[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 130 (Friday, September 25, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1817-E1818]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO 18,745 AMERICANS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. NITA M. LOWEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 25, 1998

  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce a House Resolution 
which, for the first time, will recognize formally the 18,745 American 
civilians incarcerated by the Axis powers during World War II.
  We all know what the world faced during the struggle between the 
evils of Hitler's Axis powers and the heroic citizen armies of the 
Allies. We know about the 50 million dead and millions of others 
maimed, wounded, and displaced. The history books are filled with their 
tragic and triumphant stories. However, there are still little known 
aspects of World War II that deserve our attention. The plight of 
civilian American internees deserves our attention. These American 
citizens were subject to barbaric prison conditions and endured 
torture, starvation, and disease simply for being American. As they 
lost their basic human rights, these courageous men and women were used 
as slave labor and 1,704 died due to the sub-human conditions they were 
forced to live under. Many were taken prisoner before the United States 
entered the war.
  The horrors faced by America's civilian internees was brought to my 
attention by Michael Kolanik, Jr., a constituent of mine from Yonkers, 
NY. His father, Michael Kolanik, Sr., was an American citizen born in 
Pennsylvania in 1913 who returned to his ancestral homeland of Poland 
in 1931, with the full knowledge and consent of the U.S. State 
Department. In September of 1939, the Nazis termed Mr.

[[Page E1818]]

Kolanik ``a stateless Pole, born in Pittsburgh'' and deported him to 
Nazi Germany as a slave laborer. While incarcerated, he faced a myriad 
of abuses starvation, backbreaking work, beatings, torture, and living 
conditions not fit for animals. Everyday was an incomprehensible 
struggle to stay alive with only the dream of making it home keeping 
him going. It wasn't until the U.S. 75th Infantry Division liberated 
the labor camp in 1945 that Mr. Kolanik regained his freedom and basic 
human rights. Upon his release, the horrific conditions he suffered 
through were obvious. Normally a strong 155-pound man, Mr. Kolanik had 
been reduced to 103 pounds. He regained his strength and health, joined 
the U.S. Merchant Marines, and returned to the United States.
  However, his father's story, and many others might not have been 
heard if not for the tireless efforts of Michael Kolanik, Jr. His love 
for his father and his desire to bring to light the suffering these 
American citizens endured drove Michael, a Vietnam Veteran, to make 
sure Congress recognized those incarcerated by the Axis. The 
recognition his father, who died in 1992 would not live to see.
  Approximately 3,000 civilian internees are still alive. The least we 
can do is finally honor these survivors and acknowledge their heroic 
and courageous sacrifices. That is what my resolution does.

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