[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 67 (Tuesday, May 11, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E921-E922]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




ADDRESS OF MR. BENJAMIN MEED AT THE NATIONAL CIVIC COMMEMORATION OF THE 
                          DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 11, 1999

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday, April 13, Members of Congress 
joined with representatives of the diplomatic corps, executive and 
judicial branch officials, and Holocaust survivors and their families 
to commemorate the National Days of Remembrance in the Rotunda of the 
United States Capitol.
  The ceremony coincided with the 60th anniversary of the voyage of the 
SS St. Louis, which set sail from Germany in April 1939, carrying more 
than 900 Jews away from Nazi terror. Denied entry to both Cuba and the 
United States, the St. Louis was forced to send its frightened 
passengers back to Europe just months before the onset of World War II. 
Many of them were eventually murdered in Auschwitz, Treblinka, and the 
other death camps of Hitler's Holocaust.
  The tragic fate of the SS St. Louis remains a symbol to all of us who 
believe that society must never close its eyes to the victims of 
genocide, torture, and other gross violations of human rights and 
international law. Had the United States government not ignored the 
plight of the St. Louis refugees sixty years ago, had it substituted 
compassion and empathy for bureaucracy and rigidity, the children of 
that ship might still be alive today.
  While we cannot rectify the wrongs of generations ago, we can apply 
the lesson of the St. Louis to the crises of today. In the Europe of 
1999, innocent civilians are once again being deported, abused, raped 
and murdered. While the scale of Serbian atrocities in Kosovo does not 
approach the enormity of the Holocaust, the precedent that would be set 
by ignoring this ethnic cleansing cannot be tolerated. As Benjamin 
Meed, one of America's most prominent Holocaust survivors, noted at the 
Days of Remembrance ceremony: ``All of us must remain vigilant--always 
aware, always on guard against those who are determined to destroy 
innocent life for no other reason than birthright.''
  Benjamin Meed was born in Warsaw, Poland. He worked as a slave 
laborer for the Nazis, survived in the Warsaw Ghetto, and was an active 
member of the Warsaw Underground with his wife, Vladka. A member of the 
United States Holocaust Memorial Council since its inception, he chairs 
the Museum's Days of Remembrance Committee. He is President of the 
American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and a leader of a 
number of other organizations. Mr. Meed founded the Benjamin and Vladka 
Meed Registry of Jewish Holocaust Survivors permanently housed at the 
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
  Mr. Speaker, I submit the full text of Mr. Meed's Days of Remembrance 
address to be placed in the Congressional Record:

             Refuge Denied: The Voyage of the SS St. Louis

       Members of the diplomatic corps, distinguished members of 
     the United States Senate and House of Representatives, 
     members of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 
     distinguished guests, fellow survivors and dear friends,
       Welcome to the 20th national Days of Rememberance 
     commemoration.
       For at least a decade, the magnificent flags that surround 
     us now have been part of our annual observance here in the 
     nation's Capitol. Every time the American flag and the flags 
     of the United States Army that liberated the concentration 
     camps are brought into this hall for this commemoration, a 
     special pride as an American citizen sweeps over me, as I am 
     sure it must for all Holocaust survivors. These pieces of 
     red, white and blue cloth were the symbols of freedom and 
     hope for those of us caught in the machinery of death. 
     Discovery of the Nazi German concentration camps by the 
     Allied armies began the process that restored our lives. 
     Although we have many dates this month to remember, we recall 
     with special gratitude the date of April 11, 1945, when 
     American troops, in their march to end the war in Europe came 
     across the Buchenwald concentration camp. We will always 
     remain grateful to the soldiers for their bravery, kindness 
     and generosity. We will always remember those young soldiers 
     who sacrificed their lives to bring us to liberty.
       Many revelations over the last half-century have unveiled 
     the Holocaust as a story of massive destruction and loss. It 
     has been shown to be a story of an apathetic world--a world 
     full of callous dispassion and moral insensitivity with a few 
     individual exceptions. But more, it has been shown to be a 
     tale of victory--victory of the human spirit, of 
     extraordinary courage and of remarkable endurance. It is the 
     story of a life that flourished before the Shoah, that 
     struggled throughout its darkest hours, and that ultimately 
     prevailed.
       After the Holocaust, as we rebuilt our lives, we also built 
     a nation--the State of Israel. This was our answer to death 
     and destruction--new life, both family and national life--and 
     Remembrance. Minister Ben David, please convey to the people 
     of Israel our solidarity with them as they, too. Remember on 
     this Yom Hashoah.
       Today, our thoughts turn back sixty years. On May 13, 1939, 
     the SS St. Louis sailed from Hamburg bound for Cuba with more 
     than nine hundred passengers, most of them Jews fleeing 
     Nazism. For these passengers it was a desperate bid for 
     freedom that was doomed before it began. Politics, profit and 
     public opinion were permitted to overshadow morality, 
     compassion and common sense. It is so painful now to realize 
     that not only Cuba but our own beloved country closed their 
     doors and hearts to these People of the Book who could see 
     the lights of Miami from the decks of the ship but were not 
     permitted to disembark. This group of over nine hundred could 
     have been saved, but instead the voyage became a round-trip 
     passage to hell for many of them. Less than three months 
     after the St. Louis docked at Antwerp, the world was at war. 
     And, in less than three years, the ``Final Solution of the 
     Jewish Problem'' in Europe was fully operational.
       Could this happened today? Hopefully, not. But we--all of 
     us--must be vigilant--ever mindful that once such a course of 
     destruction of a people has been chartered, it can be 
     followed again, and again, and again.
       And what lessons did we derive from these horrible 
     experiences? The most important lesson is obvious--it can 
     happen again. The impossible is possible again. Ethnic 
     cleansing, a genocide, is happening as I speak. It can happen 
     to any one or to any group of people.
       Should there be another Holocaust, it may be on a cosmic 
     scale. How can we prevent it? All of us must remain 
     vigilant--always aware, always on guard against those who

[[Page E922]]

     are determined to destroy innocent human life for no other 
     reason than birthright.
       There are some passengers of the unfortunate voyage of the 
     SS St. Louis who are with us here today. Like most of us 
     Holocaust survivors, they are in the winter of their lives. 
     Even so, all of us look toward the future, because we believe 
     that, in sharing our experiences--by bearing witness--there 
     is hope of protecting other generations who might be 
     abandoned and forgotten, robbed and murdered. The telling and 
     retelling of the stories of the Holocaust with their profound 
     lessons for humanity must become a mission for all humankind. 
     In this way, future generations--particularly future 
     generations of Americans--can Remember and use the power of 
     this knowledge to protect people everywhere.
       In these great halls of Congress, we see symbols of the 
     ideals that this country represents. It was the collective 
     rejection of these ideals by many nations that made the 
     Holocaust possible. Today, let us promise to keep an ever-
     watchful eye for those who would deny and defy the principles 
     of liberty, equality and justice and for those who would defy 
     the rules of honorable and peaceful conduct between peoples 
     and nations. Together, let us Remember. Thank you.

     

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