[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 6 (Wednesday, January 26, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S552-S553]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        LIBERATION OF AUSCHWITZ

  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, perhaps more than any other word, 
Auschwitz is synonymous with evil.
  Sixty years ago today, Russian soldiers liberated Auschwitz.
  The horrors of Auschwitz are incomprehensible and undescribable.
  Over 1 million people lost their lives at Auschwitz--the largest of 
the Nazi death camps. Ninety percent were Jews. Hundreds of thousands 
were children.
  Auschwitz represented the Germans' campaign to exterminate a people--
the Jews. They almost succeeded--killing 2 out of 3 Jews in Europe.
  As a Polish American, I carry the images of Auschwitz in my heart.
  The Nazis considered all Poles to be an inferior race. After Poland 
was conquered, German authorities expelled much of the native Polish 
population from regions of the newly annexed territories. Polish cities 
were given German names and German settlers were colonized on Polish 
land. In occupied Poland, the Nazi Governor, Hans Frank, proclaimed: 
``Poles will become slaves in the Third Reich.''
  The Nazis set out to destroy Polish culture. Thousands of Polish 
teachers, politicians, university professors and artists were executed 
or sent to Nazi concentration camps. Catholic priests were among the 
main targets of Nazi mass murder in Poland.
  In fact, Auschwitz was created as an internment camp for Polish 
dissidents. And thousands of Poles were murdered alongside the Jews in 
Auschwitz.
  Many Poles risked their lives to save Jews:
  Irena Sendler was a young social worker in Warsaw. She used her 
position to smuggle 200 Jewish children out of the ghetto to safe 
houses. In 1943, Sendler was arrested by the Gestapo, brutally tortured 
and condemned to death. On the day of her execution, she was freed with 
the help of the Jewish underground.
  Irena Adamowicz, a Polish Catholic, aided in establishing contacts 
between the Jewish Underground and the main Polish resistance 
organization.
  Jan Karski, who, while working for the Polish Government in exile, 
was one of the few outsiders to visit the Warsaw Ghetto. He appealed to 
the Allies to do something.
  As a Polish American, I traveled to Poland in the late 1970s. I was a 
Congresswoman. And I wanted to see my heritage. I went to the small 
village where my family came from. It was a very moving and historic 
experience.
  But I also wanted to see the dark side of my history, and I went to 
Auschwitz.
  In touring Auschwitz, it was an incredibly moving experience to go 
through the gate, to see the sign, to go to see the chambers. I went to 
a cell that had been occupied by Father

[[Page S553]]

Kolbe, a Catholic priest who gave his life for a Jewish man there.
  And then, for those of you who don't know, I am a social worker, I 
have been a child abuse worker and I don't flinch.
  But then I got half way through that tour and I came to a point in 
that tour where I saw the bins with glasses and the children's shoes, 
and this 40-something-year-old Congresswoman could not go on.
  I became unglued. I had to remove myself from the small tour, go off 
into a private place in Auschwitz, cry in a way that shook my very 
soul. And when I left there, I thought, now I really know why we need 
an Israel.
  And that is why I will fight so hard to ensure the survival of 
Israel. I know its importance. I know why it exists. I will always 
fight for the survival and the viability of the State of Israel. My 
support is unabashed and unwavering.
  I also know why it is so important for us educate our young people--
about the effects of hatred, about the importance of history.
  That is why I have worked with the Polish and Jewish communities in 
Baltimore to develop a U.S.-Poland-Israel Exchange program. Young 
people from America, Poland and Israel will join together to learn 
about each other's history and culture. They will visit Poland and 
Israel, to visit historical and religious sites, to learn together 
about history and to work together to build a brighter future.
  In closing, I would like to read the words of Eli Weisel:

       Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, 
     which has turned my life into one long night, seven times 
     cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that 
     smoke. Never shall I forget the faces of the children, whose 
     bodies I saw turned into wreathes of smoke beneath a silent 
     blue sky. Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my 
     faith forever.
       Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived 
     me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I 
     forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and 
     turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, 
     even if I am condemned to live as long as God himself.

  Mr. President, 60 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, let us 
pledge never to forget. And let us honor those who died in the 
holocaust by fighting against bigotry, hate crimes, and intolerance.
  Mr. TALENT. Mr. President, since I am going to ask on behalf of the 
leader the resolution be agreed to, I want to express my gratitude to 
his office and the Democratic leader's office for their expeditious 
handling of this resolution, and also Senator Wyden and all those who 
have cosponsored it.
  On their behalf, I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, 
the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid on the 
able.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 18) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                               S. Res. 18

       Whereas on January 27, 1945, the Auschwitz extermination 
     camp in Poland was liberated by Allied Forces during World 
     War II after almost 5 years of murder, rape, and torture;
       Whereas more than 1,000,000 innocent civilians were 
     murdered at the Auschwitz extermination camp;
       Whereas the Auschwitz extermination camp symbolizes the 
     brutality of the Holocaust;
       Whereas Americans must never forget the terrible crimes 
     against humanity committed at the Auschwitz extermination 
     camp and must educate future generations to promote 
     understanding of the dangers of intolerance in order to 
     prevent similar injustices from happening again; and
       Whereas commemoration of the liberation of the Auschwitz 
     extermination camp will instill in all Americans a greater 
     awareness of the Holocaust: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) commemorates January 27, 2005, as the 60th anniversary 
     of the liberation of the Auschwitz extermination camp by 
     Allied Forces during World War II; and
       (2) calls on all Americans to remember the more than 
     1,000,000 innocent victims murdered at the Auschwitz 
     extermination camp as part of the Holocaust.

  Mr. TALENT. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DORGAN. I ask unanimous consent the order for the quorum call be 
rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Coburn). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

                          ____________________