[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 58 (Wednesday, May 7, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E867]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               THE TRIUMPHANT SPIRIT: DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE

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                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Wednesday, May 7, 1997

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, as you and my colleagues know, this week 
marks the annual Days of Remembrance (Yom HaShoah), a time when 
ceremonies are held throughout the world to remember the six million 
victims of the Holocaust. It is most appropriate that each year we put 
aside our other routine daily activities and remember those victims of 
intolerance, racism, and unmitigated evil.
  Mr. Speaker, this year to mark the occasion of the Days of 
Remembrance, my colleague and good friend from New York, Benjamin 
Gilman, and I are sponsoring a very special exhibit here on Capitol 
Hill--``The Triumphant Sprint,'' the work of Nick Del Calzo. This 
outstanding display, which will be in the Cannon rotunda from May 6 
through May 17, is a unique collection of portraits and stories in 
which the subjects, the photographer, the editor and the author all 
embody magnificent and inspiring aspects of what has come to be known 
as the American dream.
  Denver photographer Nick Del Calzo, a journalist and former media 
consultant, is living his dream by pursuing his third career, 
documentary portraiture.
  Del Calzo, a first generation American and one of seven children of 
Italian immigrant parents, traveled to Europe in 1991 to create 
portraits of his own relatives in Italy, Belgium, and France. He took 
an unplanned detour to Dachau, the Nazi death camp he had studied as a 
student. Though not Jewish, Del Calzo became compelled to document the 
Jews who survived that and other killing camps. Over 5 years, he 
photographed 145 American survivors, and over those 5 years, again and 
again, he looked into the eyes of those who had witnessed man's most 
heinous horrors. Del Calzo's photography captures so powerfully and 
eloquently the abysmal pain and suffering they endured, and it also 
reflects the ability of the human spirit to transcend tragedy and to 
assert the power of good over evil. Del Calzo's work is part of a 
unique photo collection--both an exhibit and now, a magnificent and 
moving photographic book, all under the title of ``The Triumphant 
Spirit.''
  These Jewish survivors in the book, and so many others like them, are 
the ultimate metaphor of the American dream. They survived the 
attempted genocide by Adolf Hitler's Third Reich when, from 1939 to 
1945, six million European Jews were systematically murdered. They had 
the courage to survive, and now they have the courage to relive and 
share their stories. Each survivor's story is different, yet each so 
similar in their pain and tragedy. Each person is one of a few or the 
only survivor of their families. Each survivor's experience is dotted 
with poignant incidents of happenstance that defined the difference 
between life and death. Each is a story of luck, determination, 
devotion, and survival. Each story is a triumph of the human spirit. 
The survivors come from across America. Some are famous, some have led 
quiet and humble lives. Each came to this country with hope for a 
better life. It was here they fashioned their dreams, their futures, 
and their families with all that was afforded them in this land of 
opportunity. Their lives are lasting reminders about how precious is 
freedom, how enduring is the human spirit and how dangerous is 
intolerance.
  Nick Del Calzo has noted: ``The day will come when the last Holocaust 
witness will perish and these voices will be silenced forever. My hope 
is that by capturing their portraits and their messages, they can 
continue to inspire future generations and continuously rekindle hope 
for brighter tomorrows.''
  The portraits are truly inspirational. Some are against the backdrop 
of our Nation's most precious symbols of freedom and peace: the Lincoln 
Memorial, the Liberty Bell, the Statue of Liberty and others. And some 
are in moving settings that speak volumes about each survivor's life in 
this country.
  Del Calzo was encouraged through this project by his confidant and, 
later, editor of the book, Linda J. Raper of Richmond, IN. Again and 
again, against obstacles, suspicion and discouragement, these two 
individuals worked tirelessly as they crisscrossed the country, without 
financial reward, to make this extraordinary project a reality. Their 
contribution to the story of the survivors and to the education of all 
who must know what happened in the Holocaust is so very important. 
Through their work and travels, they have endeared themselves to so 
many survivors and their families who are grateful, not only for their 
work and dedication, but for their understanding, and devotion, 
particularly as non-Jews, to continue to tell the story. Nick and Linda 
were joined in their efforts by a second generation American, Renee 
Rockford, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor who appears in the book. 
A journalist and freelance writer in Denver, Renee eloquently captured 
in words the touching and painful stories of each of the survivors in 
the book. She has traveled throughout the world with her father in 
search of surviving family members, and now has put into words, 
sometimes for the first time, what these people endured. Never having 
found any of his six brothers and sisters, parents, grandparents, aunts 
or uncles, Rockford's father, David Bram, felt that his most important 
purpose was to keep their story and his story alive, and the Triumphant 
Spirit accomplishes that goal. In his portrait in the book, Bram, an 
Auschwitz survivor, is holding what is for him a precious momento and 
symbol of the destroyed communities and peoples of Europe, a Torah 
scroll confiscated and warehoused by the Nazis, and now on permanent 
loan to Bram's congregation in Colorado Springs, CO. That scroll is all 
that is left of an annihilated community in Czechoslovakia.
  But what the survivors came to know and understand was that America 
was a different place where their freedom to create a life, choose 
their religion and pursue their dream was simply a question of hard 
work. And work they did. The survivors of the Triumphant Spirit 
represent everything from the largest envelope privately-owned 
manufacturer in the U.S., successful real estate developers, protectors 
of civil rights, artists, authors, educators, poets, doctors and 
researchers, mothers and fathers and much more. My wife, Annette, and I 
are fortunate enough to be included among those survivors immortalized 
by Del Calzo. Not only have these people made enormous contributions to 
the foundation and fabric of our great country, but they will continue 
to do so as their stories endure and inspire us with their triumphant 
spirit.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to take the time in the next 2 
weeks to see this outstanding exhibit.

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