. DONALD A. MANZULLO

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 6, 1997

  Mr. MANZULLO. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to be able to take this 
opportunity to commemorate the more than 8 million people--6 million of 
whom were Jewish--who a little more than a half century ago were 
brutally, deliberately, and systematically exterminated in a state-
sponsored effort to annihilate their religious, cultural, and ethnic 
existence. All across the United States, Americans are commemorating 
Yom Ha'Shoah--Remembrance Day for those who a couple of generations ago 
were exterminated in the death camps of Nazi Germany.
  Today, I join millions of my fellow Americans and people all over the 
world in remembering the victims of the Holocaust. I also unite with 
those from around the country, including my constituents of the Jewish 
Federation of Greater Rockford, IL, to recognize those who risked their 
lives and those who died trying to intervene and save those who were 
targets of systematic extermination.
  The Jewish Federation of Greater Rockford is commemorating Yom 
Ha'Shoah by paying tribute to the ``Righteous Gentiles,'' those non-
Jews who risked death to help save the lives of Jews and others from 
Hitler's killing machine. These courageous people acted out of a 
conviction that they simply could not stand by and witness so great an 
injustice, so horrific a crime perpetrated against fellow human beings. 
In my district, I am privileged to have one of the surviving Righteous 
Gentiles, Irene Opdyke, addressing the Jewish Federation of Greater 
Rockford. Her presence alone is a testament to human compassion in the 
face of grave personal danger. Yet, her words of wisdom as she relates 
her personal experiences at saving lives will remind us of what 
courageous and conscientious people can do and should do when injustice 
is acted out on a grand scale.
  We all admire the actions of the Righteous Gentiles. For it was 
through their courageous efforts to save those condemned to the gas 
chambers and firing squads that a remnant survived to preserve for us 
the memory of those who perished, as well as a personal account of the 
atrocities of that time. In essence, we are all survivors of the 
Holocaust. Although most of us never experienced its horrors first 
hand, we carry with us the knowledge and memory of those who did. We 
subscribe to the common value that human life is precious and abhor the 
evil committed by the perpetrators of the Holocaust. Therefore, as 
survivors we must rededicate ourselves to the proposition that we can 
never again allow the Holocaust to recur. We must never forget our 
sense of duty--bravely exemplified by the Righteous Gentiles and 
others--nor neglect our sense of compassion for the welfare of our 
fellow man. In the words of Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor and 
honorary first chairman of the Holocaust Council, [We cannot] allow 
anyone or anything to deprive [us] of the great, great miracle which 
renders a human being sensitive to others.''
  Mr. Speaker, 1997 marks the 3,300th year of the establishment of the 
city of Jerusalem. This year is also the 30th anniversary of the 
reunification of Jerusalem after the Six-Day War. While there will be 
ceremonies recognizing these events, we must not forget to pause again 
this year in solemn remembrance of Yom Ha'Shoah. I urge all of us to 
take time out to remember those who died in the Holocaust and I commend 
those such as the Jewish Federation of Greater Rockford and Irene 
Opdyke who remind us of our obligation to never forget.

                          ____________________