[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 118 (Tuesday, September 20, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1904]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO SIMON WIESENTHAL

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 20, 2005

  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to commemorate Simon Wiesenthal, 
who passed away last night at the age of 96. Wiesenthal, a Holocaust 
survivor, was responsible for bringing over 1,100 Nazi war criminals to 
justice. Equally as important, he played a major roll in the founding 
of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles and the world renowned 
Museum of Tolerance, which works diligently for the defense of human 
rights and the Jewish people.
  The work of Mr. Wiesenthal is especially important to my district 
which is home to one of the largest concentrations of Holocaust 
survivors in the United States. Just this past weekend I stood with 
many of those survivors and several of their liberators in Skokie, 
Illinois to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the 
Nazi concentration camps. As the conscience and voice for not only the 
Holocaust's 6,000,000 Jewish victims but for the millions of others who 
were murdered by the Nazis as well, Wiesenthal was and will always 
remain a hero to our community.
  When Simon Wiesenthal was asked why he chose to pursue the Nazi 
criminals and, bring them to justice, Wiesenthal responded, ``You 
believe in God and life after death. I also believe. When we come to 
the other world and meet the millions of Jews who died in the camps and 
they ask us, `What have you done?', there will be many answers. You 
will say, `I became a jeweler.' Another will say, I have smuggled 
coffee and American cigarettes.' Another will say, `I built houses.' 
But I will say, `I didn't forget you'.''
  When the Holocaust came to an end, Simon Wiesenthal never forgot. And 
because he became the leading representative of the victims, determined 
to bring the perpetrators of history's greatest crime to justice, we 
will never forget Simon Wiesenthal. Many have noted that the heinous 
acts of the Holocaust, for their scale and brutality, make real justice 
for victims and survivors impossible. No punishment, even death for 
those Nazi criminals who were later apprehended, could match the 
horrific misery suffered by Hitler's victims. But, nonetheless, Simon 
Wiesenthal's work, his tireless pursuit of the last century's most 
abhorrent criminals, brought a measure of justice and a measure of 
peace to the Jewish community. Most importantly, he was a reminder that 
``Never Forget'' is not a guarantee, but a pledge, one for which we all 
share responsibility. Mr. Wiesenthal's work reminded the world that 
crimes against humanity left unpunished, will be repeated. With the 
passing of Simon Wiesenthal, the world now has an additional 
responsibility to embrace the lessons of the Holocaust and fight hatred 
and intolerance wherever it exists.

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