[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 5 (Tuesday, January 25, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H149-H170]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
COMMENDING COUNTRIES AND ORGANIZATIONS FOR MARKING 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF
LIBERATION OF AUSCHWITZ
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the
resolution (H. Res. 39) commending countries and organizations for
marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and urging
a strengthening of the fight against racism, intolerance, bigotry,
prejudice, discrimination, and anti-Semitism.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Res. 39
Whereas on January 27, 1945, the Nazi concentration camp at
Auschwitz, including Birkenau and other related camps near
the Polish city of Oswiecim, was liberated by elements of the
Soviet Army under the command of Field Marshal Ivan Konev;
Whereas, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum, at a minimum 1,300,000 people were deported to
Auschwitz between 1940 and 1945, and of these, at least
1,100,000 were murdered at that camp;
Whereas an estimated 6,000,000 Jews, more than 60 percent
of the pre-World War II Jewish population of Europe, were
murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators at Auschwitz
and elsewhere in Europe;
Whereas in addition, hundreds of thousands of civilians of
Polish, Roma, and other nationalities, including in
particular handicapped and retarded individuals, homosexuals,
political, intellectual, labor, and religious leaders, all of
whom the Nazis considered ``undesirable'', as well as Soviet
and other prisoners of war, perished at Auschwitz and
elsewhere in Europe;
Whereas the complex of concentration and death camps at
Auschwitz has come to symbolize the brutality and inhumanity
of the Holocaust;
Whereas on January 24, 2005, the United Nations General
Assembly, in response to a resolution proposed by Australia,
Canada, New Zealand, Russia, the United States, and the
European Union, convened its first-ever special session
marking the liberation of Auschwitz and other concentration
camps on the 60th anniversary of that event;
Whereas on January 27, 2005, the Government of Poland will
host a state ceremony at Auschwitz/Oswiecim, Poland, to mark
the anniversary of the liberation of the camps in which the
Presidents of Israel, Germany, Poland, and Russia, and the
Vice President of the United States, and leaders of many
other countries will participate;
Whereas January 27 of each year is the official Holocaust
Memorial Day in many European countries, including Denmark,
Estonia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Sweden, and the United
Kingdom, and has been designated by Israel as a National Day
to Combat Anti-Semitism; and
Whereas the Department of State in the Report on Global
Anti-Semitism transmitted to Congress in December 2004 noted
that ``anti-Semitism in Europe increased significantly in
recent years'', ``Holocaust denial and Holocaust minimization
efforts'' have found increasingly overt acceptance in a
number of Middle Eastern countries, and anti-Semitism has
appeared ``in countries where historically or currently there
are few or even no Jews'': Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) recalls with gratitude the sacrifices made by Allied
soldiers, as well as partisans and underground fighters,
whose service and dedication resulted in the defeat of the
Nazi regime and the liberation of Auschwitz and other
concentration camps during World War II;
(2) expresses gratitude to those individuals and
organizations that assisted and cared for the survivors of
Nazi brutality and helped those survivors establish new
lives;
(3) commends those countries that are marking the 60th
anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, as well as the
United Nations General Assembly and other international
organizations, for honoring the victims of the Holocaust and
using this tragic anniversary to increase awareness of the
Holocaust;
(4) urges all countries and peoples to strengthen their
efforts to fight against racism, intolerance, bigotry,
prejudice, discrimination, and anti-Semitism; and
(5) urges governments and educators throughout the world to
teach the lessons of the Holocaust in order that future
generations will understand that racial, ethnic, and
religious intolerance and prejudice can lead to the genocide
carried out in camps such as Auschwitz.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Hyde) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde).
General Leave
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous material on H. Res. 39, the resolution under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Illinois?
There was no objection.
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
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Mr. Speaker, it is, of course, difficult to describe the horrors of
the death camp at Auschwitz, the 60th anniversary of whose liberation
occurs this week. One wonders if it is even appropriate to try. A
commemorative reading widely used in the Jewish community suggests
refraining ``from dwelling on the deeds of evil ones lest we defame the
image of God in which man was created.''
Rather, it is better when marking this anniversary to allow ourselves
to be directed forward, to be more inspired by a recollection of the
liberation of the camps and heroic deeds of combat and resistance that
eventually defeated the Nazis than we are repulsed by the Nazis' deeds.
This pending resolution is drafted by my esteemed colleague, the
gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), the ranking Democratic member
of our committee, and it expresses sentiments that I trust are widely
shared in the House:
That we recognize that we should fight against racism, intolerance,
bigotry, prejudice, discrimination and anti-Semitism which, if
unchecked, can lead to mass murder;
That we thank the liberators of the camps and those who cared for the
survivors of the Nazi death machine;
And that we commend those states which now, at last, are willing to
recognize an anniversary of the liberation of the camps in a body such
as the United Nations General Assembly.
The administration and the governments of the allies in World War II
and of the European Union deserve our thanks for their efforts to
arrange for a session of the U.N. General Assembly to commemorate this
anniversary, and I also thank the U.N. Secretary General for his
important, personal support for the special session and for his remarks
yesterday.
Yesterday's U.N. meeting did not take place on January 27, the
precise anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, because many of the
leaders participating at the U.N. are traveling to Auschwitz for a
special commemoration at that site, where well over a million souls
perished.
I commend the President for asking Vice President Cheney to lead the
American delegation to that commemoration. The President demonstrated
additional insight by naming Mrs. Lynne Cheney, as well as our friends,
the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) and his wife Annette
Tillemann Lantos, both Holocaust survivors, among the other members of
the delegation.
When the House passes this resolution, it will endow the delegation
with a specific sense of the House for it to convey to the others
participating in the commemoration at Auschwitz. I know that the entire
delegation will represent the highest values of our Nation with great
skill and sensitivity, and I wish them Godspeed on their mission.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
First, I want to express my sincere thanks to my friend, the
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde), the distinguished chairman of the
Committee on International Relations, for his steadfast support for
this important resolution and for the ideas and values on which it is
based and for his efforts to bring it to the floor today. I also want
to thank him for his powerful and moving statement.
Mr. Speaker, I spent yesterday at the General Assembly of the United
Nations which met in extraordinary session to mark the 60th anniversary
of the liberation of Auschwitz, one of the horror camps of Hitler, and
I had the opportunity of meeting with delegates from scores of
countries across the globe which came to New York to pay their tribute
to innocent victims and the heroic liberators of Nazi death camps.
The special session had the strong support of my friend, United
Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan. I should mention that there are
191 members of the United Nations, and for a long time, many of us have
made special efforts to have all of them support the calling of this
extraordinary session. Over 150 countries have responded in the
affirmative, and I will put in the Congressional Record what I can only
refer to as a roll call of shame and hatred of those who failed to
recognize that 6 million innocent people were put to death by Hitler,
and some countries have chosen not to pay honor to their memory and
tribute to the heroic liberators of the death camps.
{time} 1445
After a moment of silence in memory of the more than 6 million
victims of Nazi brutality, delegates from nations around the world paid
tribute to our and other allied troops who made ultimate sacrifices to
defeat the Nazi regime and to liberate the innocent victims in these
death camps. They also honored those who helped the survivors of Nazi
brutality to return to civilized life and reaffirmed their commitment
that such a nightmare will never again be repeated.
The General Assembly session marked the beginning of this week of
solemn observances around the world commemorating the unspeakable
tragedy of the Holocaust. The final event will take place the day after
tomorrow, January 27, at Auschwitz. The President of Poland, Aleksander
Kwasniewski, will host an international assembly, including the
President of Israel, President of Russia, and a host of other heads of
state and government.
Vice President and Mrs. Cheney will lead the United States delegation
on this occasion; and I am deeply honored that my wife, Annette, and I,
along with Elie Wiesel, the conscience of the Holocaust, will be
members of this delegation.
Mr. Speaker, this resolution today and the commemorative activities
all this week are not merely remembering the horror of the distant
past. Unfortunately, the memories of mankind are all too short and new
generations have been born who cannot remember, and unfortunately have
not been taught, about these horrors.
A recent survey reported that 63 percent of passersby on a street in
Orlando, Florida, had no idea what Auschwitz was. A survey in Britain
reported that 45 percent of the respondents had never heard of
Auschwitz. We are all too familiar with the recent controversy over
Prince Harry appearing at a party wearing a uniform with an arm band
emblazoned with the Nazi swastika.
Mr. Speaker, the conditions that led to the Holocaust are still very
much with us today. Just 3 weeks ago, as mandated by my legislation
adopted by this body last fall, the Department of State submitted to us
its first annual ``Report on Global Anti-Semitism.'' Its findings, in
the context of the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the
liberation of Auschwitz, were chilling: ``Hatred of Jews is on the
increase by hate mongers of all types; anti-Israel sentiment crosses
the line between criticism of Israeli policies and anti-Semitism;
Holocaust denial and Holocaust minimization find increasingly overt
acceptance as sanctioned historical discourse in a number of Middle
Eastern countries.''
The report also identifies ``the recent phenomenon of anti-Semitism
appearing in countries where historically or currently there are no
Jews.''
Mr. Speaker, this chilling report and the shocking lack of knowledge
about the Holocaust only reaffirm the importance of our resolution
today and the importance of the educational events that are taking
place in Auschwitz and elsewhere around the globe.
Our resolution calls for governments and teachers to use this
occasion to speak to young people about the unspeakable brutality of
the Holocaust: the gas chambers and all they imply. Not because we are
remembering the past, but because it is vital to our own future that we
remember why Auschwitz happened, why the horrors of the Holocaust
occurred, and why we must fight bigotry, intolerance, racism, and anti-
Semitism in order to make the world safer and better and more civilized
for our children and our grandchildren.
Yesterday, I had occasion at the United Nations to point out that
genocides are not just matters of events of 60 years ago. In Cambodia,
in Rwanda, and as we meet here today in Darfur, there is a genocide
going on; and it is long overdue for all governments and all
international organizations and all of us as individuals to take
responsibility to terminate the ongoing nightmare. I urge all of my
colleagues to support my resolution.
[[Page H151]]
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield such time as he may
consume to the distinguished gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), and
one of the leading crusaders for human rights.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished
chairman for yielding me this time and for his leadership on this
resolution. I also want to thank the gentleman from California (Mr.
Lantos), who along with his wife is a survivor of the Holocaust. He is
to be commended for his clear and unmistakable and nonambiguous
condemnation of these horrific occurrences that occurred 60 years ago
and before; and for his leadership today in Congress and around the
world on behalf of the plight of Jews, who are still subjected to a
gross anti-Semitism all over the world.
Mr. Speaker, perhaps no other single word evokes the horrors of the
Holocaust as much as the name Auschwitz, the most notorious death camp
in the history of humanity. On January 27, the Government of Poland
will mark the liberation of that camp by the Soviet Army some 60 years
ago. Leaders from across the globe, including our Vice President Dick
Cheney, will rightly and solemnly remember the victims of Auschwitz and
the sacrifices of those who fought against Nazism.
This resolution, H. Res. 39, recognizes the 60th anniversary of the
liberation of Auschwitz in German-occupied Poland. We also seek to
strengthen the fight against racism, intolerance, bigotry, prejudice,
discrimination, and anti-Semitism. The Congress of the United States
joins those in Poland and elsewhere who are marking this solemn
occasion.
I particularly support, Mr. Speaker, this resolution's call for
education about what happened during the Holocaust in general and at
Auschwitz in particular. At that single camp, an estimated 1.1 million
men, women, and children were slaughtered. All in all, more than 60
percent of the pre-World War II Jewish population perished during the
Holocaust. Others drawn into the Nazi machinery of death included
Poles, Roman and other nationalities, religious leaders and religious
minorities, the mentally or physically handicapped individuals, those
who were considered inferior by the Nazis. The lives of countless
survivors were forever broken.
When Soviet troops entered Auschwitz, they found hundreds of
thousands of men's suits, more than 800,000 women's suits, and more
than 14,000 pounds of human hair, a silent and grim testimony to the
magnitude of the crimes that had been committed there.
Mr. Speaker, throughout the last several years, the Helsinki
Commission, which I chaired during the last 2 years, has tried to focus
on this terrible rising tide of anti-Semitism that has been occurring
throughout Europe, among the OSCE's 55 countries, and really throughout
the world. I am very glad that the Global Anti-Semitism Awareness Act
of 2004, which the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), the
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde), and I and Senator Voinovich and the
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cardin) all worked so hard to enact, now
has given us its first installment, including a very comprehensive
report, which the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) just read
from, and which I would like to make a part of the Record as well.
Members need to read this, Mr. Speaker. Anti-Semitism is on the rise,
and it must be countered. A tourniquet must be put on this hate every
time it reappears.
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I will be happy to yield to the gentleman
from Maryland.
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. First of
all, I want to congratulate him on the extraordinary work he has done
in leading the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe on
behalf of the Congress and on behalf of the American people known as
the Helsinki Commission. The gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) has
been a stalwart, steadfast, strong voice on behalf of making sure that
we confront anti-Semitism; that we confront prejudice; that we confront
hate; that we confront the adverse effects of all of those human
emotions, and has been a strong voice within the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe dealing with
this issue of anti-Semitism.
In fact, the gentleman from New Jersey and the gentleman from
Maryland (Mr. Cardin), and others, but primarily the gentleman from New
Jersey and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cardin), have been
responsible for the seminars that have been held in Europe raising the
consciousness of all Europeans, as we need to raise the consciousness
of all Americans and all peoples of the world to be aware of the
invidious, tragic, horrific consequences of prejudice and hate.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate the gentleman from New Jersey on
his extraordinary leadership. He has been a giant in this effort, and I
thank him.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I thank the
distinguished Democrat whip for his very kind remarks; but note that
this has been a very strong bipartisan effort, and he has been very
much a part of that Parliamentary Assembly.
When we first began to raise this issue, one of the focuses we
brought to bear on the Parliamentary Assembly was the importance of
Holocaust education. And I would ask every American when they visit
Washington to go down to the Holocaust Museum and walk through that
museum. Look at the pictures of the people doing the hail to Hitler,
the Hail Hitler salute. Seemingly normal, everyday people who, whether
they knew it or not, were buying into this extermination campaign that
is the most horrific in all of human history.
We would hope that when the Parliamentary Assembly comes to
Washington in July that the 220-plus members of Parliaments from each
of the countries will spend at least half a day going through the
Holocaust Museum to remember so that the past does not become prologue.
I would also point out to my colleagues that my own sense of
Holocaust remembrance and education began when I was a young teenager,
and a man who used to visit a store right next to my family's sporting
goods store who was a survivor himself. I will never forget when he
rolled up his sleeve one day and showed us that tattooed mark, the
number. He was one of the lucky ones, like our good friend and
colleague, the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), who survived
this terrible time when hell was in session.
So, again, this is another one of those issues that we all are deeply
concerned about. There is no division between Democrat or Republican.
And again I want to thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) for
his leadership on this as well. It has been extraordinary.
Mr. Speaker, I submit herewith the ``Report on Global Anti-Semitism''
referred to earlier.
Report on Global Anti-Semitism
July 1, 2003-December 15, 2004, submitted by the Department
of State to the Committee on Foreign Relations and the
Committee on International Relations in accordance with
Section 4 of PL 108-332, December 30, 2004. Released by the
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, January 5,
2005.
Executive Summary
I. anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism has plagued the world for centuries. Taken to
its most far-reaching and violent extreme, the Holocaust,
anti-Semitism resulted in the deaths of millions of Jews and
the suffering of countless others. Subtler, less vile forms
of anti-Semitism have disrupted lives, decimated religious
communities, created social and political cleavages, and
complicated relations between countries as well as the work
of international organizations. For an increasingly
interdependent world, anti-Semitism is an intolerable burden.
The increasing frequency and severity of anti-Semitic
incidents since the start of the 21st century, particularly
in Europe, has compelled the international community to focus
on anti-Semitism with renewed vigor. Attacks on individual
Jews and on Jewish properties occurred in the immediate post
World War II period, but decreased over time and were
primarily linked to vandalism and criminal activity. In
recent years, incidents have been more targeted in nature
with perpetrators appearing to have the specific intent to
attack Jews and Judaism. These attacks have disrupted the
sense of safety and well-being of Jewish communities.
The definition of anti-Semitism has been the focus of
innumerable discussions and
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studies. While there is no universally accepted definition,
there is a generally clear understanding of what the term
encompasses.
For the purposes of this report, anti-Semitism is
considered to be hatred toward Jews--individually and as a
group--that can be attributed to the Jewish religion and/or
ethnicity. An important issue is the distinction between
legitimate criticism of policies and practices of the State
of Israel, and commentary that assumes an anti-Semitic
character. The demonization of Israel, or vilification of
Israeli leaders, sometimes through comparisons with Nazi
leaders, and through the use of Nazi symbols to caricature
them, indicates an anti-Semitic bias rather than a valid
criticism of policy concerning a controversial issue.
Global anti-Semitism in recent years has had four main
sources:
Traditional anti-Jewish prejudice that has pervaded Europe
and some countries in other parts of the world for centuries.
This includes ultra-nationalists and others who assert that
the Jewish community controls governments, the media,
international business, and the financial world.
Strong anti-Israel sentiment that crosses the line between
objective criticism of Israeli policies and anti-Semitism.
Anti-Jewish sentiment expressed by some in Europe's growing
Muslim population, based on longstanding antipathy toward
both Israel and Jews, as well as Muslim opposition to
developments in Israel and the occupied territories, and more
recently in Iraq.
Criticiam of both the United States and globalization that
spills over to Israel, and to Jews in general who are
identified with both.
II. harassment, vandalism and physical violence
Europe and Eurasia
Anti-Semitism in Europe increased significantly in recent
years. At the same time it should be noted that many European
countries have comprehensive reporting systems that record
incidents more completely than is possible in other
countries. Because of this significant difference in
reporting systems, it is not possible to make direct
comparisons between countries or geographic regions.
Beginning in 2000, verbal attacks directed against Jews
increased while incidents of vandalism (e.g. graffiti, fire
bombings of Jewish schools, desecration of synagogues and
cemeteries) surged. Physical assaults including beatings,
stabbings and other violence against Jews in Europe increased
markedly, in a number of cases resulting in serious injury
and even death. Also troubling is a bias that spills over
into anti-Semitism in some of the left-of-center press and
among some intellectuals.
The disturbing rise of anti-Semitic intimidation and
incidents is widespread throughout Europe, although with
significant variations in the number of cases and the
accuracy of reporting. European governments in most countries
now view anti-Semitism as a serious problem for their
societies and demonstrate a greater willingness to address
the issue. The Vienna-based European Union Monitoring Center
(EUMC), for 2002 and 2003, identified France, Germany, the
United Kingdom, Belgium, and The Netherlands as EU member
countries with notable increases in incidents. As these
nations keep reliable and comprehensive statistics on anti-
Semitic acts, and are engaged in combating anti-Semitism,
their data was readily available to the EUMC. Governments and
leading public figures condemned the violence, passed new
legislation, and mounted positive law enforcement and
educational efforts.
In Western Europe, traditional far-right groups still
account for a significant proportion of the attacks against
Jews and Jewish properties; disadvantaged and disaffected
Muslim youths increasingly were responsible for most of the
other incidents. This trend appears likely to persist as the
number of Muslims in Europe continues to grow while their
level of education and economic prospects remain limited.
In Eastern Europe, with a much smaller Muslim population,
skinheads and other members of the radical political fringe
were responsible for most anti-Semitic incidents. Anti-
Semitism remained a serious problem in Russia and Belarus,
and elsewhere in the former Soviet Union, with most incidents
carried out by ultra-nationalist and other far-right
elements. The stereotype of Jews as manipulators of the
global economy continues to provide fertile ground for anti-
Semitic aggression.
Holocaust and tolerance education as well as teacher
training provide a potential long-term solution to anti-
Semitism; however, the problem is still rapidly outpacing the
solution. At the end of 2003, and continuing into this year,
some Jews, especially in Europe, faced the dilemma either of
hiding their identity or facing harassment and sometimes even
serious bodily injury and death. The heavy psychological toll
in this increasingly difficult environment should not be
overlooked or underestimated.
Middle East
Jews left the countries of the Middle East and North Africa
in large numbers near the mid-point of the last century as
their situation became increasingly precarious. This trend
continues. Today few remain, and few incidents involving the
remaining members of the Jewish community have been reported.
Nonetheless, Syria condoned and, in some cases, even
supported through radio, television programming, news
articles, and other mass media the export of the virulent
domestic anti-Semitism. The official and state-supported
media's anti-Zionist propaganda frequently adopts the
terminology and symbols of the Holocaust to demonize
Israel and its leaders. This rhetoric often crosses the
line separating the legitimate criticism of Israel and its
policies to become anti-Semitic vilification posing as
legitimate political commentary. At the same time,
Holocaust denial and Holocaust minimization efforts find
increasingly overt acceptance as sanctioned historical
discourse in a number of Middle Eastern countries.
Other Regions
The problem of anti-Semitism is not only significant in
Europe and in the Middle East, but here are also worrying
expressions of it elsewhere. For example, in Pakistan, a
country without a Jewish community, anti-Semitic sentiment
fanned by anti-Semitic Articles in the press is widespread.
This reflects the more recent phenomenon of anti-Semitism
appearing in the countries where historically or currently
there are few or even no Jews.
Elsewhere, in Australia, the level of intimidation and
attacks against Jews and Jewish property and anti-Zionist and
anti-Semitic rhetoric decreased somewhat over the past year.
This year, New Zealand experienced several desecrations of
Jewish tombstones and other incidents. In the Americas, in
addition to manifestations of anti-Semitism in the United
States, Canada experienced a significant increase in attacks
against Jews and Jewish property. There were notable anti-
Semitic incidents in Argentina and isolated incidents in a
number of other Latin American countries.
III. Media
The proliferation of media outlets (television, radio,
print media and the Internet) has vastly increased the
opportunity for purveyors of anti-Semitic material to spread
their propaganda unhindered. Anti-hater laws provide some
protection, but freedom of expression safeguards in many
western counties limited the preventive measures that
governments could take. Satellite television programming
easily shifts from one provider to another and Internet
offerings cross international borders with few or no
impediments.
In June, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE) organized a separate meeting in Paris dealing
with intolerance on the Internet, and subsequently approved a
decision on ``Promoting Tolerance and Media Freedom on the
Internet.'' The decision is prescriptive in nature and
carefully caveated to avoid conflict with the varied legal
systems within the countries of the OSCE. It calls upon
Participating States to investigate and fully prosecute
criminal threats on violence based on anti-Semitic and other
intolerance on the Internet, as well as to establish programs
to educate children about hate speech and other forms of
bias.
Critics of Israel frequently use anti-Semitic cartoons
depicting anti-Jewish images and caricatures to attack the
State of Israel and its policies, as well as Jewish
communities and other who support Israel. These media attacks
can lack any pretext of balance or even factual basis and
focus on the demonization of Israel. The United States is
frequently included as a target of such attacks, which often
assert that U.S. foreign policy is made in Israel or that
Jews control the media and financial markets in the United
States and the rest of the world. During the 2004 United
States presidential campaign, the Arab press ran numerous
cartoons closely identifying both of the major American
political parties with Israel and with Israeli Prime Minister
Sharon.
``The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,'' a text debunked
many years ago as a fraud perpetrated by Czarist intelligence
agents, continued to appear in the Middle East media, not as
a hoax, but as established fact. Government-sponsored
television in Syria ran lengthy serials based on the
Protocols. The representations emphasized blood libel and the
alleged control by the Jewish community of international
finance. The clear purpose of the programs was to incite
hatred of Jews and of Israel. Copies of the Protocols and
other similar anti-Semitic forgeries were readily available
in Middle Eastern countries, former Soviet republics and
elsewhere. Similarly, allegations that Jews were behind
the 9/11 attacks were widely disseminated.
In November 2004, Al-Manar, the Lebanon-based television
network controlled by Hizballah featuring blatantly anti-
Semitic material, obtained a limited 1-year satellite
broadcast license from the French authorities. This was
revoked shortly thereafter due to Al-Manar's continued
transmission of anti-Semitic material. Al-Manar is now off
the air in France. Other Middle East networks with
questionable content, such as Al-Jazeerah and Al-Arrabiya,
maintain their French broadcast licenses.
IV. actions by governments
In Europe and other geographic regions, many governments
became increasingly aware of the threat presented by anti-
Semitism and spoke out against it. Some took effective
measures to combat it with several countries, including
France, Belgium, and Germany, now providing enhanced
protection for members of the Jewish community and Jewish
properties.
For the most part, the police response to anti-Semitic
incidents was uneven. Most law
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enforcement officials are not specifically trained to deal
with hate crimes, particularly anti-Semitic hat crimes.
Police sometimes dismissed such crimes as hooliganism or
petty crime, rather than attacks against Jews because of
their ethnicity or religion, or because the assailants
identified the victims with the actions of the State of
Israel.
In countries where anti-Semitism is a serious problem,
specialized training for police and members of the judiciary
remains a pressing need. Many nations still do not have hate
crimes laws that address anti-Semitic and other intolerance-
related crimes. In some instances where such laws already
exist, stronger enforcement is needed.
V. multilateral action
Anti-Semitism is a global problem that requires a
coordinated multinational approach. Thus far, the most
effective vehicle for international cooperation has been the
OSCE, comprised of 55 participating states from Europe,
Eurasia and North America plus Mediterranean and Asian
partners for cooperation. The OSCE organized two
groundbreaking conferences on anti-Semitism--in June 2003, in
Vienna and in April 2004, In Berlin. These were the first
international conferences to focus high-level political
attention solely on the problem of anti-Semitism. The Vienna
Conference identified anti-Semitism as a human rights issue.
OSCE Foreign Ministers gave further high-level political
acknowledgment to the seriousness of anti-Semitism at their
December 2003 meeting in Maastricht. There they took the
formal decision to spotlight the need to combat anti-Semitism
by deciding to task the OSCE's Office of Democratic
Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) to serve as a
collection point for hate crimes information. ODIHR is now
working with OSCE member states to collect information on
hate crimes legislation and to promote ``best practices'' in
the areas of law enforcement, combating hate crimes, and
education. ODIHR established a Program on Tolerance and Non-
Discrimination and now has an advisor to deal exclusively
with the issue.
At their December 2004 meeting in Sofia, OSCE Foreign
Ministers welcomed the Chair-in-Office's decision to appoint
three special representatives for tolerance issues, including
a special representative for anti-Semitism, to work with
member states on implementing specific commitments to fight
anti-Semitism. In addition, the Foreign Ministers accepted
the Spanish Government's offer to host a third anti-Semitism
conference in June 2005 in Cordoba.
The United Nations also took important measures in the
fight against anti-Semitism. One was a June 2004 seminar on
anti-Semitism hosted by Secretary General Kofi Annan. Another
measure was a resolution of the United Nations Third
Committee in November 2004, which called for the elimination
of all forms of religious intolerance, explicitly including
anti-Semitism.
Education remains a potentially potent antidote for anti-
Semitism and other forms of intolerance. Following the first
Stockholm Conference in 1998, convoked out of concern for the
decreasing level of knowledge of the Holocaust particularly
among the younger generation, Sweden, the United Kingdom and
the United States decided to address the issue
collaboratively. The Task Force for International Cooperation
on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research (ITF)
emerged from this initial effort.
Today the ITF, an informal international organization
operating on the basis of consensus, and without a
bureaucracy, consists of 20 countries. ITF member states
agree to commit themselves to the Declaration of the
Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust and to its
implementation. Current members of the ITF include Argentina,
Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary
Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland,
United Kingdom, and the United States. In addition four other
countries (Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Slovakia) maintain a
liaison relationship with the ITF.
vi. U.S. Government Actions to Monitor and combat anti-semitism
The U.S. Government is committed to monitoring and
combating anti-Semitism throughout the world as an important
human rights and religious freedom issue. As President Bush
said when he signed the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act on
October 16, 2004, ``Defending freedom also means disrupting
the evil of anti-Semitism.''
Annually, the U.S. Department of State publishes the
International Religious Freedom Report and the Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices. Both detail incidents and
trends of anti-Semitism worldwide. The State Department's
instructions to U.S. Embassies for the 2004 Country Reports
on Human Rights Practices explicitly required them to
describe acts of violence against Jews and Jewish properties,
as well as actions governments are taking to prevent this
form of bigotry and prejudice.
In multilateral fora, the Department of State called for
recognition of the rise of anti-Semitism and the development
of specific measures to address it. The Department played a
leading role in reaching agreement in the OSCE to hold the
two conferences on combating anti-Semitism noted above in
Section V. Former New York City Mayors Rudolph Giuliani and
Edward Koch led the United States delegations to the
conferences in Vienna and Berlin, respectively. Each brought
a wealth of knowledge and experience in fostering respect for
minorities in multicultural communities. Key NGOs worked
productively with the Department to prepare for these
conferences. In his address to the Berlin Conference,
Secretary Powell said: `` We must not permit anti-Semitism
crimes to be shrugged off as inevitable side effects of
inter-ethnic conflicts. Political disagreements do not
justify physical assaults against Jews in our streets, the
destruction of Jewish schools, or the desecration of
synagogues and cemeteries. There is no justification for
anti-Semitism.'' At the United Nations, the United States has
supported resolutions condemning anti-Semitism both at the
General Assembly and at the UN Commission on Human Rights.
An important lesson of the Holocaust is that bigotry and
intolerance can lead to future atrocities and genocides if
not addressed forcefully by governments and other sectors of
society. The United States is committed to working
bilaterally to promote efforts with other governments to
arrest and roll back the increase in anti-Semitism. President
Bush affirmed that commitment during his visit to Auschwitz-
Birkenau in 2003, stating: ``This site is a sobering reminder
that when we find anti-Semitism, whether it be in Europe, in
America or anywhere else, mankind must come together to fight
such dark impulses.''
U.S. Embassies implement this commitment by speaking out
against anti-Semitic acts and hate crimes. Ambassadors and
other embassy officers work with local Jewish communities to
encourage prompt law enforcement action against hate crimes.
In Turkey, the U.S. Embassy worked closely with the Jewish
community following the November 2003 bombing of the Neve
Shalom Synagogue. In the Middle East, our embassies have
protested to host governments against practices that have
allowed their institutions to promote anti-Semitism, such as
the heavily watched television series Rider Without a Horse
and Diaspora that respectively promoted the canard of the
blood libel, and ``The Protocols of Elders of Zion.'' U.S.
bilateral demarches were effective in specific instances, but
more remains to be done to encourage national leaders to
speak out forcefully against anti-Semitism and in support of
respectful, tolerant societies.
Building on the success achieved to date, the Department of
State is accelerating its efforts with its partners globally
to improve both monitoring and combating anti-Semitism in
three specific areas: education, legislation, and law
enforcement. The Department will continue to promote the
development of Holocaust education curricula and teacher
training programs. A successful program in this area has been
summer teacher training partially funded through U.S.
Embassies in cooperation with the Association of American
Holocaust Organizations (AHO) and the United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum (USHMM). At the October 2004 OSCE Human
Dimension Meeting, the United States and France hosted a
seminar on methodologies for teaching the Holocaust in
multicultural societies. The United States also supports the
work of NGOs in promoting educational programs abroad, in
part based on successful seminars in the United States that
teach respect for individuals and minority groups.
Additionally, the U.S. State Department has supported efforts
to promote tolerance in the Saudi educational system
including by sponsoring the travel of religious educators to
the United States to examine interreligious education.
The roots of anti-Semitism run deep and the United States
does not underestimate the difficulty of reversing the recent
resurgence of this ancient scourge. The legislative and
executive branches, together with NGOs, constitute an
important partnership in continuing the vital effort to find
creative ways to monitor, contain, and finally stop anti-
Semitism.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to
express my deepest admiration to both my friend, the gentleman from New
Jersey (Mr. Smith), and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), who
not only on the Helsinki Commission and in this body but in their own
personal activities have provided extraordinary leadership in fighting
bigotry and hatred in all its forms.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the Democratic whip and my good
friend.
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this
time, and I rise as well to say that no Member of this body has been
any more personally affected, and certainly no Member of this body has
more consistently raised the consciousness of the American people and,
indeed, the international community on the importance of never
forgetting.
{time} 1500
Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois (Chairman Hyde),
who is committed to this issue and has been a leader and has traveled
and headed the delegations of the Helsinki Commission to the
Parliamentary Assembly and raised our voice in foreign lands.
[[Page H154]]
I also thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), the ranking
member, the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to Congress. In
particular, I want to say to the gentleman from California, his
indefatigable commitment to human freedom and basic human dignity is a
source of inspiration to all of us privileged to serve with the
gentleman. It should be emulated by us all.
Madam Speaker, 60 years ago at 3 p.m. on January 27, 1945, Soviet Red
Army soldiers entered Auschwitz concentration camp. Those of us who
visited Auschwitz long after that date but who saw the horrible
implements of death constructed there by the Nazi regime can only
imagine, knowing the horror that we felt, the horror and revulsion that
those Soviet soldiers, human beings, must have felt as they entered
that camp in a village in southern Poland 30 miles west of Krakow. What
they discovered there haunts us today and should haunt us every day.
A Russian Army officer described the reaction to the sight of the
camp's remaining 7,000 prisoners, who had been too ill or weak to move
and were left to die in the cold by the fleeing Germans. He said, ``The
soldiers from my battalion asked me, `Let us go. We cannot stay. This
is unbelievable.' It was so terrible, it was hard for the mind to
absorb it.''
But the mind, Madam Speaker, must never forget it. The Nazis had
spent weeks moving the most able-bodied prisoners, destroying documents
and bulldozing buildings. But the liberation of the largest Nazi
concentration camp, where 1.5 million innocent souls were murdered,
women and children, young and old, opened the world's eyes to the
unspeakable evil of the Holocaust.
While it is appropriate that this somber day be marked in ceremonies
all around the globe, it will be a further tragedy if on this occasion
we only look back without also looking ahead. The gentleman from
California (Mr. Lantos) did that.
We cannot remember the liberation of the concentration camps and the
defeat of the Nazis in World War II and at the same time cast a blind
eye toward the growing problem of anti-Semitism that still infects the
world today, and tragically grows today. Nor can we ignore the hatred
and prejudice that fuels the genocide in Sudan today. The gentleman
from California (Mr. Lantos) mentioned Darfur.
Hatred knows no gender, no race, no ethnicity. It lurks in man's
heart today as surely as it did during the Holocaust. Even today in
this country we talk about some people in our country in a way that
demeans them and dehumanizes them and gives to others the
misapprehension that they can act against those people, whoever they
might be. We see tragic instances of that. And that reality, as painful
as it is to accept, compels us to use this solemn occasion to restate
our commitment to freedom and basic human rights. And it compels us to
fight hatred and prejudice wherever it rears its head.
Our President spoke just a few days ago in his Inaugural Address
about the commitment of this country to freedom, to liberty and, yes,
to human rights. He was right to do so. We owe those souls who perished
at the hands of Nazis at Auschwitz, who perished at the hands of
Milosevic, who died at the hands of those in Sudan and in every other
place where hate and prejudice was the motivation for murder. We owe
those souls our unremitting pledge to never, never, never permit these
horrific periods in human history to be repeated. I was one of those
who felt that we waited too long as we saw the genocide in Serbia and
in Kosovo and in Bosnia. We must not delay our response. If we do so,
we remember Auschwitz, but we remember it without learning its lesson.
Mr. LANTOS. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to
the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Schwartz), a new Member of the
House who has already made her mark on this institution.
Ms. SCHWARTZ of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I rise with profound
gratitude to the people of Pennsylvania's 13th Congressional District
for electing me to represent them in Congress. As the daughter of a
Holocaust survivor, I am honored that my first opportunity to speak on
the House floor is on an issue so close to my heart.
My colleagues, the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) and the
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), I and so many others stand today
in remembrance of the 6 million Jews who lost their lives during the
Second World War, many of whom were our aunts and uncles, mothers and
fathers, friends and loved ones.
My mother, Renee Perl, was one of the many who fled their homeland.
Forced to start anew at the young age of 14, she left Austria alone,
spending time in Holland and England before arriving in Philadelphia at
the age of 16 in 1941. Once arriving on the shores of America, my
mother, like so many Jews, was hesitant to tell her story, hoping that
by trying to forget about the war, the violence, the dislocation, the
fear she could move on. Yet once in the United States, those who
survived the Holocaust could not hide their gratitude and love for this
country, relishing the opportunity and freedom granted to them as new
Americans. My own love and respect for our country and my belief in our
responsibility to each other stems in great part from this strong sense
of patriotism.
Elie Wiesel once said, ``We should all respect the uniqueness, the
originality, the specificity in one another.'' It was leaders like Mr.
Wiesel who inspired Jews to acknowledge the importance of remembering,
of telling the stories, so as to never let a Holocaust happen again.
My colleagues, what makes our country great is we respect
differences: ethnic, religious, race, gender, geographic and political;
that we have a government that reflects and embraces our Nation's broad
diversity; and that we, as a community, are afforded opportunities to
recall the good and the dark times in our shared history.
Madam Speaker, I am tremendously grateful for being able to share my
family's story, to know my mother would be proud to know that we were
not only paying tribute to those who suffered tremendous pain and
hardship, but to recall the Jewish people's great spirit to survive,
continued faith in God, and unwavering belief in freedom and democracy.
Mr. LANTOS. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cardin), the Democratic leader on the
Helsinki Commission.
(Mr. CARDIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. CARDIN. Madam Speaker, as we commemorate the 60th anniversary of
the liberation of Auschwitz, I want to acknowledge how fortunate we are
in this body to have the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) as one
of our Members. His passion on human rights is so welcomed in this
body. He has been the champion on these issues for many years. We thank
the gentleman for everything he has meant to our sensitivity on human
rights issues. The gentleman has seen it firsthand and has helped us
understand the need for activism in this body.
I also acknowledge the gentleman from Illinois (Chairman Hyde) for
his leadership on human rights issues, and the gentleman from New
Jersey (Mr. Smith) who is our leader on the Helsinki Commission, not
only on this issue, but on anti-Semitism generally. He has led the
effort in the international body to make sure that we pay attention to
the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe today.
Last year I had an opportunity to visit Auschwitz and see firsthand
where a million people lost their lives in the factory of death. It has
an impact on all of us who have seen how inhumane people can be.
Madam Speaker, in 1991 the participating states of the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe agreed in Krakow, Poland, to
``strive to preserve and protect these monuments and sites of
remembrance, including extermination camps, and the related archives,
which are themselves testimonials to their tragic experience in their
common past. Such steps need to be taken in order that those
experiences may be remembered, may help to teach present and future
generations of these events, and thus ensure that they are never
repeated.''
Auschwitz is just such a site of remembrance. With this resolution,
we mourn innocent lives lost and vibrant communities destroyed. We
honor
[[Page H155]]
those who fought fascism and helped liberate Auschwitz and other Nazi
camps.
This resolution also goes further and speaks to the compelling need
for Holocaust education throughout the globe. In the words of the
Krakow Document, we must ``teach present and future generations of
these events, and thus ensure that they are never repeated.'' This
chilling rise of anti-Semitism in recent years tells us that more must
be done.
Madam Speaker, I can speak a long time on this subject. This
resolution calls on all nations and people to strengthen their efforts
to fight against racism, intolerance, bigotry, prejudice,
discrimination and anti-Semitism. I am proud that this body is bringing
forward this resolution. I commend my colleagues and the leadership of
the committee for bringing it forward. I urge all of my colleagues to
support the resolution.
Madam Speaker, Yad Vashem exhibits the sketches of Zinovii
Tolkatchev, a Soviet soldier who was among those who liberated Majdanek
and Auschwitz, under the fitting title, ``Private Tolkatchev at the
Gates of Hell.'' For surely that is what he saw and what Auschwitz was.
As ranking member of the Helsinki Commission, I visited Auschwitz last
year and saw for myself the furnaces that took the lives of more than
one million human beings at the camp. These furnaces stoked hatred and
intolerance to a degree never before seen in human history.
Today, I rise as a cosponsor and in strong support of this
resolution, which seeks to join the voices of this body to all those
gathered in Poland and elsewhere in our common remembrance of the
liberation of Auschwitz 60 years ago, on January 27, by Soviet Army
troops.
I commend Congressman Lantos, the ranking member of the International
Relations Committee, for introducing this resolution and for his
steadfast leadership in his work against anti-Semitism and for
Holocaust education and awareness. I am also deeply heartened that the
United Nations General Assembly, at the request of many governments and
with the support of Secretary General Kofi Annan, convened a special
session on January 24 to mark the liberation of the Auschwitz and other
death camps.
Madam Speaker, in 1991, the participating State of the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) agreed in Cracow, Poland,
to ``strive to preserve and protect those monuments and sites of
remembrance, including most notably extermination camps, and the
related archives, which are themselves testimonials to their tragic
experiences in their common past. Such steps need to be taken in order
that those experiences may be remembered, may help to teach present and
future generations of these events, and thus ensure that they are never
repeated.''
Auschwitz is just such a site of remembrance. With this resolution,
we mourn innocent lives lost and vibrant communities destroyed. We
honor those who fought fascism and helped liberate Auschwitz and other
Nazi camps.
This resolution also goes further and speaks to the compelling need
for Holocaust education throughout the globe. In the words of the
Cracow Document, we must ``teach present and future generations of
these events, and thus ensure that they are never repeated.'' The
chilling rise of anti-Semitism in recent years tells us that more must
be done. This resolution calls on all nations and peoples to strengthen
their efforts to fight against racism, intolerance, bigotry, prejudice,
discrimination, and anti-Semitism.
In the last Congress I was pleased to join with Mr. Lantos and
Helsinki Commission Chairman Chris Smith in working to enact the Global
Anti-Semitism Review Act of 2004. Earlier this month the U.S. State
Department issued its first-ever global report on anti-Semitism, as
mandated by the legislation. We now have a roadmap to build upon in the
future, which details both best practices by states as well as areas in
which participating States are still falling short of their OSCE
commitments.
In April 2004 I attended the Conference on Anti-Semitism of the OSCE
in Berlin with Secretary of State Colin Powell. The 55 Participating
States of the OSCE adopted a strong action plan, the Berlin
Declaration, which lays out specific steps for states to take regarding
Holocaust education, data collection and monitoring of hate crimes
against Jews, and improved coordination between nongovernmental
organizations and European law enforcement agencies.
During our conference, on the evening of April 28, President Johannes
Rau of Germany hosted a dinner for the President of the State of Israel
Moshe Katsav. President Katsav spoke powerfully about the need to
combat the rising tide of anti-Semitism throughout the world. I cannot
tell you how powerful it was to listen to the German President and the
Israeli President address the issue of anti-Semitism together in
Berlin.
Let me just highlight one section of President Katsav's remarks:
``The violence against the Jews in Europe is evidence that anti-
Semitism, which we have not known since the Second World War, is on the
rise. This trend of the new anti-Semitism is a result of the aggressive
propaganda, made possible by modern technologies, globalilzation and
abuse of democracy and which creates an infrastructure for developing
and increasing anti-Semitism, of a kind we have not known before . . .
Many times I have heard voices saying that anti-Semitism is not unique
and that it is no different from other kinds of racism. Anti-Semitism
should indeed receive special attention. Hatred against the Jews has
existed for many generations and it is rooted in many cultures and
continents through the world. However, now anti-Semitism has become an
instrument for achieving political aims . . . The genocide of the Jews
was the result of anti-Semitism and was not caused by a war between
countries or a territorial conflict and, therefore, anti-Semitism is a
special danger for world Jewry and the whole of Europe.''
I urge others here today to join me in supporting this resolution.
Mr. LANTOS. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee), a courageous fighter for human rights in all
realms.
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from
California (Mr. Lantos), the ranking member, and the gentleman from
Illinois (Chairman Hyde).
I could spend my 2 minutes speaking about the gentleman from
California (Mr. Lantos) and the defining stature that he represents in
this body and in this Nation. This resolution today on Auschwitz really
helps to confirm all of the teaching that the gentleman from California
(Mr. Lantos) has been able to provide to those of us who have been
willing to be tutored.
Today we acknowledge the 6 million murdered and the terrible tragic
loss of life in all the other concentration camps throughout WWII.
Today we stand in support of a resolution that acknowledges that
brutality, but does not accept it. Although it existed in human
treatment, we stand today against it. Today we also acknowledge and
humbly pray over the souls who lost their lives and make a pledge on
the floor of the House: Never, never again.
Madam Speaker, I rise today simply to be one of those who would never
ignore this horrific tragedy and terrible brutality, and to be able to
lift my voice in support of H. Res. 39 by, first, thanking the
gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) for bringing the personal
inhumane experience that he faced and confronted to this Congress and
to America so that we might learn to be better.
I am very grateful that the resolution stands against bigotry and
speaks to the world that we must do better. I ask my colleagues to
support this resolution and, of course, to acknowledge the fact that we
can be a better Nation if we are reminded of the fact that we are all
fighters against inhumane treatment to others around us.
{time} 1515
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Biggert). The time of the gentleman
from California has expired.
Mr. HYDE. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from
California (Mr. Lantos), and I ask unanimous consent that he be
permitted to control that time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Illinois?
There was no objection.
Mr. LANTOS. Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to yield such time as he
may consume to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Owens) who has been an
indefatigable fighter for human rights for all people.
(Mr. OWENS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. OWENS. Madam Speaker, this 60th anniversary observance of the
liberation of Auschwitz presents the people of all civilized nations
with an opportunity to focus a searing light of exposure on one of the
deadliest landmark events of human history. More than 1 million human
beings died in this hellish extermination factory which was part of a
system that murdered more than 6 million Jews.
As often as possible, in every way conceivable, the leaders of the
present
[[Page H156]]
must be forced to gaze with thorough and undivided attention upon the
horror of the Holocaust. The observance of this 60th anniversary is an
empty, useless ceremony if it does not arouse massive, worldwide anger,
pity, and fear. The anger must be directed not only at Hitler and the
SS; but also the anger should be focused on the millions who helped to
maintain the poison fog of racism, anti-Semitism, and religious hatred.
The pity levels must be raised high to envelop all of the more than 6
million individual souls whose opportunities to breathe and live, to
develop their potential and to pursue happiness were so brutally
snuffed out. The fear must be shared by us all as we contemplate our
unforgivable impotence in the face of other epidemics of genocide that
have been allowed since the landmark lesson of the Holocaust.
Stalin and his gulags; Pol Pot and his killing fields; the Hutu
intelligentsia and their exhortation to ``cut the tall trees'' with
machete executions. All of this competition with Hitler has occurred
within the last 60 years. We applaud the civilized governments of the
world for drawing a line at Kosovo. But we are burdened with a great
fear that more mass slaughters are coming because we still have not
learned this most profound lesson of modern history.
On the occasion of this 60th anniversary, we must remember that the
lesson of history is that perpetrators of genocide must have us come
down on them with an uncompromising, righteous wrath; and we must
trumpet their punishment throughout the Earth. The message for future
mass murderers with their convoluted rationale and twisted theories is
that there will be swift and universally supported punishment. The
message for the populations that support them is that there will be no
acceptance of sentimental schemes for truth and reconciliation. For
ignoring Auschwitz, there can be no pardons, no acceptance of
sentimental schemes for truth and reconciliation. For permitting their
leaders to violate the most important principles of human society, the
citizens of any nation must be collectively judged and their nation
must be forced to pay a special debt to civilization.
Madam Speaker, this sixieth anniversary observance of the liberation
of Auschwitz presents the people of all civilized nations with an
opportunity to focus a searing light of exposure on one of the
deadliest landmark events of human history. More than one million human
beings died in this hellish extermination factory which was part of a
system that murdered more than six million Jews.
As often as possible, in every way conceivable, the leaders of the
present must be forced to gaze with thorough and undivided attention
upon the horror of the holocaust. Auschwitz and all of the similar
death camps document the levels to which civilized men can descend. No
savage and primitive tribe could ever have engaged in such monumental
and systematic slaughter. That these crimes were committed by one of
the most scientifically advanced, well educated, culturally
sophisticated, thoroughly organized nations that the world has ever
seen is a fact that magnifies the need to forever study this bloody
man-made tsunami.
The observance of this sixieth anniversary is an empty, useless
ceremony if it does not arouse massive worldwide anger, pity and fear.
The anger must be directed not only at Hitler and the SS; but also the
anger should be focused on the millions who help to maintain the poison
fog racism, anti-Semitism and religious hatred. The pity levels must be
raised high to envelope all of the more than six million individual
souls whose opportunities to breathe and live, to develop their
potential and to pursue happiness were so brutally snuffed out. The
fear must be shared by us all as we contemplate our unforgivable
impotence in the face of other epidemics of genocide that have been
allowed since the landmark lesson the holocaust.
Stalin and his gulags; Pol Pot and his killing fields; the Hutu
intelligentsia and their exhortation to ``cut the tall trees'' with
machete executions; all of this competition with Hitler has occurred
within the last sixty years. We applaud the civilized governments of
the world for drawing a line at Kosovo. But we are burdened with a
great fear that more mass slaughters are coming because we still have
not learned this most profound lesson of modern history.
On the occasion of this sixtieth anniversary let us remember that the
trials of the major killers at Nuremberg also failed to take place,
that Nazi scholars are still daring to deny the reality of the
holocaust. We must remember that new statutes are being contemplated
for Stalin. We must also note the fact the Pol Pot died of natural
causes. We must show fear in the face of our present inability to
advance the trials and convictions of many of the obvious architects of
the genocide in Rwanda.
The lesson of history is that we must come down on the perpetrators
of genocide with an uncompromising righteous wrath and trumpet their
punishment throughout the earth. The message for future mass murders
with their convoluted rational and twisted theories is that there will
be swift and universally supported punishment. The message for the
populations that support genocide in the future must be that there is
no acceptable excuse for your actions. For ignoring Auschwitz there can
be no pardons, no acceptance of sentimental schemes for truth and
reconciliation. For permitting their leaders to violate the most vital
principles of human society the citizens must be collectively judged
and their nation must be forced to pay a special debt to civilization.
Mr. LANTOS. Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 2 minutes to
the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gene Green) who has fought against
discrimination, bigotry and anti-Semitism throughout his entire career.
Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of
this resolution. January 27, 2005, marks the 60th anniversary of the
liberation of Auschwitz and serves as a reminder to each of us where
racism, bigotry, and religious intolerance can lead.
Poles, Soviets, and prisoners of other nationalities were imprisoned
and died in this camp; but it was the mass murder of millions of
European Jews by Hitler that made Auschwitz the symbol of inhumanity
and brutality during the Holocaust.
From 1940 to 1945, the Nazis deported over 1 million Jews, 150,000
Poles, 23,000 Roma, 15,000 Soviet POWs, and over 10,000 prisoners of
other nationalities to Auschwitz. Nearly 1.5 million prisoners perished
in gas chambers or died of starvation and disease. Overall, 6 million
Jews died in the Holocaust.
Sixty years after Allied troops liberated Auschwitz, it is important
to remember what lessons can be taken from the unspeakable atrocities
that took place during the Holocaust. It was racism, bigotry, anti-
Semitism, and general religious intolerance that drove Hitler to pursue
the destruction of the Jewish people.
To honor the victims who lost their lives in the Holocaust and ensure
that such acts never happen again, there must be a concerted effort to
fight intolerance and discrimination. That is what this resolution
does.
Madam Speaker, I have not had the opportunity to visit Auschwitz; but
before I was elected to Congress in 1990, my family and I and our two
children visited Dachau in southern Germany, not only for my wife and I
but also for our, at that time, 14- and 15-year-old children to see
what inhumanity mankind could do to itself and not only for our
generation but for that next generation to make sure that that never
happens again.
Mr. LANTOS. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz).
Mr. HYDE. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz).
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Biggert). The gentlewoman from Florida
is recognized for 2 minutes.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Speaker, Libusa Breder, a Jewish
prisoner, said, ``There was no God in Auschwitz. There were such
horrible conditions that God decided not to go there.''
With the passage of time, it has become more difficult for my
generation to grasp what happened 60 years ago. The contributions and
courage of the Greatest Generation enabled my generation of Americans
to grow up in peace and be the first generation in decades to live
without facing conscription.
In Auschwitz, at least 1.5 million innocent people suffered
unfathomable pain and ultimate death. They were from many different
nations, over 90 percent of them Jews. South Florida, where I am from,
is home to the second largest population of Holocaust survivors in
North America, the majority of whom live in my home county of Broward.
The concept of ``never again'' was instilled in me for my entire
life. Unfortunately, in recent times, we have had vicious criminal acts
against humanity, and we must remember that we
[[Page H157]]
must stay vigilant and not let the passage of time weaken our resolve.
We are all proud of the Greatest Generation; but with today's
resolution and the anniversary approaching, we focus on the Lost
Generation.
It is our solemn responsibility to make sure that these lost souls
did not die in vain. We must never forget what happened to them, and we
must use the lessons of Auschwitz to stop modern-day atrocities such as
the ethnic cleansing in Sudan. History can and will repeat itself
unless we stand in the way and fight against evil.
Mr. LANTOS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
This is one of the finest moments of this body. We stand together
without any difference as to party or geographic region in our
determination that human rights throughout our land and throughout this
globe be honored and respected.
I urge all of our colleagues to vote for this resolution.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. HYDE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I would like to say to the gentlewoman from Florida who remarked that
God forgot to come to Auschwitz, if she would read Elie Wiesel's book
``Night,'' she would find an instance where the Nazis lined up the
Jewish prisoners in front of the gallows and they were having a hanging
of some person who tried to escape and a low voice said, ``Where is
God?'' Someone said, ``He's up there on the gallows.'' He was there. He
was just being punished.
The gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), the gentleman from New
Jersey (Mr. Smith), the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cardin), the gentleman from Virginia (Mr.
Wolf), there is a long, honorable list of people who are really the
conscience of this Congress and, hence, of our country on this matter
of human rights.
God must look down on this globe and see the killing that goes on in
the Sudan, that went on in the gulag, that goes on in China. We just
honored Ukraine's accession to democracy. Well do we remember the
collectivization of the farms in the early thirties when millions of
Ukrainians were starved to death. Life is very cheap. I think every
human being should visit Auschwitz. It is an education. It makes you
understand the depths to which human nature can sink.
Someone said when Napoleon died it was because God got bored with
him. I wonder that God is not bored with us, the cheapening of life.
Democracy is more than a way of establishing rules for lawsuits, for
litigation. It ascribes value to every human being, intrinsic value.
That is the important thing about democracy.
I remember as a young man, I thought education was the cure for
bigotry, but Germany had one of the highest literacy rates in Europe
when Hitler ruled that country and they marched with their swastikas.
So it is a little more than education. It is, as President Bush said in
his inaugural, we have to change hearts.
This has been a good debate. We are going back to principles. We are
going back to the value of human life and how capable we are of abusing
it and of denigrating it. Let us hope that this resolution elevates
people's ideas, focuses on how terrible we have treated other human
beings, and resolve to do better.
Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I would like to place in the Record the
compelling story of Mr. Marian Wojciechowski, now a U.S. citizen, who
is an Auschwitz survivor. The book ``Seven Roads to Freedom'', in which
his chapter is included, traces the tragic journey of 6 million human
beings who perished in Nazi death camps. Mr. Wojciechowski and his wife
Wladyslawa survived, by a series of miracles and brave encounters.
History must record these noble stories so their vast sacrifice shall
be remembered and honored. May the world save itself in the future from
this horrific suffering. This story, translated into English, from the
original Polish publication deserves our attention and respect on this
60th anniversary commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz.
Seven Roads to Freedom
(Edited by Miroslawa Zawadzka and Andrzej Zawadzki)
The Martyrology of Poles in Hilter's Death Camps
(Translated by: Anna Wojciechowski)
(A Presentation delivered by Marian Wojciechowski on May 8,
1998 to the Discussion Club at the American Polish Cultural
Center in Troy, Michigan, USA).
``Who is victorious shall be free, and who has died is
already free.''--words from ``Warszawianka''
6 million victims of the Holocaust in Poland in the years
1939-1945: 3 million Christian Poles; 3 million Jewish Poles.
The historians of future generations will research the
archives, evaluate and then write how many additional
hundreds of thousands of Polish Christians--on whose orders,
where, by whom and under what circumstances--were murdered in
the years 1939-1989 by the henchmen of communist authorities.
1. introduction
I'm very happy that I came here, because I see that I have
already met here many colleagues and friends from past
times--now pleasant ones, in America--as well as from the
times of our national martyrology: the occupation and the
concentration camps. I was in three concentration camps, in
Auschwitz, Gross Rosen and Leitmeritz, and here I meet after
many years my colleague, Mr. Romanski, who was in the same
camps and we knew each other in Gross Rosen and met there
together quite frequently; and with the husband of Mrs.
Romanska, who is here today--Zbyszek Romanski and I were
friends, and we talked for many hours during the time free
from labor in the Gross Rosen camp.
At the beginning I would like to make clear, that I am
describing my wartime and concentration camp experiences not
for the purpose of inciting any hatred in anyone, or anger,
or a desire for revenge. Absolutely not. For a long time, I
was unable either to speak or to write on this subject,
because there stood before my eyes all the macabre scenes
which one saw then, as well as deaths, which took away many
of my friends and acquaintances under horrible camp
conditions. I was afraid of these memories; I did not want to
talk about them.
But time heals wounds, and in the end, we see that it is
necessary to touch on this subject, because history repeats
itself. History repeats itself especially there, where it is
forgotten. We pass it on, to avoid forgetting it and
repeating its horrible moments. Some of us (for example, my
colleague Romanski) are still in the possession of authentic
notes written in the heat of the moment, in the camps, in
pencil, already faded today. These historical artifacts
should not be allowed to disappear; we have to take care of
their conservation.
My narration pertains to my own experiences. As those who
survived the concentration camps also know very well, in the
same camp, and even during the same time period and
commando--it was possible to have more luck or less, to
encounter better or worse conditions and treatment, to
survive or to perish. My reminiscences then cannot be related
exactly to the fate of other prisoners. Almighty God helped
me in these oppressions, and I survived.
I will begin with my youth, which has a connection with the
main topic of my story. I come from the region of Sandomierz.
Forty some kilometers to the south of Sandomierz, there is a
small town called Polaniec, laid out on sandy soil. In the
area, there were two or three mills, and at that time there
was no factory or work establishment, besides the Ruszcza
estate where one could get agricultural work. I remember,
that in those difficult times after the First World War, the
local small landowners ate bread only on such important feast
days like Christmas and Easter, or during the harvest. For
everyday meals, there was barszcz and potatoes for breakfast,
lunch and supper. Not until somewhat later, around 1937, did
construction begin there (for example, the embankments near
the Wisla river). which gave people work and better
conditions for living. Besides, these people worked very well
and the results were very beautiful. Afterwards, industrial
centers (COP--Centralny Okreg Przemyslowy) were also built,
and the situation was systematically improved.
After finishing elementary school in Polaniec, in 1939 I
received my high school diploma in Busko-Zdroj (in the
beautiful newly constructed building) and went to the Szkola
Glowna Handlowa in Warsaw (Warsaw School of Economics). My
parents, who were small farmers, did not have the funds to
pay for my tuition, clothes, and room and board. That's why,
during the four years of high school, my brother and I earned
money for our keep by tutoring for money. I would get up at
around 5, no later than 6 in the morning, and I would go to
bed after 11 in the evening. During the last two years I was
a so-called ``Marszalek'' (the chairman of chairmen) of the
high school. During my college studies in Warsaw, I was able
to get a job as the assistant of the secretary in the Union
of Agricultural and Economic Cooperatives (Zwiazek
Spoldzielni Rolniczych i Zarobkowo-Gospodarczych), with the
benefit of being able to do my work during the day or at
night, during the workweek, as well as on Saturdays and
Sundays.
Even before the beginning of my studies I belonged to the
Polish Scouting movement, I participated in military
preparation, I was interested in various political directions
and social problems, trying to find answers to the question,
how we should manage our country, in order to improve the
welfare of the people. During my college studies. I had many
colleagues with various persuasions.
[[Page H158]]
There were many forms of the so-called ``sanacja'' of the
former Pilsudski camp, such as Straz Przednia, Legion
Mlodych, BBWR, OZON, various shades of the Stronnictwo
Narodowe, Polska Partia Socjalistyczna, Stronnictwo Ludowe.
There were some who communized (Jerzy Wuensche, Roman Ujma).
There were also a few who usually played cards in the
restrooms of the library, and some who were not interested in
anything beyond their studies.
I studied two faculties simultaneously: cooperatives and
business education; and of the required foreign languages,
German and English. I joined the group of friends of the
Stronnictwo Ludowe.
In discussions then we searched for the appropriate road to
improve the conditions in the country. While still in high
school, I read a copy of Kapital by Marx, translated into
Polish, which I borrowed from the local Jewish library. By
such searching around, I came to the conclusion that in
Poland we must work out our own way, and I found--the
cooperative movement. Working in the co-op movement, first as
the secretary's assistant, and later as an auditor of the
agricultural-cooperatives, I made contacts with many people
of the Warsaw and Lodz provinces, which helped me very much
during WWII in the underground resistance.
Immediately after my studies, I performed my military
service in the School of Ensizns of the Cavalry (Szkola
Podchorazych Kawalerii) in Grudziadz, and after finishing
there, I was assigned to the 21st Regiment of the
Nadwislanski Lancers (21-szy Pulk Ulanow Nadwislanskich) in
Rowne Wolynskie, in the Luck province.
During military service in the cavalry military college in
Grudziadz, I taught evening courses after service hours about
cooperatives for the non-career soldiers in Grudziadl. I
organized courses in wheat-product (``zbozowo-towarowe:''
purchase. cleaning, milling, revision, storage, sale as well
as basic bookkeeping). The point was that after returning to
their homes from the army, they could join in the co-op work
in their hometowns.
That's a broad view of what my prewar past looked like.
2. THE WAR OF 1939
During the war in 1939 I was with my regiment in the Lodz
Army, in the Wolynska Cavalry Brigade, in the region around
the locality of Mokra near Czestochowa. History appraises our
battles there very positively.
During the retreat towards Warsaw, my platoon was in the
rear guard that is in shielding formation, Before reaching
Warsaw, I received the order to march on Garwolin and further
on east for regrouping. But other detachments of my regiment,
walking behind us, received an order to remain in the
vicinity of Warsaw to defend the capital (I learned about
this from the leadership of the regiment after the military
actions of 1939 were over). Because Garwolin was already
burning, my platoon and I joined in with various detachments
of the Army of General Kleeberg--the grouping, of
Lieutenant-Colonel Mossor (Czas Ulanow, Bohdan
Krolikowski, page 217 and we took part in the successful
cavalry charge of Cavalry Captain Burtowy (ibid, page 221)
at the same time that Lieutenant-Colonel Mossor
surrendered to the Germans with the rest of the grouping
in the forest near Osuchowo.
The disbanding of our detachment did not take place until
the area near Uchnowo or Rawa Ruska at night, when the
Germans were attacking us from one side of the forest, and
Soviet detachments were attacking from the other side. The
order was: bury the weapons and ammunition, give the horses
and uniforms to the peasants, change into civilian clothes,
march home and await further orders.
Over half of the soldiers of my platoon came from Wolyn.
The entire detachment was a well-harmonized group, fought
bravely, heroically. The losses in human lives were large. My
deputy, a Wolynian, Corporal Szkurski was killed in the first
week of the war. I filled the losses in this way, by putting
always-willing volunteers, stray infantrymen, on the horses
left by those who were killed. I named as my deputy one of
the leaders of the section, a senior lancer. He fulfilled his
function very well.
After changing into civilian clothes, groups of people
started to form in a loose march towards different
directions: to their homes, to nearby relatives and
acquaintances. I proposed a march through Hungary or Rumania
to the Polish Army in France. Two colleagues joined in: one a
second lieutenant of the reserve of a different detachment,
who was originally from Warsaw, and one ensign of the career
school of cavalry. As I recall, his name was Bratkowski or
Bartkowski, having finished his second year. We agreed to go
to Stanislawow, stay there with a colleague of Bratkowski's
and look for a way to cross the border. After a few hours the
Russians detained us, and added us to a group of demobilized
soldiers headed for Lwow.
After various difficulties we were able to leave the
barracks in Lwow and get to the colleague's house in
Stanislawow. We were received hospitably, but with fear that
the Soviets might find us, because then the whole family was
in danger of arrest. After a few days of gathering news, we
determined that the Rumanian border was surrounded by the
army with dogs, and that crossing the border seemed to be
impossible at that time. After about a week, we decided we
couldn't place Bratkowski's friend's entire family in danger,
we had to return to Warsaw. We reached the new Soviet-German
border and there we fell into Germans hands. They packed us
into autos and conveyed the entire transport to Radom, where
we were unloaded onto an empty field fenced in with barbed
wire. During the night, the two of us dug our way out under
the barbed wire and fled in the direction of Warsaw.
Sometime towards the end of October 1939, we got to the
locality of Pyry near Warsaw. The farmer let us sleep in the
barn. The next day we were invited in for breakfast, and they
told us about the destruction and lack of food in Warsaw.
After breakfast my colleague and I parted company. He went in
the direction of his home, and I towards my rented room on
Narbutta Street. A friend of mine from studies in the Szkola
Glowna Handlowa (Warsaw School of Economics), Hieronim Tatar
and I rented one room, two other student acquaintances rented
the second room, and the lanlords took up the rest of the
house.
However, it appeared that the landlords had already signed
the volksliste, so that after a few days, my colleague Tatar
and I moved in with a colleague from school--Andrzejewski, on
Mokotowska Street. The two of us took up one room. The rest
of the house was occupied by our colleague Andrzejewski, his
mother and his elderly grandfather Jakubowski (the mother's
father).
3. PROFESSIONAL WORK AND THE UNDERGROUND
Immediately the next day after returning to Warsaw, I went
to my place of employment, the Zwiazek Spoldzielni Rolniczych
i Zarobkowo-Gospodarczych (the Union of Agricultural and
Economic Cooperatives) in Warsaw, 11a Warecka Street. The
Kasa Spoldzielcza (Cooperative Cashier) occupied the first
floor, the second floor was taken up by the Okreg w Warszawie
(Warsaw District), the sections Rolniczo-Handlowy,
Jajczarsko-Mleczarski (agricultural-commerce and ovo-dairy),
as well as the cashiers and Banki Spoldzielcze (Cooperative
Banks). The third floor was occupied by the Zarzad Centrali
(Central Administration), and the Institytut Spoldzielczy
(Cooperative Institute) was on the fourth floor. Many workers
``camped out'' there with their families, because family
members were slowly finding each other.
During the siege of Warsaw food supplies were exhausted,
the prices on the black market were very high, and a large
part of the populace was starving. Situations were especially
difficult in hospitals, children shelters and so on. Many of
my coworkers denied themselves part of what were rightfully
their own rationed portions to jointly gather food supplies,
for example for the hospitals. The director of the section of
agricultural-commerce cooperatives was senior colleague
Franciszek Kielan, a very honest individual, unusually
generous and universally much respected. He convinced the
German commissar on cooperative matters in Warsaw to
transport food for the employees from the cooperative in
Kutno (the largest cooperative in the Warsaw district).
Along with fellow friend Jan Boniuk, we set out for Kutno
and brought to Warsaw, to our office, a food-filled ladder
wagon harnessed to three horses. Part of the food was
designated for hospitals, and the rest was divided according
to the number of members in each family, regardless of the
employee's position. A majority of the younger co-op
employees began to carry food to the hospitals. In this way,
I found in the hospital (probably the Ujazdowski Hospital)
the leader of my regiment, the 21st Regiment of the
Nadwislanski Lancers from the Wolynska Cavalry Brigade
Lieutenant-Colonel Kazimierz Rostwosuski, as well as many
officers from our regiment and brigade. I have to admit, that
from that time on the food situation in the hospital improved
very much.
After a certain time, we learned that the officers in the
hospital were going to be transported somewhere, and that the
Germans were already examining the lists of patients. I had
the most acquaintances in the municipal offices in the former
Sandomierski district. So I set out on a circuit and brought
back as many as possible of clean unfilled personal
identification documents (identity cards) and municipal
seals. I brought all these back to Warsaw and handed them
over to the reconnaissance liaison from Sluzba Zwyciestwu
Polski (SWP--Service for the Victory of Poland). I already
belonged at that time to the underground group ``Raclawice.''
After a few days, the sick officers were released from the
hospital and directed to an agreed upon residence location.
The new identity cards turned out to be very good--they
passed the test.
One day, the wife of Lieutenant-Colonel Rostwosuski
contacted my office to let me know not to spend the night at
home, because her husband was arrested during a street
roundup (lapanka) and would be interrogated by the Gestapo
that night. Luckily the next day, she advised me that he had
already been released on the basis of a previously issued
identity card (as I recall, it was issued to an
``agricultural engineer'' from an estate somewhere in
Podole).
After the end of the September campaign, there began the
underground phase of the battle. I was very much engaged in
two groups. The first one was the group ``Raclawice''
belonging to the peoples' movement (most from the pre-war
``Siew''). In connection with my work in the co-op movement,
I was invited to prepare the statutes and to help with the
organizational work of
[[Page H159]]
the newly established restaurant in Warsaw, the ``Wymiana,''
on 73 Mokotowska Street. This was only going to be a cover
for the ``Raclawice'' group in its underground resistance
work. After a few months there occurred a desconspiration
(wpadka) of a cell of our group in Lublin (from where we
received printing paper for the underground press). Using
torture, the Germans forced information about our Warsaw
group from the arrested members of that cell, but for now did
nothing to us as yet.
One day a friend of mine, with the same first and last name
besides (we called him Marian Wojciechowski number one, I was
number two) came to me and asked if I could help them in the
following matter. Apparently there was for sale an entire
printing press hidden from the Germans by one of the printer
compositors somewhere in a barn in the countryside. But for
this printing press, the compositor wanted money--which
needed to be organized. I didn't promise anything at first,
because I didn't have the money, but I began some efforts in
that direction. In Rawa Mazowiecka the director of the
agricultural cooperative was my friend, Zygmunt Jedlinski. I
went to him, explained the situation and asked for help. Over
the time interval of several weeks, Zygmunt sent two ladder
wagons loaded with food (all the automobiles were
requisitioned by the Germans, and for the Poles they were
unattainable). The printing press was purchased for the money
received from the sale of this food on the black market. This
was one of the first printing presses in service of the
Polish underground in Warsaw.
The Germans depended very much on the agricultural
cooperatives that supplied food for them on location, as well
as for the residents of the Reich. Because of this, they
wanted to have precise reports and inventories regarding
existing cooperatives. The execution of such reports also
constituted my work. Traveling around to the cooperatives as
an inspector, I had special privileges in buying tickets for
busses and trains, of course only in work-related matters. I
made the most of these trips to contact other organizations.
They were given information, and communiques, meetings and
terms were discussed, and so on.
Springtime 1941 was the date set for the meeting of the
representatives of the organization ``Raclawice.'' This
meeting was to take place in the cooperative restaurant in
Warsaw in the evening. I was going to that meeting from Nowe
Miasto near Pilica, where I was staying with my brother after
recent surgery on my appendix. At departure, my brother asked
me to take along his wife, who was going to visit her family
in Sandomierz and continue further on to Polaniec, and was
going to have to change trains in Warsaw. I agreed readily
and promised to help my sister-in-law to transfer from one
train station to the other. Meanwhile, my sister-in-law
suddenly got sick on the train, so that in Warsaw, instead of
escorting her to the second train station, I took her to my
place on the Aleje Niepodleglosci. I brought over a woman
doctor acquaintance of mine, brought medicine from the
pharmacy and gave it to my sister-in-law. She already felt
significantly better. I announced to her that in the evening
I was going to the meeting. My sister-in-law began to cry,
she didn't know my landlords, they didn't know her, she was
afraid to remain by herself without my care. She finally
convinced me with this lamenting so much, that I resigned
from attending the evening dinner meeting of the underground
organization ``Raclawice'' in the co-op restaurant. I planned
to find out about the details the next day by going there for
breakfast.
At five in the morning I received a phone call from my
colleague Wegierski (he was my friend from the cooperative
and the ``konspiracja''), who asked me if I was coming for
``breakfast.'' I answered yes, because I wasn't at the
``supper'' yesterday, so I should go for ``breakfast.'' And
my friend replied: ``Better don't go there, because last
night there was some poisoning with mushrooms.'' In our
language, ``mushroom poisoning'' meant deconspiration or
betrayal. It turned out that the Gestapo arrived before the
hour designated for the meeting in the restaurant, and
planted all the halls as well as the stairway with its
people, both in uniforms and in civilian clothes. And
afterwards, they would admit all incoming guests, but they
were not let in. In this way, they arrested about 30 people.
From this group of arrested individuals, two women (a cook
and her daughter assisting her) survived; all the remaining
people died from exhaustion at labor or were executed by
shooting--the men in Auschwitz, the women in Ravensbruck. I
would undoubtedly have shared their fate, if not for the fact
that my sister-in-law's illness and strong pleas kept me at
home.
But I survived luckily for some time afterwards, until the
next year, 1942. Because I was informed that at the Gestapo
they are inquiring about Marian Wojciechowski, and I didn't
know which one, then I would change residences often (more
or less every 4-6 months). The last residence I rented in
Warsaw was in Zoliborz, in the housing co-op of
musicians--the landlord of the residence, who also was a
Wojciechowski (but Kazimierz) besides, was a musician.
I continued to travel around the General Government region.
One day, shortly after the arrests at the restaurant, Kazik
Wegierski came to me and announced to me, that he would like
me to meet his sister who had just arrived from Lodz. I went
to visit them, we talked some, and when the family went to
bed, Kazik's sister told me that she has a task for me. She
worked in reconnaissance and needed a place near the border
of the General Government on the train line Lowicz-Zychlin-
Kutno, where couriers crossing the border could stay the
night for some rest and a place to sleep. After a few months,
her brother advised her to ask me for help. I promised that I
would look around. Under the German occupation Warsaw,
Sochaczew and Lowicz still belonged to the General
Government, however the next train station--Zychlin--was
already on the side of the Reich, or territory incorporated
into Germany. As quarters for the woman courier, Lowicz
seemed the best fit to me, especially since I had very good
relations there in the local agricultural-commerce co-op.
That person was a woman courier of the Polish underground
(Kazik's sister from Lodz, Wanda Wegierska). Because of the
assignment of the liaison of the Polish underground, she took
on German citizenship, traveled quite often across the border
into German territory, met there with our intelligence
personnel and brought back from them information, among other
things including the localization of German armament plants.
This information was transmitted from Warsaw to London via
radio, to be utilized for bombing raids by the British air
force. The woman courier (a young girl, about 18-19 years
old) realized at one point in Berlin that she was being
followed, and she fled to hide in the hotel. Sometimes even
very sensible and brave people sometimes do tragically stupid
things. She did just such a stupid thing. Back in the hotel,
she wrote several letters, addressed the envelopes and mailed
them. One of those letters was addressed to me. The Gestapo
intercepted the letters and copied them along with the
addresses. The woman courier was arrested in Berlin only
after three or four months during her third trip. All the
recipients of her letters were also arrested. I had already
organized for her a point of transfer, everything was
prepared, but unfortunately it was too late.
Sometime during the second half of 1940 or maybe at the
beginning of 1941, I believe it was Kazimierz Wegierski
himself who came to my office room with his friend and asked
me to help him as much as I would be able to, after which he
left the room, leaving me alone with his friend. I asked what
was it all about? It was about making contact with people
through whom he would be able to acquire smaller or larger
quantities of every kind of food. In my travels around the
co-ops for inspection, before and even during the
occupation--I knew the remaining stock products of the co-
ops, and I tried to get to know people whom I could trust.
Verifying the percent of so called ``tluczek'' (breakage)
of eggs, ``rozsyp'' (spillage) of flour, cereal or grain, I
knew roughly how much and of what it was possible to take
away without putting people at risk of suspicion by the
German authorities. If there were suspicions about the black
market, that was only just half the problem. People were in
danger of being thrown out of work, being sent to labor in
Germany and so on. However, if there was suspicion that the
food was being handed over to partisans or to Jews--there was
the threat of punishment by death, preceded by torturing all
suspects and their families. We had to help, but always we
had to be cautious. My colleague Wegierski's friend came to
me to the office several times, and if I had them--I always
gave him some contacts in the cooperatives of the Warsaw or
Radom districts. A contact could be the director of the
cooperative, the director of a certain section. the warehouse
keeper, the bookkeeper or also even an ordinary laborer who
was initiated into the underground.
Only after the war, looking at a photograph in the press, I
recognized that friend of my colleague Wegierski. It was
Julian Grobelny, founder of the Council to Assist the Jews,
``Zegota.'' During that time he was buying food and was more
than likely providing it for Jews.
4. arrested by the gestapo
I was arrested in Radom, where I had moved, because in
Warsaw it was ``too tight'' for me, the Gestapo was tripping
over my heels. In Radom, I resided at the local high school
teacher's home (as I recall, his name was Oder). On April 23,
1942, at night, the Gestapo was battering at the door of the
house where I lived. At that time I was not at home, and the
landlord tried to open and escape through the back door, but
they shot him in the leg. His son died from the wounds
received during the shooting. The Gestapo inquired about me
and found out that I was working in the cooperative. The next
day, they went to the office of the Union of Agricultural and
Economic Cooperatives, and without mentioning my name, made a
general survey of the employees. They made accusations that
the office produced fictional work cards for people who in
reality don't work there. Under that pretext, they checked
the entire registered personnel ``from a to z,'' what and
where a given individual did during a given day. By this
method they got to me, and learned at which co-op I was
performing an inspection at that point in time. It was in the
Wloscianska Agricultural-Commerce Cooperative in Piotrkow
Trybunalski. They returned to their headquarters and
telephoned the order to arrest me by the local Gestapo. The
Gestapo came to the commissar of the cooperative during the
dinner hour asking about me. Meanwhile, not expecting
anything, I had just had a secret meeting at the cemetery
[[Page H160]]
and returned at noon to the co-op bureau. There I found a
message that the commissar of the cooperative, a German,
wanted to see me in his office. This was nothing unusual, so
I calmly went to his bureau, and the Gestapo were already
there waiting for me. They checked my personal documents and
informed me that I was under arrest. The protestations of the
German commissar, who needed my help in the work of the
cooperative, did not help. I was arrested; the Radom Gestapo
demanded my immediate transport to Radom. At the moment of
the arrest, I had on my person several ``trefne'' (secret
under ground) documents, that is, such that should not,
under any circumstances, fall into German hands. Handing
over my briefcase to a colleague who was my assistant-
apprentice, I told him quietly to burn whatever could be
damaging to us. Unfortunately, I also had some papers on
me in my clothes; I could not get rid of these without
attracting the attention of the Gestapo. We arrived in
Radom (that was April 24, 1942) around 11 pm at night. And
here, fate was kind to me in a most miraculous way.
Now, about a month earlier I was taking the train from
Radom to Warsaw. At the train station, using my cooperative
inspector's identification card, I could buy a train ticket
without having to wait in line (this was no small matter:
there were barely 20 tickets available for about 200 people
in the queue). At that time, there walked up to me a stranger
in the uniform of a prison guard, asking me to help him to
buy a ticket: he had received a telegram that his sister in
Warsaw is dying and he desperately wanted to visit her (he
was going to be busy at work the next day). I like people and
I like to help them. Therefore, I agreed, and I bought him a
ticket in the next ticket cashier's window to avoid
suspicion. And it so happened, that we were passengers in the
same train car and chatted with each other a bit.
When, in accordance with their received orders the Gestapo
brought me to the Radom prison that night, it was this
``acquaintance'' from the train station who was the guard on
duty!
On the first floor of the prison building there was the
criminal section (for prisoners accused of theft, etc.) and
on the upper floor, I believe either on the second or third
story, there was the political section. After bringing me in,
the Gestapo led me to the guard on duty and told him to sign
a document that I had been delivered. When he signed the
receipt for my person, they left, leaving me in his
responsibility. We were left alone, and we began a discussion
as to what to do next. My eventual escape would risk
reparations against our entire families (his and mine), as
well as against my colleagues from work and from home. I felt
that it was too dangerous not only for my loved ones, but
also for the family of the prison guard. I decided that I do
not have the right to put so many people in danger, and I
decided not to escape. The guard advised me to destroy
anything that was ``trefne'' (secret underground documents)
that I had with me. In the middle of a large hall on the
first floor in which we found ourselves, there stood a huge
stove (so called ``koza'') with a fire burning inside. The
guard lifted the cover of the stove and said: ``Throw it in
here.'' I had with me a notebook with coded names, telephone
numbers and addresses. Without knowing the code, it would
have been difficult to decode them. However, the Gestapo
could come to the conclusion that the information in the
notebook is coded, and with additional beatings maybe get
that necessary information out of me. Without a moment's
hesitation, I took advantage of the ``koza'' and threw in my
notebook along with the rest of the ``trefne'' papers into
the fire.
5. interrogation and torture in radom
And so I fell into the hands of the Gestapo, but with the
exception of what they already knew about me, I did not
provide them with any other indications. Everything I
possessed was ``clean,'' because anything else had been
burned.
During the first few days of my stay at the prison, I
received a package with a large pot of buckwheat cereal. The
Gestapo checked this cereal rather thoroughly, but
fortunately, they did not find the tiny rolled up ball of
paper hidden inside it. It contained only the brief piece of
information, that the Wegierskis had been arrested with their
entire family. I did not receive any additional information:
why, who and how. Kazik Wegierski, a scout instructor (I
believe from the scout troop ``Wigry'') was that colleague
from work and the underground, who had informed me earlier in
Warsaw about the ``mushroom poisoning,'' or ``wpadka''
(deconspiration of a cell of my underground organization). He
was very actively engaged in the Polish underground, and his
sister was that courier who traveled to Germany for
reconnaissance.
I wasn't sure what the Gestapo already knew or what it
didn't know, but just in case, I didn't admit to anything.
For the first interrogation, there arrived at the prison a
special envoy from German intelligence, who spoke Polish
perfectly. As it turned out. he knew Poland, and about two
weeks earlier, that is, right before the outbreak of war, he
had returned to Germany from a ski trip to Zakopane. He
wanted me to tell him everything that I knew about people
acquainted with me, where they work, what they do. Naturally,
when it came to Wegierski, I pretended not to know anything.
At that point, there was not yet any beating or anything of
that sort. The person leading the interrogation said, that's
too bad, that I don't know anything. and left the prison.
About two weeks later at the next interrogation I was beaten
so thoroughly, that after finishing they threw me into the
cell completely disabled.
Normal interrogation took place in this way, that in the
attic of the Gestapo headquarters, they would put handcuff
the prisoner's hands in back of him, tie the handcuffs to a
rope hanging from the ceiling, and pull the rope upwards so
that one would hang above the floor of the attic at the
height of an average chair or table. Then, there would take
place a beating over the entire body, including the head and
legs. A person would be completely covered in blood. Because
I was hanging by my hands with the entire weight of my body,
and sometimes pulled downwards by my legs, I lost complete
use of my fingers and hands already after the second
interrogation. It was possible to prick me in the fingers,
and I would not be able to feel it. I could not bend my arms
at the elbows, so that when eating, for example, a piece of
bread, I had to use a spoon, because I could not reach my
mouth with my hand. They maltreated me horribly. Luckily, my
prison guard acquaintance alerted the persons indicated by me
about my imprisonment. These individuals tried to help me
through the commissar of the co-op union where I worked, and
also through his secretary. As I learned later in the Gross
Rosen camp, where I met the son-in-Law of my Radom landlords,
it was that German woman secretary who suggested that one of
the stapo (he had a high position and loved to play around)
be bribed. Of course, there could in no way be any
agreement about my release from prison, but it was about
sending me to Auschwitz without a death sentence. Normally
in similar incidences the prisoner, after the
interrogations were concluded, was executed by shooting in
the prison or in nearby forests, or sent to Auschwitz with
a death sentence. This sentence was executed by shooting
in the camp after a two- or several-month stay. Such a
sentence was not sent after me. I was transported to
Auschwitz, but all my things were returned to my mother
with the announcement of my death. They didn't want to
release the body, but they sent a message that I am no
longer on this earth.
6. AUSCHWITZ
In the camp I met with a series of events that appeared to
be miraculous, or perhaps accidental coincidences ordained by
the Providence of God. It is difficult for me to say that God
wanted to retain my person, because there were so many who
were so much better and so much more needed. But it all
happened so that I was saved.
I arrived at Auschwitz as a complete human ruin: I could
not bend or move my hands. At the camp apels, when the orders
``caps off'' or ``caps on'' were issued, I grabbed the cap on
my head without feeling it in my fingers. Not obeying the
command risked being beaten or even being killed on the spot.
They took me to Block 11, the block of death. Had they
learned about my state and that I was unable to work, a death
sentence would have been immediate. I was unfit for work, so
there was no reason why I should be kept alive. In such a
state, I was held in the death block for a day or two. I was
hit over the head with a club several times, but after about
a week they sent me, in a group of about 20 prisoners, to the
kitchen for food, for the afternoon soup. This soup--a bit of
water with some thing like nettle in it--and yet hot, was
carried on poles in barrels of various dimensions (25, 50
liters) by two prisoners. They sent a few too many people to
carry the soup, under the assumption that there would be more
barrels. But as it turned out, the barrels were larger and a
few of us didn't have to carry anything. I tried to walk in
the back, so that they would not choose me when changing
carriers, because I knew that I would be unable to carry the
barrel. And spilling the soup, especially a barrel of soup--
that would have been death on the spot for certain, for the
reckless denial of food for many people. And after all, I
could not tell them that I had no feeling in my hands. So I
walked in the back of the group of these carriers down a
street leading to Block 11, and suddenly I saw a man in front
of me, coming closer, also wearing prison garb, but shaped
and well-fitting. We got closer to each other and both of us
stood: ``Marian, is that you?'' and I answered, ``Zdzisiek,
is that you?'' It turned out that this was my friend, with
whom I shared a room in 1937-1938 at the cavalry training
center in Grudziadz for a period of about 9 months. At that
time, after military service, I returned to work in the co-op
movement, and he remained in the army as a candidate or a
career officer. During the occupation, he was rounded up
along with all the remaining men on a train on the Krakow-
Tarnow line and sent to Auschwitz. Because the man was strong
and healthy, he survived the first few months in the camp not
all that badly, and then people like that, if they were able
to do something, were assigned various positions in
maintaining the camp. My friend Zdzisiek Wroblewski was
appointed as the block scribe: he had the responsibility of
keeping the prisoners' register up to date, where and what
each one was doing at each hour. We briefly recounted to each
other our histories; he decided to accompany me. He went with
me to block monitor--it was a German criminal, who beat and
killed people without hesitation; he told him not to do me
any harm, because I was his friend.
[[Page H161]]
In about a week, Zdzisiek arranged to have me transferred
to his block. I don't know how he did that, but at the new
place there were many former colleagues and acquaintances
from various political parties and factions, from various
universities and various cities. They already had formed an
entire underground organization Auschwitz, and everyone
helped each other as much as was possible. Zdzisiek drew me
to him and said that he would make me a ``sztubowy.'' The
``sztubowy'' was responsible for one large camp ward. I told
him that I was not suitable for that function; I saw that a
``sztubowy'' beats people, hitting them with a ladle wherever
it fell. I was not suited for this. Zdzisiek replied,
``Listen, this is the way it is here, that either you will
beat, or you will be beaten.'' But I refused; I wanted to be
in the middle, to not beat and not to be beaten. So I bounced
here and there, working in different commandos in the camp
territory.
A typhus epidemic broke out. Two blocks were reserved for
the sick. The Germans were not at all that concerned about
the prisoners, who were dying in masses from the typhus, but
they were afraid of getting infected themselves. Because the
prisoner worked in many sections, for example, in the
canteens where they had contact with SS-men, they could
infect them. One day, two large trucks arrived, onto which
were loaded all the people in those two ``typhus'' blocks:
the sick, the reconvalescing and the orderlies. They were all
gassed. Less than a week later, I fell ill with typhus
myself. My companions in adversity took me arm in arm and led
me to the receiving hall for the sick, and then they
themselves had to quickly report to work. The doctor in
reception, a young Jew fresh after medical studies (probably
from Hungary) had already been alerted about my coming by my
colleagues or their acquaintances. At that very moment an SS-
man appeared. He was an older man, who went about the camp
and observed the prisoners, writing down the numbers of those
who were working poorly--as well those who were so weak that
they could not work. These numbers were then passed on to the
camp registry office. All those recorded prisoners were then
immediately murdered in the gas chambers or (more frequently)
by injection with phenol. At the moment of the SS-man's
arrival, I had already been examined by the doctor, with a
filled out health card. The SS-man came up and took my card,
and noticed the high fever. Seeing this, and knowing that in
a moment my number would be recorded and passed on for
execution, the doctor quickly reported: ``High fever, for
observation.'' In the Auschwitz camp, on Block 10, there
were performed various types of observations and medical
experiments. German doctors inoculated male and female
prisoners with bacteria of various diseases, performed
research and observations, and then of course they killed
the subjects. In connection with this, the visiting, SS-
man understood that I would be sent there for observation;
he put away his notebook and did not record my number. At
that time, I was already semiconscious.
Next, they sent me to a newly opened ``revier'' for those
who were sick with typhus. I was visited there by my friend
and one of the leaders of the conspiracy--Kazimierz
Wegierski, who was arrested even earlier than I. During his
interrogation, the Gestapo beat him so severely that his
kidneys, liver and other internal organs were damaged. As a
result, this very slender man was so badly swollen that I
could not recognize him. He died the next day, without
betraying anyone to the very end.
From the entire group that was arrested along with him, not
one person broke under cruel interrogation, no one was
betrayed. His sister, Wanda Wegierska, caught by the Germans
and accused of spying, was sentenced to death and executed by
beheading in the prison in Berlin. Working for the Polish
intelligence, she presented herself as a German citizen and
that type of death was administered to her. For her
achievements in the underground resistance movement, she
received the Virtuti Military Cross posthumously after the
war, and was also promoted to the rank of second lieutenant.
She was the woman courier about whom I spoke earlier at the
beginning of my lecture.
After getting well, I was sent back to the block of my
friend Zdzisiek, who started to look for work for me. He
found for me the position of bookkeeper for a German
civilian--an engineer, assigned to supervise the storage of
building and construction materials intended for the camp, as
well as for military objectives. At the Auschwitz camp there
was a main warehouse of that type. At the beginning, we
observed each other: on the third day of such an
acquaintance, the engineer placed a piece of bread with
marmalade on my table, and later we began to talk with each
other. Of course, I did not admit to my underground
connections. Our conversations were held cautiously and only
inside the building. The German warned me that if our
contacts were revealed, then he would become a prisoner like
myself, and I would end up in the crematorium. We worked
together, we exchanged words of greeting, the relationship
between us was arranged on a level plane of not so much as
work colleague or friend, but human being nonetheless.
After about two weeks, my work was changed: at the Sunday
morning apel, I was assigned along with about a hundred other
prisoners to clean the overgrown drainage ditches outside the
camp. Standing on the bottom of the ditch with water up to
the knees, one had to deepen the trench and hand the soil up
to people located higher. The work assigned to me was at the
bottom of the ditch, and any kind of protest would of course
risk a beating. At that time I already had enough feeling in
my hands so that I could hold a shovel, but my fingers were
still not fully functional (moreover, that condition has
persisted till this day). I worked this way for a full day;
it was already the middle of November, the water was very
cold. After returning to the camp I was shaking with the
cold, but the next day I went to do the same work, not saying
anything to the German engineer with whom I had worked
previously. After the second day of working in the ditches. I
got a very high fever during the night, and they took me for
a medical examination. It was pure luck that there were
Polish doctors there, who, even though they had no medicines,
were able to do advice what to do. They diagnosed pneumonia,
pleurisy, water in the side as well as inflammation of the
kidneys. They had no medicinal supplies, because people were
held in the camp to be finished off, completely without any
care as to their medical treatment. And once again, I met
with Divine Providence. In this so-called hospital to which I
was taken, there worked a prisoner--called the block tailor,
who had been arrested along with one of my friends. This
friend, like me, was a recipient of one of the letters from
our woman courier, which had been intercepted by the Gestapo.
The Gestapo came for him at his place of work--a tailor shop
on Wiejska Street right nearby the Sejm. He was arrested
along with other workers. A handy tailor from just that group
by the name of Wladek Dabrowski was presently in Auschwitz.
He performed a series of tailoring tasks for the camp
``dignitaries''--the functionaries and the SS-men. Wladek and
I recognized each other and he helped me in the treatment.
Once again, God showed His mercy. How was I treated? They cut
off a small barrel and installed heating elements in the form
of several light bulbs. They would place me on blankets on
the ground, they would place the so ``armed'' barrel on my
chest, and they would connect the electrical wire conduit to
the electrical contact. After a half hour of such heating, I
was almost unconscious, but the blanket on which I was laying
was completely wet from the water coming out from within my
body. Besides this, the water from my side was extracted with
the help of a syringe. When the SS-man who was writing down
the numbers of the prisoners for execution, because they were
very sick and not fit for work, would draw near us, a well-
organized camp intelligence would warn us ahead of time. Then
I would be pulled out of bed, wrapped in a blanket and placed
on the ground by a wall. That was done with prisoners who had
already died, because at the morning, afternoon and evening
apels every man in every block had to be accounted for. After
the SS-man left, my friend the tailor, along with his
friends, put me back into bed. This would be repeated during
my entire stay at the hospital.
Meanwhile on the block to which I belonged. Zdzisiek had a
fatal fallout. He organized contacts from outside the camp
for the purpose of bringing in medicines for so many sick
prisoners. This was realized in the following way: Some of
the specialists (for example, welders, plumbers. and so on)
needed in the camp were imported as civilian workers from
outside the camp. Zdzisiek would pass on a list of needed
medicines to them, which they would bring to the camp at the
next opportunity. One of those workers was caught with such a
list during inspection, and under torture revealed who had
given it to him. Zdzisiek was arrested immediately along with
the two ``sztubowy'' who were responsible for the wards,
which Zdzisiek frequented most. Despite the tortures, all
three did not betray anyone and did not admit to anything;
they all perished either from starvation, or by phenol
injection. Had it not been for my stay in the hospital,
because I was so closely connected to them, I would have
probably been also taken, tortured and bestially murdered.
I stayed in the hospital until the moment that my fever
dropped, then I had to go back to work. I was released from
the hospital one Sunday and assigned to a different block.
This was the block of the so-called ``Zugange'' (prisoners
newly-arrived to the camp as well as prisoners discharged
from the hospital). The ward of the block I was assigned to
was located on the first floor; I was so exhausted by the
illness that I would walk up the wide stairs on all fours. I
had a card of discharge from the hospital and was assigned to
work the next day. This time the work consisted of arranging
in layers boards, still wet, freshly brought in from the
mill, in tall stacks with some air draft to dry the boards.
To accomplish this, some of the workers had to climb upwards
and pull up heavy boards handed up from below. I barely
managed to drag myself to the place of work; I was assigned
the work at the top, but I lacked the strength to climb up
the stack. Even if I had been able to do so, with the frosty
weather (and it was about the middle of January) I would
undoubtedly have frozen to death or, unable to climb down,
would have been pushed off to the ground, breaking my bones.
I thought to myself then, there is no point in climbing up,
better let them kill me here on the ground and it will be the
end of it. I decided not to go to the top of the stack--this
was a refusal to work, which in the camp meant inevitable
death.
At that time there was in Auschwitz an obercapo of the
Bauhoff (building section), a
[[Page H162]]
German criminal prisoner known as ``Bloody August,'' who was
renowned for his cruelty. Tall, thin, with long hands like an
ape. It was enough for him to smack a prisoner with such a
hand, to make a corpse out of him. I suddenly saw that
``Bloody August'' from a distance of about 10 meters. I
thought that this is the end of me; but he suddenly became
interested in someone else, jumped to the side and reached
him, getting further away from me. However, the other person
accompanying him came up to me. Normally, a prisoner of the
concentration camp when approached by anyone from the camp
administration, was obligated to take off his cap and stand
at attention. I did not do this; it was a matter of complete
indifference to me whether they would kill me or not. The
person approaching me noticed that, came up closer, looked at
me and said in German: ``Marian, is that you?'' I recognized
that it was the German engineer, for whom I had worked as a
bookkeeper. He asked what I was doing here, why I didn't come
to him to work. I answered, that they assigned me to
different work, that I had been in the hospital and then they
told me to report to the present work site. I added, that I
could not perform the work, because I did not have the
strength to do it, therefore because of that they will kill
me. The engineer looked at me and told me to come with him.
He took me to a huge storage place for pipes and other
plumbing parts. Outside the building there were all kinds of
concrete pipes, and inside there were copper and nickel
pipes, as well as all sorts of joints for pipes. The director
of this whole warehouse was a prisoner from Stalowa Wola,
engineer Sledziewski or maybe Sledzinski. The German led me
to him and said that he is leaving me with him as his
responsibility, turned around and left. Sledziewski knew
nothing about me, but he saw that I was barely able to stand
on my feet. He told me to sit down, brought me a piece of
bread, pointed to the hot water for bread soup. And I sat
like that next to him, by the hot stove, not doing anything
for about two or three days.
Under camp conditions this was something completely unheard
of and meant inevitable death. Soon we began to talk with
each other; I told him everything about myself honestly. When
I had rested some, I started to help him more and more. I
worked in this way to approximately the middle of March,
1943, when the transfer of prisoners from Auschwitz to other
camps was begun, because the Auschwitz camp was already
overloaded.
7. GROSS ROSEN--ROGOZNICA
I was sent to the camp in Gross Rosen. The stay in Gross
Rosen began as usual with a quarantine. Even before it was
over, I was sent to Hirshberg (today, Jelenia Gora) to work
on the construction of a factory to make products from wood
fibers. The task of the workers was construction of timbering
for cement walls. I volunteered as a carpenter, trying to
avoid work with sand or cement, where one had to work full
speed running with wheelbarrows filled with sand or cement;
with this, one received a lot of lashes. The work of a
carpenter, requiring precision in matching timber or boards,
was slower. Later, I was even appointed the secretary of the
entire group, because it turned out that the former candidate
for the position was unable to write well, and quickly. So I
held the position of carpenter and secretary until about
November, when they brought us from Hirschberg back to the
mother camp of Gross Rosen. There I was again employed as a
carpenter in the construction of new barracks. One had to
work very fast, because everyday there arrived new transports
of thousands of prisoners pulled from many other camps (from
Majdanek and others). In the construction of the barracks
there were used ready-made slabs which had to be put
together, next the windows were mounted, and also finishing
work was performed. Part of the work was done in the
interiors, where it was hot, and for other types of work one
had to run, and fast at that, outside. Under these conditions
I caught a very severe cold, I was close to pneumonia, I had
trouble with breathing and speaking. My olleagues decided to
help me, taking me to the ``revier'' where I could rest. I
stayed there, and already on the second day there came to my
bed the ``revier'' kapo by the me of Siehsdumich and started
a conversation with me. I told him a bit of this and at about
myself, of course hiding my activity in the underground; he
asked me from here do I know German so well, and learning
about my education he proposed a more responsible job. He
suggested a project employing me in the camp post office, the
parcel section. This change suited me very much and I began
the new work of receiving and delivering parcels.
Some time later there came to Gross Rosen a transport of
prisoners from Majdanek. Right after that, a few weeks later,
this was followed by a large shipment from Majdanek of food
parcels which had been sent to these prisoners by their
families. The director of the post office, SS Unterscharfurer
Layer, decided to send the packages back to the families,
because some of the addresses were no longer current. The
parcels were delivered to the prisoners in accordance with
their prisoner number as well as the number of the block in
which they slept and ate. The first and last names of the
prisoners were not important, it was only those numbers that
mattered. However, after arrival in Gross Rosen from
Majdanek, prisoners were located in a new block and received
a new prisoner number, so that finding the original
addressees among so many thousands of prisoners was unusually
complicated. Therefore, the director of the post office
decided to send back the entire transport of parcels to the
senders. I knew that with the hunger prevailing in the camp,
the return of the food packages constituted a huge loss: in
addition, the families of the prisoners receiving the returns
will be convinced that the addressees were dead. This type of
explanation would not be effective with the director of the
post office, who was an SS-man. Certainly he was not
concerned with the hunger of the prisoners and the pain of
the families. I decided then, to propose other arguments to
him. I told him that returning the packages places an
additional burden on the communication centers, whose main
purpose should be services for the German populace and armed
forces. I cited the slogan placed on German trains: ``Die
Rader rollen fur den Sieg'' (``The wheels are rolling for
victory.'') With this I convinced the German, who asked me
for advice what to do, because it would be difficult to just
distribute the packages at random. I offered to help: if I
received permission from the commandant of the camp and his
deputy (Raportfuhrer Eschner) to spend additional hours
during the week working in the camp chancellery after normal
work hours, then I would attempt to find the addressees of
the parcels, by comparing their former registered numbers
with the currently assigned numbers, as well as searching for
the block in which they were presently residing.
In the camp registry office, there were card index tiles of
the mother camp Gross Rosen and all the subcamps of this
region, all living and dead prisoners with their new numbers,
occupation, and cause of death in case the prisoners were no
longer alive. After receiving the consent of the camp
authorities, I spent the next week working additionally until
about 11 or 12 at night, in search of the owners of the
parcels. The beginning was the hardest, that is, finding the
first few. Next, those who were found helped me to find the
next addressees. And in this way during the week we unloaded
the entire shipment of parcels, additionally earning the
confidence of the director of the post office, SS-man Layer,
and of Raportfurer Eschner with this work well done.
Shortly thereafter, this SS-man's goodwill, earned in this
way, became very useful to me. For one of the prisoners, it
pains me to say--a Pole (he currently resides in Warsaw),
supplemented his food rations by stealing the best foodstuffs
from some of the packages, for example, pieces of sausage.
Noticing this process, of course I did not denounce him, but
I sharply called his attention to it to have him stop doing
this. I even threatened him, that the next time this offense
occurred, he would receive from me a healthy lesson. The
angry prisoner, along with another Polish ``volksdeutch,''
wrote a denunciation about me, that I was taking advantage of
my work at the post office to send letters outside the camp,
even though I was under the so-called ``Postsperre''
(forbidden to write letters, and to receive letters and
packages). I knew nothing about this denunciation. One day,
when I arrived at work, the SS-man, director of the post
office Unterscharfuhrer, called me to his office and told me
from whom and what kind of denunciation was deposed about me.
The main chief of the political section of the camp,
representing the highest authority of the Gestapo in the
camp, came to him to verify this and to eventually take me in
for interrogation. ``My'' SS-man supervisor guaranteed that
it was not true, that I am a very good worker, and that the
denunciation was probably caused by jealousy. In the
conversation with me he added, that he was not asking me if
the accusation is true, but warned me not to do anything like
that, and also not to mention our conversation to anyone.
This SS-man saved my life then, because the denunciation
about me was true. Of course, having correspondence forbidden
to me (camp authorities ordered such types of prohibition
concerning certain dangerous prisoners). I would occasionally
send letters, availing myself of the kindness of my
colleagues, who were able to write once or twice a month to
their loved ones. From time to time (for example, once a
year) they would give up one of their own letters so I could
send one of my own, signed with their name and number (and to
these same numbers there could also come a reply to me from
my family, which they then transmitted to me later).
Luckily, the matter of the denunciation ended on this note
without any consequences. Additionally in my favor there was
also the following fact from the recent work time spent
building the warehouse in Hirschberg. Due to intervention
from the International Red Cross to the highest German
authorities in Berlin, it was demanded that all prisoners
receive the order one Sunday to write a letter home. I
reflected on what I should do. Since I had the ``Postsperre''
(under penalty of death, it was forbidden to send out or
receive any kind of correspondence or parcel, which
effectively made the prisoner ``dead'' to the outside world),
I delayed with writing the letter, in fear of the
consequences. So I went to the commandant of the subcamp
Hirschberg and asked what I should do. After coming to an
agreement with the main camp, he said that the prohibition is
binding and that I am not allowed to write. This proof of
subordination was registered in my records, and also helped
me to survive in face of the denunciation.
[[Page H163]]
A group of prisoners from Majdanek, who received food
parcels thanks to my work, was most grateful to me. Hunger
ruled in the camp; food parcels were unbelievably valuable.
They invited me most warmly for a tasty treat, but I
declined--not accepting even a piece from anyone. At that
time, I worked inside the building and not that hard, so it
wasn't very bad for me; if they wanted to, then they could
share the food products with their friends and colleagues.
Helping my colleagues I saw as my duty, without accepting
even the smallest payment, not even in the form of food.
8. leitmeritz
In January 1945, the German-Russian battles already moved
to the west of Wroclaw. The prisoners were transported by
train and on foot to the west. As I recall, on the 4th or 5th
of February 1945 there occurred the final liquidation of the
concentration camp Gross Rosen. They loaded us on various
uncovered train cars (for example, coal cars). They packed as
many of us as possible into each train car, putting in one or
two SS-men with machine guns. All prisoners were told to
kneel or to sit, and who ever raised himself or stood up was
immediately shot. The train drew near several locations where
there were concentration camps, but they were already
overfilled. On some stops, the bodies of dead prisoners were
removed from the wagons. Finally we reached Flossenburg, and
from there the subcamp Leitmeritz. It was a camp of murderous
labor in digging tunnels into the rock walls, into which were
then placed machines to produce armaments and ammunition. The
mountains protected the production against bombing
explosions. Those prisoners who were still alive in the last
few train cars, where I also found myself, received orders to
take the corpses out of the wagons outside, and lay them out
on the embankments along the railroad tracks. This caused a
considerable delay in entering the camp itself. Walking in
through the gate, I heard someone calling my name. It turned
out that they were the former prisoners of the Majdanek camp,
and later Gross Rosen, whose parcels from their families I
had rescued in Gross Rosen, with that additional night work
in the camp registry office.
After the quarantine, the entire transport of prisoners was
sent to set up camp Leitmeritz, and many of them now occupied
good positions (for example, as functionaries of the camp's
firefighting service). Out of gratitude, they fed me and my
colleagues, assigned me a bed to sleep on (many of the
prisoners slept two or three on one bed or on the ground) and
arranged work for me outside the main camp, under good
conditions, at the construction of a house for the camp
commandant. Because the German criminal prisoners, and
especially those so-called ``kapo,'' had already been
dismissed by then from the camps, and after a short training
were sent to the eastern front, they made me the ``kayo'' of
that group. I chose the following individuals for the group:
(1) Kazimierz Wisniewski, former student of the Szkola
Glowna Handlowa in Warsaw (Warsaw School of Economics), still
sick after typhus.
(2) Jerzy Cesarski, pre-war activist of the PPS (Polska
Partia Socjalistyczna) and an active member of the
underground.
(3) A German (whose name I do not remember) ``kapo'' of the
electricians in the commando ``Steinbruch,'' the exploitation
of the quarries in camp Gross Rosen. He was known for
secretly constructing a radio receiver together with a few
Poles and Germans; they jointly listened to the radio
broadcasts from London and also news about the situation of
battles on the fronts, and passed them on by word of mouth to
their colleagues in the camp, by which they really raised
their hopes for surviving. And that was a great deal. Caught
red-handed listening to this radio, despite terrible beatings
and other tortures, he did not betray anyone, taking the
entire responsibility on himself. The liquidation of camp
Gross Rosen probably saved him from death.
One evening, a group of Polish colleagues at work digging
the tunnel, reported to me--explaining, that the German
supervisor working there, who murdered people at work, had
already promised one Pole that he would finish him off the
next day. This Pole, already sentenced for extermination, was
engineer Dr. Henryk Stankiewicz, docent lecturer of the
Warsaw Politechnical School (as I recall, before the war he
specialized in research on the endurance of building
materials). Because I could not take more than three people
to work, I had to release someone in order to take in
Stankiewicz. I decided to dismiss Jerzy Cesarski, who scolded
me terribly, that I was sacrificing a political activist in
favor of some kind of engineer. Fortunately, both survived
and both returned to Poland. On a marginal note on this
matter, I will only add that as I recall, the 68-year old SS-
man who watched us, of Czech origin, and who knew the Czech,
German, Russian and even the Polish language rather well,
stated to us at the very beginning, that in his presence we
can say whatever we like about Hitler and the Germans, but if
his wife or his daughters arrived, we were not allowed to say
anything, because they were real Germans and would
immediately report this fact to the Gestapo.
To build the house for the commandant of the camp (it was
already under roofing) we had absolutely no materials and no
desire. We spent our whole time looking for wood remnants
nearby, which we exchanged with the local residents for a
beet, a turnip, a few potatoes, or a piece of bread. From
these products we would make a soup, which we shared honestly
with our guard. This commando was kept for me for a long
time, so that I think that it was due to the gratitude shown
me for that time in Gross Rosen. I have great respect and
gratitude for my colleagues.
9. ESCAPE FROM THE TRANSPORT ON FOOT
In the months of March and April 1945, the Russian armies
were pressing to the west. One could hear in the distance
somewhere the bombs bursting and the cannonade of the
artillery. All work outside the barbed wire of the camp was
halted, and also within our commando. Whole columns of
prisoners were prepared to march out one after the other
somewhere to the west. On May 5, 1945, my colleagues
Wisniewski and Stankiewicz, and I were included in such a
column marching on foot. In the camp it was already a public
secret that the prisoners in the transports on foot, who no
longer had the strength to continue further, were finished
off with a rifle shot and left by the roadside to be buried
by the local residents. Long marches, often without food
and water, left numerous victims. Therefore, at the first
occasion during the night, walking through a dense forest,
at a given password all three of us jumped into the
roadside thicket. We waited until the entire column passed
us and then we hid ourselves in even thicker shrubs and
waited for sunrise. In the morning, we turned into the
first forest path crossing, which led us to a Czech
village, where we were greeted very, very hospitably.
Bathed, fed and dressed in clean undergarments, and in
clean albeit old clothes, we finally felt like human
beings. The Czechs informed us that the Russian armies
were already in Prague (or in the vicinity of Prague), and
the American armies were in the area of Pilzno.
While still in the concentration camps, we all knew about
the fate of the Polish officers at Katyn. The German press
made this known, and it was confirmed by the Polish
underground press, with the exception of procommunist
gazettes. We already knew about the mass arrests of Poles on
territories taken over by Russia and of their transports
under terrible conditions to Siberia. We already knew what
would be waiting for us there, if we believed in the
communist prattle and headed east. That's why we had already
planned earlier to head west. The roads were already
obstructed with German deserters and other nationalities in
all directions. Almost everywhere there were organized
kitchens for the fugitives. Without greater obstacles, we
made it to the vicinity of Pilzno. There, on the main road to
Germany, we were stopped by an American patrol. Only those
who had documents proving that they resided in the west were
allowed to go on. Residents of Central and Eastern Europe
were to return to their homes. The three of us went off to
the side to consult on what to do. A young Czech boy was
listening in on our conversation. Apparently he understood
our situation, because he informed us that he could show us
where to cross the border. He returned with us part of the
way towards the village, then turned off to the side through
the field boundary strips, in the direction of some small
shrubs and thickets, and said that beyond those shrubs we
would reach a grove, and beyond that would be Germany. That's
how we made it to the German locality in the area of
Schwandorf, and then further on to the town of Amberg, where
a Polish DP (Displaced Persons) camp was being formed. There
the commandant of the camp, a prisoner of concentration
camps, a major in the AK (Armia Krajowa--Polish Home Army),
Wojcik (Jozef was his first name, I think) greeted us, and in
a pleasant, friendly new-camp atmosphere we slowly regained
our old selves mentally and physically, after the tragic
experiences of the preceding years. The nightmare of German
concentration camps still remained in our subconsciousness
for decades and even now after more than fifty years of
freedom, sometimes I wake up from a terrible dream and I see
the silent pleading eyes of my friends standing in front of
the camp administration office in Gross Rosen, under the
guard of SS-men, I hear the shots into the back of their
skulls; and I sense and I see in the dream the black cloud of
smoke weaving lazily out of the crematorium. Those who
survived this hell did not speak of it for a long time. But
it is necessary to talk about it, so that the memory will not
be obliterated, so that the history of the Polish Holocaust
will not be further falsified.
10. THE POLISH CIVILIAN GUARD
In August and September 1945, the news spread around in
Amberg that:
(1) the Polish DP camp in Amberg would be transferred to a
larger camp in Wildflecken,
(2) the Americans were organizing the Polish Civilian Guard
and Transitional Training Camps.
The commandant of our camp, Major Jozef Wojcik, became the
commandant of one of such camps (Wincer) and asked me to help
in enrolling participants. I traveled around the DP camps,
made speeches and kept sending to Wincer even more candidates
for the Civilian Guard. Finally-late in the autumn of 1945, 1
also went through a period of training as a second
lieutenant, and at the beginning of 1946, our Civilian Guard
company was sent into service at Bad Aibling (near Rosenheim
by Munich). As I recall, there were three of our companies
all-together. We performed our duty by guarding German POWs;
mechanical vehicles and their spare parts; and
[[Page H164]]
stores of weapons, ammunition, etc. In the summer of 1946.
they transferred our company for repeat short training do
Mannheim Kafertal. There I found many young officers and
soldiers whom I knew from my college years, my military
service and during my professional work. I became friends
with the deputy of the leader of the Civilian Guard of the
American Army, Lieutenant-Colonel Wladyslaw Rylko, and he,
knowing that I am a member of the cooperative movement, asked
me for help in organizing co-ops in the Civilian Guard
companies. I began work on preparing the statutes as well as
the accounting forms and cash settlements. However, since
part of the company to which I was assigned was transferred
to Buttelborn near Gross Gerau in the vicinity of Darmstadt,
in order to guard the warehouses of automobile parts and
automotive service columns, I went along with them. After a
few days in Buttelborn, I became aware of two things:
(1) the members of the companies and their families were
still somewhat hungry;
(2) the American army would employ the Civilian Guard only
for as long as they needed us. In case of dismissal, our
soldiers will go looking for work in Germany or through
emigration, without possessing any practical professional
skills.
I resolved to do something to remedy both these cases.
Regarding the suffering due to hunger, I again started up the
company cooperative. making the bookkeeping, the accounting,
and the periodical rights of control by members (the
auditing committee) more efficient. Regarding the
guardsmen's lack of professional skills, I held a meeting
of the soldiers and asked them, who would like to learn
which profession. Next, I applied to the local village
resident Germans individually, owners of trade workshops,
with a request to accept our candidates for training in
the profession. In this way I was able to accommodate all
who wanted to learn. Next, I sat down with my friend, the
leader of the company. Captain Roman Wcislo-Winnicki, to
work out the scheduling of guard service for afternoon or
evening hours, so that those who wanted to learn could go
to work during the day in the trade workshops and learn
the trade skills. With the help of the educational officer
of our center, Captain Jerzy Wilski (my colleague from the
concentration camp Gross Rosen), a scouting instructor
before the war, we founded clubs for soccer, basketball,
volleyball, and an educational club with a handy reference
library and so on. The work came out just fine. It was
time to think about myself, too. Lieutenant-Colonel
Wladyslaw Rylko suggested that I transfer to the center of
civilian guard training in Mannheim Kafertal. I applied to
the University (Wirtschaftshochschule) in Mannheim for
admission to studies and to work on a doctorate in
economics (Wirtschaftswissenschaft). They accepted me and
assigned study subjects and an amount of time for two
semesters, that is, with a possibility of finishing
studies in one year. Unfortunately, just after I passed
the examinations for the first doctoral semester, I was
dismissed from the Civilian Guard of the American army in
the summer of 1947 (Reduction In Force). Because this was
equivalent to depriving me of financial resources for me
and my entire family (wife and daughter), I had to resign
from further studies. Luckily, before the dismissal, and
with a greater cooperation of a special co-op committee, I
was able to work out the statutes, bookkeeping, and plant
the seed of trade courses in very many guard companies, so
that the Civilian Guard of the American Army could rightly
be proud of beautiful attainments in education, culture,
profession, charity and finances--and always in the spirit
of the true independence of Poland.
During the autumn of 1947, I moved with my family to the
Polish DP camp in Hochenfels (Lechow) near Regensburg, where
I was drawn immediately into collaborative work with a circle
of farmers; and I began lectures on economics and accounting
subjects. After a few months, they offered me a position with
the chief Polonian organization in the American-occupied zone
in Germany, called ``Zjednoc zenie Polskie'' (``Polish
Union'') with headquarters in Regensburg--Brunnleite 7. But
that is a completely different topic.
11. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, WHICH WAS NOT PRESENTED AT THE DISCUSSION
CLUB
Due to lack of time and the huge amount of material to
discuss, I did not touch on many details. Having that
opportunity presently, I would like to complete some of the
topics in short fashion.
While working in the post office in Gross Rosen in parcel
reception, I was also on a block with other prisoners working
at the camp registry office, such as:
In the Political Section, which settled prisoner affairs in
the course of further interrogations (and torture!), verified
the records of prisoners sentenced to death, kept under
surveillance those prisoners suspected of enemy anti-Nazi
propaganda or even anti-camp, and hunted after secret
underground organizations in the same camp, as well as
checked every so often whether prisoners with death sentences
were really executed (by phenol injections, gassing or
shooting).
In the Labor Section, which located and controlled the
status of prisoners in all commandos of the mother camp Gross
Rosen and in all its subcamps.
In the Camp Enlargement Section.
In the Post Office Section, and so forth.
However, the most important was the Political Section and
the Labor Section. It depended on them whether one would
eventually survive the camp or not.
In periods free from work tasks, there were many occasions
for conversations between prisoners on various topics,
discrete exchanges of opinions, getting to know each other.
The highest prominent of the not very numerous Polish group
in the camp registry office was Jan Dolinski, a political
prisoner who spoke German excellently, but who did not
blindly serve the Germans. He did what he had to. He was
polite but he kept his distance. In the group of foreigners,
a young Ukrainian from the Polish territories, Antoni
Kaminski attracted attention (he was friendly, but something
told me to avoid him); and also a tall, stout, middle-aged
resident of Belgium or Denmark (I don't remember exactly),
with whom I quickly formed a friendship (unfortunately, I
don't remember his name either). After a short time he told
me, that he worked in the Political Section of the camp
(Politische Abteilung), that I am on the list of prisoners
who are under surveillance at least once a month without
knowing about it--by other prisoners, mostly Germans. He gave
me the name of my ``guardian angel,'' warning me not to give
away that I know anything about it. Such a prisoner-spy would
try to make friends, would bring up certain questions during
a conversation, such as who will win the war, who is losing
the war, why and whom do I wish victory, what was my attitude
towards the communists, and of course the whole time he would
agree with my opinions. Afterwards the entire content of that
conversation would be reported where he was so told. The
information from this Belgian protected me from painful
consequences and increased my vigilance and caution in
pronouncements to strangers. Shortly after the first
warnings, ``my'' Belgian told me that he has access to a list
of individuals of Polish nationality, who, after
interrogation by Gestapo in various cities are sent to the
camp in Gross Rosen, but with a sentence of death. These
individuals after a few months were called to the Political
Section; after their identity had been verified, they were
made to stand at attention before the camp administration
office, until a designated SS-man would lead them to the
crematorium and there kill them with a phenol injection, gas
or a bullet. Then on the prisoner's card file in the camp
registry office would be noted the date and the letters
``ABE'' which meant ``Auf Befehl Erschossen''--shot on
orders.
Because Polish names are difficult to remember for
foreigners, the Belgian prepared a short list with the names
of the new Polish prisoners that were under a sentence of
death. On one of the first lists was the name Antoni Suchon,
my younger brother's friend from the Stopnica high school. I
had already met with him before in camp. During the German
occupation he belonged to the peoples' movement and was a
member of the underground organization. One day, a meeting of
that organization was scheduled in a village during a dance
party. The Germans surrounded all the participants, and
Suchon had with him a loaded revolver, which he tossed out
unnoticed. The Germans found the revolver, and in order not
to put the others in jeopardy of interrogation, torture and
maybe even death, he himself confessed during the search that
it was he who tossed the gun and that the weapon is his. All
were set free, and after interrogation he was sent to camp
Gross Rosen with a death sentence.
The camp in Gross Rosen had many subcamps. In some of them
mortality was so high, that rarely were prisoners transferred
from them to the mother camp in Gross Rosen in order to
execute death sentences. Usually the prisoners died
themselves from exhaustion or poisoning (for example from the
exhaust fumes in the factory of poison gases). The director
of the Labor Section was a small, slender, middle-aged
hunchback ``Krieger,'' who wore the pink triangle (pederast).
For a piece of cake, bacon, lard or onion, he agreed to
send--without any publicizing--a Polish prisoner to a subcamp
designated by me. In this way the lives of certain worthy
people were saved. Unfortunately, I was unable to save the
life of my younger (he was about 26 years old) colleague
Antoni Suchon. After several months, during the afternoon
apel, I noticed him standing at attention before the
administration office. He didn't look too badly, he was calm,
resigned. Already next to him stood the SS-man who was to
lead him to the crematorium for execution. I wept for Antoni
like a child.
Unfortunately one day, probably already in autumn of 1944,
as I was returning from work for the afternoon apel, I
noticed my friend the Belgian standing at attention in front
of the camp administration office. I walked slowly across to
the other side of the camp street and looked at him. He also
looked at me and with his head signaled ``no.'' I understood:
he did not betray anyone. Someone denounced him and the SS
searched his pockets when leaving work and found some names.
He was handed over to the penal company of the horrible
murderer ``Vogel.'' My friends and I had to put in a lot of
effort, and live through much fear, to save ``my'' Belgian as
well as another of my friends from college years, Stanislaw
Dziadus. Dziadus, who was sent from Gross Rosen to the
subcamp in Biedrusk near Poznan, escaped from there and was
caught by the Gestapo and returned to camp Gross Rosen. We
were able to arrange that he would not be killed, only sent
to the penal block. Since the camp in Gross Rosen was
overloaded with prisoners, they were sending transports to
other
[[Page H165]]
camps, located further west. For a bit more cake, bacon and
other items received from colleagues, we were able to include
our friend the Belgian and Stas Dziadus (later, a doctor and
peoples' activist in Poland) on the list of participants of
the transport and give them provisions for the trip.
12. DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THE POLISH HOLOCAUST
For almost fifty years after the attack of Germany and the
Soviets on Poland and after the experiences in the
concentration camps, I was unable to withstand the
psychological stress involved in discussing or even listening
to conversations on the subject of the terrible effects of
the war, and above all the results of Gestapo rule. I had a
nervous breakdown and burst out in bitter weeping on the
stand while testifying in the federal case in Chicago
regarding the deportation of a former SS-man from Gross
Rosen, Reinhold Kulle, which took place in the years 1983-
1984.
But I was also aware of the fact that the recording of
experiences of former prisoners of German and Soviet
concentration camps is a necessity to preserve historical
truth--and I slowly began to control myself, and to speak on
those subjects. And so, on September 1, 1989 on the fiftieth
anniversary of the attack of Germany and the Soviets on
Poland and the outbreak of WWII, two television stations
(Channel 11 and Channel 13) in Toledo, Ohio, and also the
locally well-known and widely-read daily newspaper, The
Blade, came to me with a request for an interview.
The matter of the Polish Holocaust and my wartime
experiences was widely commented on the two TV stations and
written up in an interesting, lengthy article of the major
local press. The local Polish American Congress (of which I
was vice-president) arranged a solemn observance of the 50th
anniversary of the attack on Poland in the local theater
located in the old Polish neighborhood, where Rev. Chaplain
George Rinkowski presented his war history and experiences,
and I presented my own experiences--my Polish Holocaust. In
September of 1989, an instructor (Applied Economics) in the
high school in Maumee, Ohio, also asked me to lecture on the
subject of differences between capitalism and communism.
In October 1989, Mr. Dale Schroeder of Monroe, Michigan
invited me to speak about my experiences during the war to
the members at a dinner meeting of the local Kiwanis Club. My
lecture also appeared in the local gazette, The Monroe
Evening News.
In December 1989, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, the U.S.
Representative from Toledo and herself of Polish heritage, a
very well-known, loved and respected person, organized for
middle-school students a memorial observance of the Holocaust
at the University of Toledo Urban Affairs Center, with the
participation of ethnic groups. I was the lecturer from the
Polish group.
The terminal illness and death of my late wife, Wladyslawa
(who, with her parents and two brothers had already been
arrested on January 18, 1940, and whose brother was murdered
in a mass execution at Palmiry, and her father at Auschwitz)
interrupted my thoughts about the Polish Holocaust.
Only towards the beginning of 1995 did I accept an
invitation from the high school in Oak Harbor, Ohio (from
teachers Mr. & Mrs. S. Kirian) for a chat about my
experiences in the concentration camps (it was also recorded
on videotape). The children listened with great interest.
If I remember correctly, on October 15, 1995 there was a
solemn Mass (on the occasion of the annual meeting) at the
American Czestochowa in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, in the
intention of those who were deceased and those who survived
the German and Soviet concentration camps. We set out there
together with my friend Albert Ziegler, who is of Jewish
heritage. Because Al did not speak Polish, I was his
interpreter. The Poles present at the meeting greeted Ziegler
very cordially. There weren't even the slightest missteps or
shortcomings. They even asked him to light a candle during
Holy Mass, in memory of the Jews who perished in the
Holocaust.
More or less around this time, I had a short interview by
the editor (or perhaps owner) of The Monroe Evening News,
which later appeared in their published book, In the Rockets'
Red Glare; Recollections of Monroe County Veterans.
In 1996 we again decided to travel to Doylestown for the
solemn observance, and Al was even prepared with special
video equipment for this occasion. However, in the interim
there was an intensification of anti-Polish attacks in the
press and TV, after the so-called ``documentary'' film PBS/
Frontline Shtetl. Al Ziegler filmed the entire ceremony. They
greeted him very politely, but coldly. There was no sign of
the previous outpouring of courtesy and friendship from the
entire hall. It was replaced by a polite reserve, although no
one told him even one unpleasant word. I know that Al Ziegler
felt this very sharply, but he was probably not surprised at
this reaction, which resulted from the current attacks on
Poles.
After the nationwide broadcast of the PBS/Frontline film
Shtetl, my daughter called the local PBS TV station with a
request that they show the documentary film Zegota. Although
they received a copy of the video from the film director,
they still decided not to broadcast it. So, on several
occasions we invited groups of people to our home to show
them this real, other side of the problem. Naturally, we also
invited over our Jewish friends.
After all, the majority of the actors of this documentary
film Zegota are real witnesses of the drama. They are the
participants and authors of this history, which unfortunately
a majority of Jews does not wish to view and doesn't even
want to hear about it. The kind of help that the Jews
received during WWII in Poland was not found in any other
country under German control. And this is precisely
demonstrated in the film Zegota.
On September 17, 1997 I was invited by my friend Mr. Dale
Schroeder to talk to the members of the local Kiwanis Club
about the attack of the Soviets on Poland on September 17,
1939.
In 1997 and 1998, I had two presentations for students of
American history at the University of Toledo, Ohio (at the
invitation of teacher Carol Holeman). After my lectures, the
students admitted to me privately that they had not known
anything about the Polish part of the Holocaust.
In November 1997, I attended a public meeting at the Erie
United Methodist Church in Erie, Michigan. Two students from
the church had just returned from mission vacations spent in
Poland, and were relating their impressions in a most
flattering way about Poland. Following their presentation, I
spoke on the subject of the Polish Holocaust.
In April 1998, the minister of the same church invited me
to their Sunday service to speak at length on the subject of
the Holocaust (during which the Germans murdered 6 million
Polish citizens: 3 million Christian Poles and 3 million
Jewish Poles). The lecture was received very favorably, and
the attendees of that meeting recalled it to me on many
occasions.
In 1997 and 1998, my friend Al Ziegler and I took part in a
whole series of interviews and occasional discussions on the
topic of the Jewish and Polish Holocaust, presenting it as it
really had happened. Schools in Toledo, Maumee and Sylvania,
Ohio, invited my Jewish friend along with me, a Christian, to
speak on and explain those topics. Often, they were
videotaped. I must state that my Jewish friend was very
objective and reported the matters entirely in agreement with
the truth.
Albert Ziegler recorded very many interviews with both Jews
and Christians, probably hundreds of hours. Unfortunately, we
were not always able to lecture together. Some schools only
allotted 45 minutes for a presentation. The best situation
was on those occasions when we had 2-3 hours for both of us.
On January 30, 1998, I was interviewed for the Steven
Spielberg Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation,
with a specially hired videographer. The interview itself was
performed by Albert Ziegler, one of the specially trained
Spielberg interviewers in the region.
13. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Mr. Marian Wojciechowski was born April 25, 1914 in
Polaniec, formerly Sandomierz district, currently Staszow
district, Swietokrzyskie province in Poland. He finished
basic school in Polaniec, and a co-educational high school in
Busko Zdroj. A graduate of the Szkola Glowna Handlowa in
Warsaw (SGH--Warsaw School of Economics), Cooperatives
Faculty (master's examination passed in 1937), and Business
Education Faculty in 1940.
Former auditor of the Agricultural-Commerce Division (Dzial
Rolniczo Handlowy) of the Union of Agricultural and Economic
Cooperatives in Warsaw (Zwiazek Spoldzielm Rolniczych i
Zarobkowo-Gospodarczych w Warszawie).
Former platoon leader in the 21st Regiment of the
Nadwislanski Lancers (21-szy Pulk Ulanow Nadwislanskich) in
the Wolynska Cavalry Brigade in September 1939.
Former active member of the people's underground movement,
Grupa ``Raclawice''--AK (Armia Krajowa--People's Home Army).
Former prisoner of the Gestapo in Radom, and of the
concentration camps Auschwitz, Gross Rosen and Leitmeritz--
from April 1942 to May 1945.
Former officer of the Polish Civilian Guard in the American
Army under the name ``Jan Wojmar.''
Former member of the board ``Zjednoczenie'' and liaison
officer for the Poles in the American-occupied zone in
Germany to the International Refugee Organization (IRO) in
Bad Kissingen.
Former bookkeeper, and later owner and publisher of the
Polish weekly newspaper Ameryka Echo in Toledo, Ohio (1952-
1961).
One of the former administrators of the City of Toledo,
Ohio (1962-1980) in the Relocation, Housing, Rehabilitation
and Community Organization.
Former administrator of the Neighborhood Housing Services
in Toledo, Ohio in the years 1980-1994 (low percentage loans
for repair of homes, also for the purchase of used homes and
their reconstruction).
Founder of the Kolo Polskich Imigrantow (Circle of Polish
Immigrants) in Toledo, Ohio.
Co-founder of the Skarb Narodowa (National Treasury) in
Toledo, Ohio.
Former member of the Rada Narodowa R. P. (National Council
of the Republic of Poland) in exile (awarded the Gold Cross
of Merit).
Former ten-year commander of Post 74 PAVA (Polish Army
Veterans of America; SWAP--Stowarzyszenie Weteranow Armii
Polskiej) in Toledo, Ohio; Honorary Post Commander.
[[Page H166]]
For many years, vice-president and for two years, president
of the Polish American Congress in Toledo, Ohio (reorganized
the local Congress by bringing in the younger generation of
Americans of Polish heritage, and proposing a plan of
projects for the coming years).
Member of many other organizations:
Polish National Alliance (Zwiazek Narodowy Polski).
Polish Legion of American Veterans--Post 207, Las Vegas,
Nevada.
Toledo Polish Cultural Association
Toledo Poznan Alliance (Sister Cities International)
The American Center of Polish Culture
Urban Renewal Housing Authority
American Legion--Ohio, Post 545 in Toledo
International Institute of Greater Toledo, Inc.
Kosciuszko Foundation
Public Employee Retirees, Inc.
Mr. WEINER. Madam Speaker, today we commemorate the 60th anniversary
of the liberation of Auschwitz. It is a powerful and important reminder
of terror, genocide, and the Holocaust. More than 1.5 million
prisoners--most of them Jews--perished in gas chambers or died of
starvation and disease at Auschwitz.
Today it is important to remember those crimes against humanity. We
must recall those whose lives were lost to the savagery of fascism,
racism, and bigotry. We must never forget them.
We must also remember the heroes of that war who helped save lives by
risking their own.
On this 60th anniversary, we reflect back, but we also look ahead. We
mark this date with a pledge to the living.
We must keep the stories of the survivors--our siblings, parents, and
grandparents--alive. We must remain steadfast in our dedication to
eliminating anti-Semitism in every country and here at home. We must
ensure that all Jews have a secure homeland in the State of Israel to
seek refuge.
And we must act to stop genocide--in Sudan or anywhere else. The
murder of innocent people must never happen again.
Mr. WAXMAN. Madam Speaker, this week marks the 60th anniversary of
the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. Around the world
we join together to mourn the millions of Jews and others who perished
in its gruesome gates. We reaffirm our collective responsibility to
wipe out anti-Semitism and hatred and remember the silence that let the
Holocaust go unnoticed for so long.
Auschwitz was only one of many extermination camps the Nazi's used,
but it was the largest and the place where the gas chambers were first
refined for mass murder. The searing image of the many tracks leading
straight to its crematoria is a tragic emblem of its horrors. It is
also a painful reminder of the United States government's decision not
to bomb those tracks when it had the chance and its refusal to admit
Jewish refugees who later arrived at the camp's railroad platforms.
Yesterday, for the first time in its history, the United Nations held
a special session to commemorate the Holocaust and the Auschwitz
liberation. While this is appropriate, we should not forget that this
international organization, set up to stop atrocities such as the ones
in the Second World War, has spent so much of its effort criticizing
Israel, the nation that emerged from the remnants of the Holocaust, and
still today has refused to designate the murders in Darfur as an
official genocide.
Today we say ``never again'' to both the intolerance that created
Auschwitz and the intransigence that stopped the world from acting
sooner. At the same time, we must turn our attention to the neglected
crises of our day like the genocide in Darfur where more than 2.2
million people have already been victimized and displaced by a brutal
campaign of ethnic cleansing.
The only way to fight indifference is to make a difference. One
example is a project undertaken by the students of Miliken Community
High School in Los Angeles. These students raised more than $10,000
this year to donate to the International Medical Corps to build water
wells for displaced refugees in Chad and Sudan. I am very proud of them
for reaching out to help improve the lives of some of the world's most
vulnerable people. Let us all learn from their example and the lessons
of history so we do not need to wait for 60 years to mark a genocide we
might prevent or stop.
Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 39, to
recognize and honor the 60th anniversary of the liberation of
Auschwitz, and to honor the 13 million who perished in the Nazi
concentration camps.
It is important not only that we continue to study the terrible
lessons of the Holocaust, but that we also express our gratitude to the
Allied troops whose service and sacrifice helped liberate those trapped
in these factories of death.
The Holocaust represented the systematic persecution and murder of
approximately 6 million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators.
Dubbed the ``final solution'' by the Nazi bureaucrats who ran it, the
attempted extermination of European Jewry was carried out in camps
across occupied Europe. The center of this hell was Auschwitz.
A complex of camps, Auschwitz was built 37 miles west of Krakow, near
the prewar German-Polish border, to extract the labor of its prisoners
before they were exterminated in gas chambers that ran around-the-
clock. It is estimated that at least 1.3 million people were deported
to Auschwitz between 1940 and 1945; of these, at least 1.1 million were
murdered there.
Sixty years ago, on January 27, 1945, the Soviet army liberated
Auschwitz and freed more than 7,000 people, most of whom were ill and
dying.
Thirteen years ago, I was able to see this camp firsthand when I
visited Poland. Decades after the liberation, the thought of all the
men, women and children murdered there was and still is chilling and
difficult to endure.
The United Nations held a special session yesterday to commemorate
the Holocaust and the liberation of the camps. The ceremony featured
speakers Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize
winner, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wollowitz and the foreign
ministers of Israel, Germany, and France.
Even as we struggle to come to terms with events that happened more
than half a century ago, we must recognize that there are other
genocides occurring in the world. In the wake of the conflagration that
befell the Jews during the Nazi era, the world pledged that ``Never
Again'' would we stand by as others were hunted and murdered just
because they existed. Sadly, we have not yet lived up to that simple
vow--the dead of Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda and now Darfur, have joined
the Jews of Europe. I hope that the 60th anniversary of the liberation
of Auschwitz will act as a catalyst for a re-dedication of humanity to
ending the crime of genocide.
Mr. FARR. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong and heartfelt support
of H. Res. 39. This resolution underlies the moral fabric of our global
society: We must never ever forget and we must be ever vigilant to
prevent the hatred that led to the creation of concentration camps like
Auschwitz.
The resolution rightly urges that we rededicate ourselves to the
fight against racism, intolerance, bigotry, prejudice, discrimination
and anti-Semitism. Clearly, such a call to arms is needed now more than
ever. For example, the State Department's Report on Global Anti-
Semitism states, ``anti-Semitism in Europe increased significantly in
recent years.'' Genocide in Rwanda, the ethnic massacres in Bosnia and
the mass killings of children in Russia reminds us that not every
corner of the world or country is committed to respecting the dignity
of its citizens. As we solemnly remember the sacrifice of 12 million
people who were persecuted and died because of their ethnicity,
political or religious beliefs, we must fight anti-Semitism and other
forms of discrimination with renewed vigor. We will be judged poorly by
history itself if we do not.
Mr. HOLT. Madam Speaker, I rise to join my colleagues in support of
H. Con. Res. 16, which commemorates the 60th Anniversary of the
liberation of Auschwitz.
Yesterday, I went to New York to attend the United Nations first
commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz. It was an incredible
day--the first of its kind. It gave me hope that we, as a world, may be
learning lessons so desperately needed.
Among other things, yesterday's General Assembly session was a
reminder that we, as a country and a world community, must not forget
the battles we have waged in the name of humanity. This anniversary
provides us with an opportunity to reflect on the horrors that occurred
at Auschwitz, and to commemorate the lives of those it took. But it is
more than that. That, I suppose, is something we all know.
Hearing the stories of Auschwitz is difficult. It is tempting to want
to avoid these horrific memories--to bury the Holocaust deep, so that
it will not haunt us. But understanding the immeasurable wrongs the
Jewish people have endured--and the scale on which they occurred--is
vital to understanding our world today. It is also vital to
understanding the depravity of which human beings, when hardened to
others' suffering, are capable. It is only through the process of
acknowledging and discussing these horrific events that we can prevent
similar iniquity in the future.
Anniversaries, as I have said, give rise to reflection. But
understanding our past and respecting each other's differences have
never been more vital that they are today. Distrust, misunderstanding,
and hate have found fertile ground in many parts of the world. We see
it in the Sudan, for example. We must meet this challenge by demanding
that all world leaders anticipate, understand, and address the issues
that emerge from poverty, injustice, militarism, and racism. A good
speech can move its audience, but speech without action does nothing
for those who most need the words to mean something.
[[Page H167]]
As U.N. Secretary General Kofi Anan reminded us yesterday, in the 60
years since the liberation of Auschwitz, the world has failed more than
once to prevent genocide. As we look around the world today, we must
open our eyes to the many horrific examples of inhumanity that we are
allowing to continue. The Secretary General recounted the history and
pointed out that like Israel, the founding of the United Nations in a
real sense was a direct response to the Holocaust.
The international community must deal honestly with the Holocaust and
with the atrocities that are occurring at this very moment. We must
acknowledge its roots, and anti-Semitism persist in too many places
around the globe. World leaders must shake themselves out of
indifference and rise above political considerations. They must use
their position to combat the intolerance that has been allowed to
fester for too long. Without an honest assessment and vigilant
commitment, we fail to learn the lessons of Auschwitz and prevent the
recurrence of these crimes against humanity.
I urge my colleagues to do more than vote for this resolution today.
We must work within our communities and across borders to foster
respect for all people and deepen understanding of other cultures. We
must reach out to the organizations and community groups that teach
values such as tolerance and diversity to our young people. We must
challenge the seeds of hate before they take root, even when it means
confronting our friends. Failing to take these steps is more than a
moral failing on our part. It is a failure to make good on the promise
we made at Auschwitz six decades ago.
Mr. CANTOR. Madam Speaker, today we mark the 60th anniversary of the
liberation of the Auschwitz death camp, a component of the murderous
network used by the Nazis in World War II. Throughout their network of
evil, the Nazis slew the blameless and pure, men and women and
children, with vapors of poison and burned them with fire.
For many of the survivors, the Holocaust did not end with liberation.
Those who survived faced the enormous challenge of rebuilding their
lives. Many succeeded, others did not, but all would remember the
horror of the crimes that they were forced to witness. Survivors who
suffered this hell are a living testament to the depths of evil to
which men can fall. We must never again allow such a heinous crime of
man to be committed against his fellow man.
I want to take this opportunity to thank the countless people who
have devoted their lives to ensuring that the history of the death
camps has not been forgotten by following generations.
Today marks the Jewish holiday of Tu'Beshvat. Tu'Beshvat is
considered the New Year for nature in the Jewish calendar and marks the
first signs of spring in Israel. On this day of spring and hope, let us
renew our commitment to hope in man and rededicate ourselves to those
words, ``never again.''
Mr. LANGEVIN. Madam Speaker, today I join my colleagues to
commemorate the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. On
January 27, 1945, Soviet troops entered the Nazi concentration camp and
freed the prisoners held there. From the survivors, we have heard
heartbreaking tales of cruelty and oppression and now consider
Auschwitz a symbol of the brutality of the Nazi regime--a place whose
horrors test the bounds of imagination.
The liberation of Auschwitz was a pivotal moment in ending the
Holocaust, during which more than 12 million innocent civilians were
murdered, including 6 million Jews. These people were singled out not
because of any wrongdoing, but rather because of their religion,
beliefs, birthplace, or personal characteristics.
Sixty years after the end of this attempt to exterminate an entire
religion, anti-Semitism, racism, and xenophobia continue to plague
humanity. Despite the lessons of history, the world has witnessed
genocide in Armenia, Cambodia, Rwanda, Yugoslavia, and even recently in
Sudan, among other places. Furthermore, we continue to hear anti-
Semitic sentiments coming out of Europe, the Middle East, and North
Africa, and even here at home in America. Now more than ever, we all
must work to understand those of different cultures, races, and
religions. Mutual respect for our differences will lead to the end of
hostilities, and only then will the opportunity for world peace exist.
One of our colleagues, the gentleman from California, Mr. Lantos,
survived the Holocaust and knows firsthand humankind's potential for
cruelty. However, he has dedicated his entire life to combating the
forces that permit such atrocities, thereby demonstrating humankind's
potential for compassion. His tireless efforts to fight racism, anti-
Semitism, and hatred in all of its forms remind us of our
responsibility to protect those in need, both in the U.S. and
throughout the world.
On this important anniversary, I solemnly remember and honor all of
those who lost their lives in the Holocaust, thank those that worked
for their freedom, and pledge to do all in my power to prevent such
evil from ever occurring again.
Mr. MENENDEZ. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this
resolution and would like to commend my colleague and the Ranking
Member on our committee for his work on this resolution. Mr. Lantos, I
realize that as the only Holocaust survivor to ever serve in Congress,
these events, which for many of us are a part of history, are personal
for you. We honor you for your story and thank you for your leadership.
This week we, along with countries around the globe, mark the 60th
Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
Sixty years ago this week, Soviet soldiers arrived at a camp only
recently evacuated by the Nazis and liberated nearly 7,000 people. They
found people on the edge of death who had witnessed horrors beyond
belief and lost their families and their homes. It is almost
incomprehensible to understand what took place at Auschwitz, the
largest of the concentration camps. Over a million Jews, as well as at
least 70,000 Poles, 21,000 Roma, and 15,000 Soviet POWs were killed
there.
Sixty years ago seems like a lifetime away. Generations of children
have been born since then. Generations have been raised thinking that
the Holocaust and events like it are from a distant past.
But these events are not distant and are not in the past. Today,
those who survived the camps live to tell us their story and the
stories of their families and their lives before the Holocaust. And
their children and grandchildren are here with us, too. They are living
testimony to the strength, courage, and optimism of their parents and
grandparents. But in their hearts and in their souls they feel the pain
and suffering of those who raised them. In them, too, the past is
present.
Unfortunately, the past is also present in the rising anti-Semitism
we see today. According to a new report released by the State
Department, anti-Semitism has ``increased significantly'' in Europe, is
a serious problem in the Middle East, and is appearing in countries
with no historic Jewish community. From verbal and physical attacks to
vandalism, this new surge of hate must be confronted, condemned, and
stopped.
We must also say no to the naysayers who deny the horrors of the
Holocaust. It is only by remembering the past that we can change the
future.
Before I close, I must also note that we are marking another
significant event. Yesterday, for the first time in its history, the
United Nations' General Assembly held a special commemorative session
on the anniversary of the liberation of the camps. In the past, certain
groups within the U.N. have blocked commemoration of the Holocaust. I
hope that this is a turning point for the U.N. I hope that this
commemoration is only the beginning. I hope that we see more United
Nations actions, like this one, taking a strong stand against anti-
Semitism throughout the world.
Today is a day for quiet remembrance and strong action. We pause to
commemorate all those who were killed in the Nazi genocide and in other
acts of genocide around the globe. We honor those who survive. We
remember the past. We will act to create a future without genocide,
without anti-Semitism, and without hate.
Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate
the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp by
Allied Forces, this week in 1945. Soldiers of the Soviet Union found
only a few thousand prisoners remaining, most of them too sick to
leave, the rest taken away on a forced death march. It is said that
when soldiers and prisoners first stared at each other across the
barbed wire, some laughed, some cried, and others just gazed at each
other in disbelief.
Madam Speaker, it has been 60 years since that day, and we are still
in disbelief. Despite all that we know of the Holocaust from books and
movies, academic studies and personal memories, we still wonder why,
why Auschwitz could have happened. Why was the world silent in the face
of such evil? Why did fellow human beings perpetuate such a totality of
destruction on innocent men, women, and children? Perhaps there are no
definitive answers. It is rather for us to learn from these questions
how not to ever let it happen again.
The Allied forces who liberated not just Auschwitz but concentration
camps throughout Europe, all shared in the experience of entering a
different world, a world where death was the future and life the past.
It was their compassion towards the Nazi's victims that enabled the
beginning of the survivor's long journey back to civilization, back to
justice, and back to humanity. To them we owe a great debt of
gratitude.
Out of every historical wrong there comes some right, and the
Holocaust is no exception. We have been taught in the last 60 years a
great deal about humanitarianism, human dignity, the need for hope, and
the will to survive. Holocaust survivors have reminded us not
[[Page H168]]
only about what we've lost but also about how important it is to
remember. The State of Israel was formed in the wake of this tragedy,
and so many other organizations dedicated to the pursuit of freedom,
equality and tolerance have since been founded.
Madam Speaker, today is a time for reflection, but it is not enough
today to simply remember. The Holocaust has affirmed in us a commitment
to prevent the use of genocide as a tool of war, a tool that
unfortunately has been used many times since Auschwitz was liberated 60
years ago. It appears that barbarity, wanton murder, and senseless
annihilation know no statute of limitations, and we would be betraying
the memories of the millions who died if we continued to justify and
excuse our disengagement from that reality. We must continue to fight
hatred and intolerance wherever it exists, for human freedom depends on
the presence of justice, the justice that was denied to so many during
the dark days of World War II. To ignore that lesson is unforgivable.
Today in Darfur, in the Sudan, genocide is taking place. Though not
yet on the scale of the Nazi Holocaust, this conflict has engulfed
millions of people and cost hundreds of thousands of lives. Innocent
people are today being murdered, starved, and driven from their homes
simply because of the color of their skin. Though the United States has
acknowledged that this is genocide, we have failed to act. Shame on us
for failing to absorb the lessons of the Holocaust. How can this
Congress commemorate the liberation of Auschwitz while turning a blind
eye to the terrible crimes being committed in Darfur? How dare we honor
the memory of those who died with only our words and not our deeds.
Madam Speaker, I cannot simply commemorate one terrible event without
insisting that we must prevent others like it. History will long record
the sins of those who failed to act to stop the Holocaust. Shame on us
for allowing history to record that failure yet again.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this
important resolution commemorating the 60th anniversary of the
liberation of Auschwitz and call on my colleagues to join me in
honoring the memory of the Holocaust victims and to pay tribute to the
Allied soldiers who fought and sacrificed for the cause of freedom.
This resolution draws from the lessons of history by calling for the
strengthening of the fight against racism, intolerance, bigotry,
prejudice, discrimination, and anti-Semitism.
I would like to commend the gentleman from Illinois, Mr. Hyde, and
the gentleman from California, Mr. Lantos, for bringing this measure to
the Floor at this time.
When we talk of the Holocaust, we speak of a grim and unprecedented
period in human history--a unique atrocity, distinct from any other.
The mass murders that were inflicted upon the Jewish people and scores
of other victims must never be forgotten.
Similarly, we must remember the compassion of the many brave men and
women who risked their lives to rescue and shelter Jewish refugees
fleeing the Nazi reign of terror. The incidents of countless non-Jews
who risked their lives to protect people of another faith were as real
as the Nazi death camps themselves.
As Europe and the Middle East experience a dramatic rise in the
frequency and intensity of anti-Semitic acts, it is imperative that we
educate and remind the new and future generations about the atrocities
committed at Auschwitz and other camps against an innocent people.
Only a concerted, multi-faceted approach to combating this virulent
hatred will effectively silence it. Anti-Semitism, intolerance, and
bigotry must be answered and fought with all the means at our disposal,
so that the horrors of Auschwitz are never again repeated.
We must continue to tell the story, for we owe something to those who
perished at the hands of the Nazis. As Elie Wiesel has warned: ``. . .
anyone who does not remember betrays them again.''
I urge my colleagues to render their overwhelming support to this
resolution and to the noble cause of eradicating prejudice and hatred
throughout the world.
Mr. HIGGINS. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res.
39 offered by the gentleman from California, commending countries and
organizations for marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of
Auschwitz and urging a strengthening of the fight against racism,
intolerance, bigotry, prejudice, discrimination, and anti-Semitism. I
thank my colleague, Mr. Lantos, for bringing this important resolution
to the floor today.
The lessons of January 27, 1945 are forever with us. That day and the
many days of liberation afterwards showed us of the fight which exists
to make sure that the world strengthens its efforts to fight against
any form of discrimination.
There is great danger in being inactive about the threat of anti-
Semitism. It was anti-Semitism that was responsible for the horrors of
the Holocaust, for the death of over 6 million Jews, and for the
slaughter of over 1.1 million people at Auschwitz.
Sadly, even though we have reached the 60th anniversary of the
liberation of Auschwitz, anti-Semitism in Europe has been on the rise.
Once again, we witness evil propaganda, physical attacks against Jews,
the burning of Jewish sites and the desecration of synagogues. We must
not stand aside and ignore this grave escalation of anti-Semitic
violence and hatred.
We also saw the shadow of this anti-Semitism yesterday at the special
session of the United Nations' General Assembly. Nobel laureate and
Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul
Wolfowitz and foreign ministers from Israel and a number of European
countries spoke to many empty seats in the General Assembly chamber
while they delivered powerful and often moving addresses about
intolerance and genocide. Of the 191 members of the General Assembly,
only 138 agreed with the proposal by the U.S. to hold the special day
of commemoration. We must wonder why, after all these years, there are
over 50 countries which did not agree to this most basic proposal to
recognize a day which will forever be etched in our minds.
Any government whose people exhibit any act of anti-Semitism must
provide security and safety to their Jewish communities, must prosecute
and punish perpetrators of anti-Semitic violence, and must cultivate a
climate in which all forms of anti-Semitism and discrimination are
rejected.
Mass violence, the abuse of fundamental human rights, and the
mistreatment of human beings as a result of discrimination are ugly
faces of our humanity. Apart from the Holocaust, the genocides in
Turkey, Cambodia, Tibet, and Bosnia, the killing of the Tutsi in
Rwanda, the slaying of thousands in Sudan, and the deaths of millions
during the Irish Famine, are all instances of oppression and prejudice
succeeding throughout our history. The complacency and inaction of
governments around the world, standing silently by while discrimination
grows, is inexcusable.
Today must be used as a day of education, since without education,
there can be no real change. Teachers throughout the world must have
the support of their governments to teach their students the lessons of
the Holocaust and of all discrimination. Our grandchildren, great-
grandchildren, and generations to come must be made to understand that
racial, ethnic, and religious intolerance and prejudice can lead to the
genocide carried out in camps such as Auschwitz, and these intolerances
will never have a place in our world again.
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to join with my colleagues in supporting
this resolution, and thank my colleague, Mr. Lantos, for his unwavering
leadership on this issue.
Ms. McCOLLUM. Madam Speaker, as an original cosponsor of H. Res. 39,
I rise today to support this resolution marking the 60th anniversary of
the liberation of Auschwitz and exposing the world to this dark chapter
in human history.
An estimated 6 million Jewish men, women and children, more than 60
percent of the pre-Second World War Jewish population of Europe, were
murdered by the Nazis at Auschwitz and other death camps during World
War II. The Holocaust and the human suffering perpetrated by the Nazi
regime against the Jews of Europe deserves to be commemorated with
prayer, reflection and the solemn words of this resolution.
On this day, as we remember the victims of Auschwitz and the genocide
which ravaged Europe during World War II, genocide is not a relic of
history, but a reality in today's world. The human race has not
conquered the tyranny of men willing to commit mass murder--genocide--
against other human beings. At this moment in the Darfur region of
Sudan our own Secretary of State has called the systematic murder and
rape of tens of thousands--along with the forced dislocation of some
1.8 million people--a modern day ``genocide.'' In fact, it is because I
am traveling back from the Sudan and eastern Chad having visited
directly with the victims of the ethnic cleansing in Darfur that I am
not present to vote in support of H. Res. 39.
Today, as we remember the liberation of Auschwitz, the liberation of
human beings forced to suffer unimaginable horrors, let us commit this
House as well as the will and power of our great Nation, to the cause
of eradicating genocide and holding the perpetrators of such grotesque
crimes against humanity accountable.
I commend my friend Mr. Lantos for his leadership on this resolution
and I look forward to working closely with him and Chairman Hyde to end
the tyranny of genocide in the world today.
Mr. MEEK of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the memory of the
approximately one million European Jews who were murdered between 1940
and 1945 by the Nazis at the concentration camp of Auschwitz, the site
of the single largest mass murder in history.
[[Page H169]]
The camp was originally built to confine and control Polish
dissidents that the Nazis deemed were a threat to the occupation.
Polish Jews were held elsewhere, typically in ghettos. At Auschwitz,
the Polish prisoners were treated atrociously and in 20 months, more
than 10,000 died. In January 1942, a Nazi plan for the mass murder of
Jews was developed. What was called the ``Final Solution'' was the Nazi
policy to murder European Jews. In the spring of 1942, Auschwitz took
on a more important role in the Nazis' ``Final Solution.'' The
horrifying ability of Nazis to kill thousands per hour took time to
achieve and involved such cruel methods as gassing prisoners using
carbon monoxide or the lethal pesticide Zyklon B. Conservative and
reliable estimates show that the Nazis gassed at least 1.1 million
humans at Auschwitz, about 90 percent Jews. However, the torture and
killings were not just limited to the Jews as the Nazis targeted other
groups they saw as inferior such as Gypsies, the handicapped, Poles,
Russians, Communists, Socialists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and homosexuals.
As the end of World War II approached, the Nazis marched Auschwitz
prisoners west into Germany in the winter cold. During this march, many
prisoners lost their lives. A remaining few thousand prisoners deemed
too sick to travel were left at Auschwitz to be killed later by the
Schuzstaffel (SS). However, the SS left them alive in the disorder that
resulted when the Nazis abandoned the concentration camp on January 17
and 18, 1945. Soviet forces found the prisoners and liberated
Auschwitz, the site of so much horror, on January 27, 1945.
The merciless brutality inflicted on the Jews by the Nazis over the
course of World War II is unfathomable. It is still entirely
unbelievable that individuals contemplated in seriousness the
systematic destruction of over 6 million men, women, and children. On
this, the 60th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz, as we honor
the lives lost, my heartfelt condolences go out to those who lost loved
ones in the Holocaust. They will never be forgotten.
Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, 60 years ago, allied forces entered the
scene of the greatest mass murder in history--the concentration camp
known as Auschwitz. Auschwitz has become recognized around the world as
a symbol of genocide, terror and brutality. The liberation of Auschwitz
by the Red Army became a turning point in our understanding of the
world and of inhumanity. Auschwitz showed us the face of evil incarnate
and to our horror, it was an ordinary face.
Auschwitz did not start out as an experiment in death. Established by
the Nazis in 1940, it was initially a camp for individuals deemed
problematic by the Third Reich--Polish dissidents and Soviet prisoners
of war. Soon after its creation, the Germans decided to use prisoners
as slave laborers for their large industrial complex.
Once Auschwitz became a work camp, the Germans found themselves faced
with the question of what to do with prisoners who could not work. At
first, they simply shot them. Eventually they began looking for ways to
kill prisoners without unduly discomfitting the killers--ultimately
discovering the effectiveness of crystallized prussic acid, a pesticide
mass produced under the trade name Zyklon B. When the crystals
dissolved in air, they created a lethal gas. The Germans first used
this deadly gas to kill Soviet POWs.
In 1942, the Germans drew up plans for the so-called ``Final
Solution,'' which contemplated the murder of every Jew under their
control. Auschwitz, which had already proved itself to be effective at
killing large numbers of people, was perfectly situated to carry out
the deadly plan. It was located on major railroad lines and it was easy
to move large numbers of people there. Auschwitz became a crucial part
of the Germans' effort to eradicate an entire people.
The majority of the Jewish men, women and children deported to
Auschwitz were sent to their deaths in the Birkenau gas chambers
immediately after arrival. As Germany conquered new territory, the SS
gathered and sent the Jewish populations to Auschwitz and other death
camps. Meanwhile, other atrocities were also being committed at
Auschwitz. In May 1943 Dr. Josef Mengele, an SS physician, and his
colleagues began conducting experiments on thousands of human guinea
pigs.
By January 1945 the SS knew that the Red Army was approaching
Auschwitz. In an effort to eliminate evidence of the crimes they had
committed, the SS blew up the gas chambers, crematoria, and other
buildings, and burned documents. On January 18 and 19, 1945, more than
60,000 Auschwitz inmates deemed capable of walking were forced by the
SS to march through freezing weather into German-occupied territory.
Lacking proper food, clothing and medical attention, thousands died
during the death march. Many were shot. Those who made it to the rail
stations were put in open wagons and sent west to become slave
laborers. Some prisoners, many of them too weak or ill to travel, were
left behind. Those who remained behind in the camp were liberated by
Red Army soldiers on January 27, 1945.
Perhaps the most eloquent survivor of Auschwitz, Elie Wiesel,
commemorated the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the camps with
these words, ``In this place of darkness and malediction we can but
stand in awe and remember its stateless, faceless and nameless victims.
Close your eyes and look: endless nocturnal processions are converging
here, and here it is always night. Here heaven and earth are on fire.
Close your eyes and listen. Listen to the silent screams of terrified
mothers, the prayers of anguished old men and women. Listen to the
tears of children, Jewish children, a beautiful little girl among them,
with golden hair, whose vulnerable tenderness has never left me. Look
and listen as they quietly walk towards dark flames so gigantic that
the planet itself seemed in danger. All these men and women and
children came from everywhere, a gathering of exiles drawn by death.''
From 1940 to 1945, the Nazis deported over a million Jews, almost
150,000 Poles, 23,000 Roma, 15,000 Soviet POWs, and over 10,000
prisoners of other nationalities to Auschwitz. The overwhelming
majority of them died in the camp.
Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the 60th
anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. May we forever remember
those who perished there, and may their deaths remind us how our own
humanity suffers when we serve as silent witnesses to genocide.
Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I rise today to join my
colleagues in marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of
Auschwitz.
The acts performed at Auschwitz 60 years ago represent the darkest
chapter of human history. I am often struck by the stark contrast the
concentration camps provide juxtaposed with the enlightenment,
scientific advancement and progress made by mankind in the 20th
century. They serve as a chilling reminder of the evil man is capable
of, especially toward those perceived to be different or apart.
Kosovo, Rwanda and the Sudan unfortunately highlight the fact that
genocide is an issue that still troubles our world. It is therefore all
the more important to remember Auschwitz and reaffirm our global
commitment to forever end such wicked practices.
I was very pleased to hear on Monday, January 24, 2005, that the
United Nations General Assembly convened in a special session to mark
the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the death camps. This was the
first time the UN General Assembly has ever met to commemorate the
Holocaust, and the first time that the General Assembly convened a
special session at Israel's request.
Madam Speaker, in closing I would like to commend the sponsors and
leadership for bringing this important resolution to the floor and I
urge an ``aye'' vote.
Ms. HARMAN. Madam Speaker, as we vote today to recognize the 60th
anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, it is worth noting that the
number of Holocaust survivors who bore witness to the atrocities at the
German camps is dwindling.
One, respected lawyer, Samuel Pisar, wrote an impressive op-ed piece
several days ago in the Washington Post. It is hard to imagine
witnessing--let alone surviving--the horror. Mr. Pisar movingly
describes the last time he saw his mother and sister.
Some, like my father, were more fortunate. A graduate of medical
school in Germany, he was able to immigrate to New York in 1935. But he
taught our family well: never to forget.
I also want to take this moment to celebrate the life and achievement
of the only survivor who serves in Congress--our esteemed colleague
from California, Mr. Lantos, who brought this Resolution to the House
floor today. I thank him and ask unanimous consent that Samuel Pisar's
article be printed in the Congressional Record.
[From the Washington Post, Jan. 23, 2005]
Will We `Never Forget'?
(By Samuel Pisar)
Sixty years ago the Russians liberated Auschwitz, as the
Americans approached Dachau. The Allied advance revealed to a
stunned world the horrors of the greatest catastrophe ever to
befall our civilization. To a survivor of both death
factories, where Hitler's gruesome reality eclipsed Dante's
imaginary inferno, being alive and well so many years later
feels unreal.
We the survivors are now disappearing one by one. Soon
history will speak of Auschwitz at best with the impersonal
voice of researchers and novelists, at worst with the
malevolence of demagogues and falsifiers. This week the last
of us, with a multitude of heads of state and other
dignitaries, are gathering at that cursed site to remind the
world that past can be prologue, that the mountains of human
ashes dispersed there are a warning to humanity of what may
still lie ahead.
The genocides in Armenia, Cambodia, Bosnia, Kosovo and
Rwanda and the recent massacres of innocents in the United
States, Spain, Israel, Indonesia and so many other
[[Page H170]]
countries have demonstrated our inability to learn from the
blood-soaked past. Auschwitz, the symbol of absolute evil, is
not only about that past, it is about the present and the
future of our newly enflamed world, where a coupling of
murderous ideologues and means of mass destruction can
trigger new catastrophes.
When the ghetto liquidation in Bialystok, Poland, began,
only three members of our family were still alive: my mother,
my little sister and I, age 13. Father had already been
executed by the Gestapo. Mother told me to put on long pants,
hoping I would look more like a man, capable of slave labor.
``And you and Frieda?'' I asked. She didn't answer. She knew
that their fate was sealed. As they were chased, with the
other women, the children, the old and the sick, toward the
waiting cattle cars, I could not take my eyes off them.
Little Freida held my mother with one hand, and with the
other, her favorite doll. They looked at me too, before
disappearing from my life forever.
Their train went directly to Auschwitz-Birkenau, mine to
the extermination camp of Majdanek. Months later, I also
landed in Auschwitz, still hoping naively to find their
trace. When the SS guards, with their dogs and whips,
unsealed my cattle car, many of my comrades were already dead
from hunger, thirst and lack of air. At the central ramp,
surrounded by electrically charged barbed wire, we were
ordered to strip naked and file past the infamous Dr. Josef
Mengele. The ``angel of death'' performed on us his ritual
``selection''--those who were to die immediately to the
right, those destined to live a little longer and undergo
other atrocious medical experiments, to the left.
In the background there was music. At the main gate, with
its sinister slogan ``Work Brings Freedom,'' sat, dressed in
striped prison rags like mine, one of the most remarkable
orchestras ever assembled. It was made up of virtuosos from
Warsaw and Paris, Kiev and Amsterdam, Rome and Budapest. To
accompany these selections, hangings and shootings while the
gas chambers and crematoria belched smoke and fire, these
gentle musicians were forced to play Bach, Schubert and
Mozart, interspersed with marches to the glory of the Fuhrer.
In the summer of 1944, the Third Reich was on the verge of
collapse, yet Berlin's most urgent priority was to accelerate
the ``final solution.'' The death toll in the gas chambers on
D-Day, as on any other day, far surpassed the enormous Allied
losses suffered on the beaches of Normandy.
My labor commando was assigned to remove garbage from a
ramp near the crematoria. From there I observed the peak of
human extermination and heard the blood-curdling cries of
innocents as they were herded into the gas chambers. Once the
doors were locked, they had only three minutes to live, yet
they found enough strength to dig their fingernails into the
walls and scratch in the words ``Never Forget.''
Have we already forgotten?
I also witnessed an extraordinary act of heroism. The
Sonderkommando--inmates coerced to dispose of bodies--
attacked the SS guards, threw them into the furnaces, set
fire to buildings and excaped. They were rapidly captured and
executed, but their courage boosted our morale.
As the Russians advanced, those of us still able to work
were evacuated deep into Germany. My misery continued at
Dachau. During a final death march, while our column was
being strafed by Allied plans that mistook us for Wehrmacht
troops, I escaped with a few others. An armored battalion of
GIs brought me life and freedom. I had just turned 16--a
skeletal ``subhuman'' with shaved head and sunken eyes who
had been trying so long to hold on to a flicker of hope.
``God bless America,'' I shouted uncontrollably.
In the autumn of their lives, the survivors of Auschwitz
feel a visceral need to transmit what we have endured, to
warn younger generations that today's intolerance, fanaticism
and hatred can destroy their world as they once destroyed
ours, that powerful alert systems must be built not only
against the fury of nature--a tsunami or storm or eruption--
but above all against the folly of man. Because we know from
bitter experience that the human animal is capable of the
worst, as well as the best--of madness as of genius--and that
the unthinkable remains possible.
In the wake of so many recent tragedies, a wave of
compassion and solidarity for the victims, a fragile yearning
for peace, democracy and liberty, seem to be spreading around
the plant. It is far too early to evaluate their potential.
Mankind, divided and confused, still hesitates, vacillates
like a sleepwalker on the edge of an abyss. But the
irrevocable has not yet happened; our chances are still
intact. Pray that we learn how to seize them.
Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, had I been present, I would
have voted ``aye'' for rollcall vote 9, on H. Res. 39--Commending
countries and organizations for marking the 60th anniversary of the
liberation of Auschwitz, and urging a strengthening of the fight
against racism, intolerance, bigotry, prejudice, discrimination, and
anti-Semitism.
Over 6 million Jews were exterminated in Nazi camps, and millions of
others including Poles, Soviet prisoners, Romanies, members of the
Resistance, and clergymen were among those killed, imprisoned or used
as slave labor within the confines of these brutal camps. It is
estimated that between 1.2 and 1.6 million of these victims perished at
Auschwitz alone; and--as a result--no single word in modern language
has a deeper symbolic meaning for pure evil than the word Auschwitz.
Auschwitz symbolizes the dark side of human nature, and serves as a
lasting reminder that our civilized world must remain forever vigilant
in the defense of human rights and human dignity. For Jewish people
throughout the world, Auschwitz is a reminder of an unprecedented
tragedy, the extreme expression of Hitler's Nazi regime's hatred of the
Jewish people and their determined attempt to annihilate the Jews
through genocide.
By passing this bill tonight, and through the numerous ways other
countries and organizations have marked the 60th anniversary of the
liberation of Auschwitz, we collectively and emphatically demonstrate
the world's awareness of the terrible wounds inflicted by the heinous
crimes committed at the hands of Hitler's evil regime, and the need to
keep the memory of these tragic events alive so as to protect the
victims from suffering a second great tragedy--that of being forgotten.
Mr. HYDE. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) that the House suspend the rules and
agree to the resolution, H. Res. 39.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of
those present have voted in the affirmative.
Mr. LANTOS. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be
postponed.
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