[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 54 (Tuesday, May 5, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E753-E754]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    ADDRESS OF AMBASSADOR ELIAHU BEN-ELISSAR AT THE NATIONAL CIVIC 
                COMMEMORATION OF THE DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE

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                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 5, 1998

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday, April 23, Members of Congress 
joined with representatives of the diplomatic corps, executive and 
judicial branch officials, and hundreds of Holocaust survivors and 
their families to commemorate the National Days of Remembrance in the 
rotunda of the United States Capitol. This moving ceremony featured a 
stirring address by His Excellency Eliahu Ben-Elissar, Israel's 
distinguished Ambassador to the United States, who reminded us all of 
the horrors of the Holocaust and the need to ensure that the suffering 
of Hitler's victims will never, never be forgotten.
  Ambassador Ben-Elissar, a native of Poland, has represented his 
nation in government and the diplomatic corps for over thirty years. A 
longtime public servant for his country, he has helped to guide Israel 
to the outstanding economic, political, and foreign policy 
accomplishments which have marked its first fifty years as a State. 
Ambassador Ben-Elissar was a Member of the Knesset for fifteen years, 
compiling an exemplary record as Chair of the Foreign Affairs and 
Defense Committee and as a member of Israel's delegations to the United 
Nations General Assembly and the Madrid Peace Conference in 1991. Prior 
to this outstanding service he played a significant role in the 
historic peace agreements with Egypt, first as the Director-General of 
the Prime Minister's office under Menachem Begin and later as Israel's 
first Ambassador to Egypt in 1980-81.
  Mr. Speaker, I insert Ambassador Ben-Elissar's solemn and dignified 
remarks for the Record, and I urge my colleagues to carefully note the 
observations of this fine statesman.

   Ambassador Ben-Elissar's Address at the Rotunda of the Capitol on 
                        Thursday, April 23, 1998

       In the late 20s and early 30s of this century no one paid 
     attention to Hitler. In spite of his growing influence over 
     the masses in Germany, no one really cared to take a good 
     look at his ideas and plans described in detail in ``Mein 
     Kampf.'' When the general boycott of the Jews was declared in 
     Germany on April 1, 1933, and subsequently, all Jewish 
     physicians, lawyers, and professionals were prohibited to 
     practice their professions, no one thought it was more than a 
     temporary measure taken by an interim government. No one 
     really reacted when, in 1935, the infamous laws on race and 
     blood were adopted in Nurenberg.
       No country in the world declared itself ready, at the Evian 
     Conference on Refugees, in July 1938, to take in a 
     significant number of Jewish refugees from Germany and the 
     recently annexed Austria. The Kristalnacht, in

[[Page E754]]

     November 1938, opened the eyes of some, but then, when gates 
     to a safe haven were rapidly closing, when for the first time 
     in history Jews were denied even the ``right'' to become 
     refugees, the world remained silent. The only country to 
     recall its ambassador from Berlin was this country--The 
     United States of America.
       There is a lesson to be learned--Whenever a potential enemy 
     wants to kill you--Believe him. Do not disregard his 
     warnings. If he says he wants to take away what belongs to 
     you--Believe him. If he claims he will destroy you--Believe 
     him. Do not dismiss him and his threats by saying he cannot 
     be serious--He can!
       In 1945, the world was at last liberated from the yoke of 
     the most evil of empires ever to exist in the annals of human 
     history. But for us it was too late. We were not liberated. 
     By then we already had been liquidated.
       In 1948, we actually arose from the ashes. Destruction was 
     at last ending. Redemption was at hand. After two thousand 
     years of exile, wandering and struggle the State of Israel 
     was reborn.
       We look back with indescribable pain on the terrible 
     tragedy that has left its mark in us forever. Had the State 
     of Israel existed during the 30s, Jews would not have had to 
     become refugees. They could have simply gone home to their 
     ancestral land. They would have not been massacred. They 
     would have had the means to defend themselves.
       Yesterday, the general staff of the Israeli army convened 
     in Jerusalem at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. Tough 
     soldiers vowed that the Jewish people will never be submitted 
     to genocide again.
       Today, while we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 
     State of Israel and commemorating the Holocaust, in the 
     presence of United States senators and representatives, 
     survivors, members of my Embassy and commanders in the 
     Israeli Defense Forces, may I state, that for us, statehood 
     and security are not merely words, for us, they are life 
     itself--and we are determined to defend them.

     

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