[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 8 (Tuesday, February 1, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E121]
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

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                               speech of

                           HON. JOHN SULLIVAN

                              of oklahoma

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 25, 2005

  Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. Speaker, on this tragic anniversary, I rise in 
strong support of H. Res. 39, which commends countries and 
organizations for marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the 
Nazi Concentration Camp at Auschwitz.
  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. According to 
the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, at a minimum, 1,300,000 
people were deported to Auschwitz between 1940 and 1945, and at least 
1,100,000 were murdered at that camp. That fateful day marked the end 
of the horror at Auschwitz.
  In total, 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. 
Also, hundreds of thousands of civilians from many nationalities, all 
of whom the Nazis considered ``undesirable,'' perished at Auschwitz and 
other concentration camps throughout Europe.
  It is important that the United Nations General Assembly, in response 
to a resolution proposed by Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Russia, the 
United States, and the European Union, recently convened its first-ever 
special session marking the liberation of Auschwitz and other 
concentration camps. Several countries around the globe are taking part 
in remembrance ceremonies and honoring the victims of Auschwitz and the 
Holocaust. We must never forget the tragic events that led up to the 
Holocaust and we must urge all countries and all peoples to strengthen 
their efforts to fight against racism, anti-Semitism and intolerance 
around the globe. If we do not remain committed to teaching the lessons 
of the Holocaust for future generations, then history will be doomed to 
repeat itself.

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