[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 112 (Friday, August 1, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1601]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             IN RECOGNITION OF THE RIGHTEOUS AMONG NATIONS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GARY L. ACKERMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 31, 1997

  Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of the many 
individuals who were noncombatants during the Holocaust of World War 
II, who risked their lives and those of their families to save 
countless people who faced death because of their religious beliefs. 
Two such people were Stacia Brazauskiene and Albinas Zilevicius. Both 
have been honored as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem 
Institute in Jerusalem and will be visiting with two of my 
constituents, Nathan and Sima Katz whose lives they saved during the 
war. They will be in New York City to join with the Katz family in 
celebrating the Bat Mitzvah of the Katz's granddaughter, Rebecca Levy.
  In 1941, Nathan Katz and his family were living in Shavel, Lithuania, 
when the Nazi forces evacuated all Jews into the Shavel Ghetto. With 
the help of a Lithuanian Gentile named Antonites, Nathan and Sima Katz 
escaped with eight other family members. After being forced to flee 
from several hiding places, they were taken to the farm of the 
Zilevicius family.
  Although Antonites has since disappeared into history, we know the 
heroic story of the Zileviciuses. With great care and much courage, the 
Zilevicius family built a hiding place behind a false wall in their 
barn for the Katzes, who remained on this farm protected by the 
Zilevicius until the end of the war. The Zilevicius family was 
constantly aware that they could be executed for their attempts at 
hiding the members of the Katz family. On several occasions, searches 
by the Nazis almost undid the heroic efforts of these protectors. 
Despite the horrendous atmosphere of terror in which both families 
lived, they survived.
  Most significant is the fact that the members of the Zilevicius 
family had no prior relationship with Nathan and Sima Katz nor any 
other member of the Katz family. In addition, the Zilevicius family 
received no remuneration from those families whose lives they were 
protecting.
  A war often produces great heroes who have distinguished themselves 
in military action. What is more compelling, however, is that ordinary 
citizens with no prior training risk their lives not for any national 
allegiance or desire for reward, but do so because it is the right and 
compassionate thing to do.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join with me today in recognizing 
and honoring the remaining members of the Zilevicius family, Stacia 
Brazauskiene and Albinas Zilevicius, as they join with Nathan and Sima 
Katz whose lives that have both saved and enriched.

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