[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 62 (Tuesday, April 29, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5480-S5481]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY

 Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I rise today in honor of 
Holocaust Memorial Day, known in Hebrew as ``Yom Ha Shoa.''
  Seventy years ago, Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. 
In

[[Page S5481]]

1933, the German Government adopted numerous discriminatory policies 
against Jews. Jews were prohibited from working as newspaper editors or 
owning land, and many Jewish immigrants had their citizenship revoked. 
These actions fueled anti-Semitic sentiments among the general public. 
Seventy years ago this month, German citizens marched through the 
streets of Leipzig with signs that read: ``Don't buy from Jews--Shop in 
German businesses!''
  It was a dark time for Germany, but many throughout the world thought 
that the situation would improve. The 1936 Olympic Games were held in 
Berlin, even against the backdrop of the rise of Hitler, the Gestapo, 
state-sponsored Aryan qualifications and the construction of the first 
concentration camps at Dachau and Buchenwald. In 1939, Jews were 
relocated into Jewish ghettos, placed under curfews and banned from 
most professions. The world still ignored the problem; in May of that 
year, a ship packed with 930 Jewish refugees was turned away by several 
countries and forced to return to Europe. One of those countries was 
the United States.
  By late 1939, Polish Jews were forcibly placed in labor camps and 
required to wear yellow stars for identification at all times. Mass 
killings--called pogroms--took tens of thousands of lives, and Jews 
from conquered states were deported to German concentration camps. 
Following the German invasion, France signed an armistice with Hitler 
on June 22, 1940. Exactly 1 year later, Germany invaded the Soviet 
Union.
  All the while, the world ignored the extermination of the Jewish 
people, and the United States wrapped itself in the flawed doctrine of 
isolationism. It took far too long for our Nation to grasp its 
responsibility and stake in World War II. When the war ended, Germany 
had murdered over 6 million Jews in the Holocaust. Pastor Martin 
Niemoller described his reluctance to stand up and help people in 
Germany, and I believe his critique can apply to individuals and 
countries:

       First they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out 
     because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the Communists, 
     and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist. Then 
     they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out 
     because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for me and 
     there was no one left to speak out for me.

  Today we remember those who suffered. We remember those who were 
murdered. We remember those who spoke out. We will never forget them. 
This history informs the difficult choices that we face today.

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