[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 59 (Monday, May 9, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E909-E910]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. HENRY A. WAXMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 5, 2005

  Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to commemorate Yom HaShoah, Holocaust 
Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day, which is being observed today in 
the United States, Israel, and in Jewish communities around the world.
  Each year this day is one of grief and hope. We memorialize the 
6,000,000 Jews, including more than 1,000,000 children, who were 
murdered in the Holocaust. We observe the anniversary of the Warsaw 
ghetto uprising and remember the heroism of those who fought back. We 
honor the survivors and the tremendous strength it took for them to 
rebuild their lives.
  I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge two special 
commemorative ceremonies that took place in my district.
  First, let me pay tribute to Cafe Europa, an association of Los 
Angeles area Holocaust survivors sponsored by Jewish Family Services. 
This week, Cafe Europa sponsored a special Yom HaShoah ceremony at 
Mount Sinai Memorial Park alongside Holocaust survivors from Cafe 
Europa of Tel Aviv and students from area schools. I want to 
particularly thank the survivors who courageously and poignantly shared 
their painful experiences through stories, poems, songs and 
photographs.
  I would also like to recognize a community-wide ceremony in Pan 
Pacific Park sponsored by the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust, The 
Jewish Federation, Second Generation, and the Los Angeles Holocaust 
Monument Fund. This year, the program's theme, ``From Liberation to the 
Pursuit of Justice,'' marks the 60th anniversary of the liberation of 
the concentration camps and the Nuremberg Trials to prosecute Nazi war 
criminals.
  On this day we bear witness to the atrocities of the Nazi regime so 
that they are not forgotten and are never again repeated. We renew our 
commitment to Holocaust education to ensure that the lessons of the 
Holocaust do not fade away as the generation that lived through these 
events passes on. And perhaps most importantly, we pledge to fight 
future genocide by taking action against the slaughter of innocents 
going on today in places like Darfur, Sudan.

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  We cannot forget that the bloodshed could have been averted had the 
leaders of the world not been silent while Jews were being killed at 
Auschwitz. When we say ``Never Again,'' let us learn from their 
mistakes.

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