[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 53 (Thursday, April 22, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E643]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 RECOGNIZING HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES R. LANGEVIN

                            of rhode island

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 22, 2004

  Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the millions who lost 
their lives during the Holocaust as we observe Yom Hashoah, Holocaust 
Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day.
  Yom Hashoah commemorates the April and May 1943 Warsaw Ghetto 
uprising. Led by 23-year-old Mordecai Anielewicz, 750 Jewish resistance 
fighters battled heavily armed German troops and police attempting to 
deport the surviving ghetto inhabitants to concentration camps. In an 
appeal to the world community to end the atrocities of the Holocaust, 
the fighters wrote, ``A battle is being waged for your freedom as well 
as ours. For you and our human, civic, and national honor and 
dignity.'' Unfortunately, their call went largely unanswered. While the 
fighters were able to hold out for nearly a month, the German firepower 
was too much. In the end, more than 56,000 Jews were captured, 7,000 
were shot, and the remainder were deported to concentration camps.
  Between the years of 1941 and 1945, more than 12 million innocent 
civilians were murdered in the Holocaust, including 6 million Jews. 
These people were singled out not because of any wrongdoing, but rather 
because of their families' religion or where they were born.
  Nearly 60 years after the end of this attempt to exterminate an 
entire religion, anti-Semitism, racism, and xenophobia continue to 
plague humanity. People are discriminated against and even targeted for 
violence simply because of where they were born or who their ancestors 
are. Every day, this occurs not only in Europe, the Middle East, and 
North Africa, but also here in America. Now more than ever, we all must 
work to understand those of different cultures, races, and religions. 
Mutual respect for differences will lead to the end of hostilities, and 
only then will the opportunity for world peace exist.
  As philosopher George Santayana said, ``Those who cannot remember the 
past are condemned to repeat it.'' I encourage my constituents to take 
this opportunity to visit the Rhode Island Holocaust Memorial Museum, 
speak to a Holocaust survivor, or read a book by Eli Wiesel. I solemnly 
remember and honor all of those who lost their lives in the Holocaust, 
and I will do all in my power to ensure that similar atrocities never 
occur again.

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