[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 71 (Wednesday, June 7, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1029-E1030]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E1029]]


 ROBERT ZOELLICK'S MOVING REMARKS AT U.S. CAPITOL DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE 
                                CEREMONY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 7, 2006

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, on Thursday, April 27, 2006, the annual 
ceremony to observe Yom Hashoah, the Day of Remembrance for victims of 
the Holocaust, was held in the Rotunda of the United States Capitol. 
This year's theme, ``Legacies of Justice,'' commemorated the 60th 
anniversary of the International Military Tribunal which was held at 
Nuremburg, Germany, and was responsible for attempting to seek justice 
for an almost unimaginable scale of criminal behavior. Members of 
Congress joined with representatives of the diplomatic corps, Executive 
and Judicial Branch officials, and hundreds of Holocaust survivors and 
their families to commemorate the anniversary of the historical 
beginning of the trials at Nuremburg.
  This moving ceremony featured a stirring address by Deputy Secretary 
of State Robert B. Zoellick. Deputy Secretary Zoellick heads the Bush 
administration's efforts to end the genocide in Darfur, and establish 
peace and reconciliation throughout Sudan.
  Sixty years ago, the International Military Tribunal (IMT) delivered 
verdicts against those Nazis charged with war crimes. The actions of 
the IMT were a watershed moment in international justice, establishing 
precedents in international law, documenting the historical record and 
in seeking some beginning, however inadequate, in a search for justice. 
The Nuremburg trials have left a legacy of justice not only to those 
victims of the Holocaust, but also to preventing and prosecuting 
similar crimes in the future.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that the outstanding remarks of Deputy Secretary 
Robert B. Zoellick be placed in the Record, and I urge my colleagues to 
study and ponder his thoughtful address.

 Remarks at the National Civic Commemoration of the Days of Remembrance


              DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE ROBERT B. ZOELLICK

       Survivors, liberators, Members of Congress, Ambassador 
     Ayalon and Excellencies, Fred Zeidman, Sara Bloomfield, 
     ladies and gentlemen. I was deeply moved by your invitation 
     to join this gathering. In many years of public service, I 
     can think of no greater honor than to help remember those who 
     perished in the Holocaust, salute those who survived, thank 
     those who liberated, and renew our common commitment to human 
     freedom and justice.
       Exactly sixty-one years ago today, on April 27, 1945, the 
     103d U.S. Infantry Division rolled into Landsberg, Germany. 
     Pierce Evans, a radioman from Florida, came across a buddy 
     from another company who had seen two camps on the outskirts 
     of town.
       At the first camp, a number of French prisoners had been 
     liberated, and the men of the Division had shared some food 
     with them. But the second, a concentration camp for Jewish 
     prisoners, could not be described in mere words. It had to be 
     seen to be believed.
       So Pierce's friend drove him and a few others to Lager #2. 
     Half a century later, in a book he wrote to help his grandson 
     understand the war, Mr. Evans said, ``All of the horror story 
     writers in their most morbid states of mind could not 
     describe what I saw in just a few minutes. I had heard about 
     concentration camps before, but was always suspicious about 
     the accuracy of the stories. This time it was not hearsay. I 
     saw it myself and will never forget it.''
       What is remarkable in reading the accounts of the 
     liberators is how similar they are. The shock, the revulsion, 
     and the inability to put into words what they saw. But one 
     theme is consistent above all: the determination to bear 
     witness to what they had seen.
       Corporal Evans vowed never to forget the Nazi Holocaust. 
     His Supreme Commander made the same promise.
       In a letter to General George Marshall in April 1945, 
     General Dwight D. Eisenhower recalled the overpowering scenes 
     when he visited a camp near Gotha. He told Marshall he had 
     visited ``to be in position to give first-hand evidence of 
     these things if ever, in the future, there develops a 
     tendency to charge these allegations merely to propaganda.''
       Eisenhower ordered that German civilians be shown the 
     evidence of the bestial things that had been done in their 
     names, on their doorsteps.
       Eisenhower's vow to bear witness to genocide is etched on a 
     wall at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. That 
     museum, and the ceremony we gather for this morning, ensure 
     that we never forget.
       So what does it mean to bear witness? Certainly it means to 
     remember, as we today remember the singular horrors suffered 
     by the Jews of Europe. A more precise definition states that 
     to bear witness means to testify to an event. I think it 
     means even more than that.
       The Holocaust was uniquely evil. But bearing witness to 
     that genocide should also mean recognizing the lessons of 
     history.
       After all, Landsberg--a town that conjured horror stories 
     in 1945--was the same town where Adolf Hitler had written 
     Mein Kampf in a prison cell in 1924. Indeed, camp Lager #2 
     was the end of a road that had been carefully mapped out--
     with stark frankness--by Hitler some twenty-one years 
     earlier.
       I recently read Ian Kershaw's biography of Hitler. Kershaw 
     details frighteningly how the Nazis further manipulated 
     irrational myths and fears into a perverted ``logic'' that 
     demanded the systematic destruction of the Jewish people. 
     Even the use of the term anti-Semitism was designed to give a 
     false scientific cover to base brutality.
       In Kershaw's words, ``Most Jews in Imperial Germany could 
     feel reasonably sanguine about the future, could regard anti-
     Semitism as a throwback to a more primitive era that was on 
     its way out. But Jews in Germany underestimated the 
     pernicious ways in which modern racial anti-Semitism differed 
     from archaic forms of persecution of Jews, however vicious, 
     in its uncompromising emphasis on biological distinctiveness, 
     its links with assertive nationalism, and the ways it could 
     be taken over and exploited in new types of political mass 
     movements.''
       Jews made up only 8 tenths of 1 percent of the population 
     of Germany. Nevertheless, Hitler was able to feed off 
     pervasive anti-Semitism in Europe, as well as the despair of 
     a nation that was reeling from a loss in war and a 
     devastating economic depression.
       The cautionary tale is that when national anxieties mix 
     with widespread prejudice, the result can be a visceral 
     hatred--masquerading as reason--that blames one group for the 
     failure of an entire society. Evil breeds in such a swamp.
       Our own country is not immune to dangerous attitudes. A 
     report last year by the Anti-Defamation League noted an 
     alarming increase in anti-Semitic incidents in the United 
     States.
       Not long ago, I attended a conference in Europe, and many 
     were commenting on the upheavals among the Palestinians.
       I suggested to the audience that none of us should take 
     Israel's position for granted: It also faces upheavals. We 
     needed to reflect on how Israelis might view events, too. In 
     Israel, the election of Hamas looks like a return to 1947, 
     when the country's neighbors refused to accept Israel's very 
     existence.
       In its response to the recent terrorist Passover bombing in 
     Israel, Hamas continued to justify terrorism and feed hatred. 
     Instead of facing up to the challenges of creating a 
     democratic Palestinian state, Hamas has retreated to blaming 
     the Palestinians' problems on the Jews.
       Equally troubling, today the modern Jewish democracy that 
     emerged from the Holocaust faces a new threat from an Iranian 
     leader who denies the very existence of that Holocaust . . . 
     who threatens to wipe Israel and its people off the map . . . 
     and who seeks nuclear weapons.
       This leader's statements are plain. And the threat he poses 
     is not just to Israel, but to the world.
       That is why the United States is working to build a global 
     coalition to prevent Iran from acquiring weapons of mass 
     destruction.
       In Iran and with Hamas, we are seeing scenes from the rise 
     of political Islam. Theirs is a violent strain of radicalism 
     that seeks to pervert a religion into an ideology of hatred 
     and racism.
       There is a struggle for the soul of Islam. While some use 
     religion to justify murder, other Muslims honor Islam's noble 
     past, welcoming diverse thought and living peacefully with 
     people of other faiths, including Judaism. Courageous Islamic 
     reformers have embraced economic reform, free speech, the 
     rights of women, peace, and democracy.
       It is not for Americans to determine the outcome of this 
     struggle, though our interest in the result is immense. From 
     the Mahgreb to Southeast Asia, only fellow Muslims can lead 
     their brothers and sisters of faith to a better Islamic 
     future.
       However, with policies that encourage development, open 
     markets, tolerance, individual freedom, and democracy, the 
     United States can bolster the chances of those who believe in 
     a peaceful and hopeful Islam.
       Our recognition of genocide must also apply to other lands 
     and peoples.
       Last year, I traveled to the Kigali Memorial Centre in 
     Rwanda. As I lay flowers at an open grave, I was chilled by 
     the specters of the site. More than 250,000 victims of the 
     Rwandan genocide are buried there, on a bright hillside 
     overlooking a reviving city.

[[Page E1030]]

     In 1994, more than 800,000 Rwandans were murdered in only a 
     hundred days.
       Twelve years later, Rwandan peacekeepers in Sudan show us 
     what it means to bear witness to genocide. On my four trips 
     to Darfur last year, I was privileged to meet with many of 
     the brave African Union soldiers who are struggling to offer 
     peace and security to some 2 million Sudanese who have been 
     herded or retreated into camps.
       The Rwandans are among the best of the AU peacekeepers. 
     They are serious men and women. They know what genocide is, 
     and they are determined to do everything they can to stop it.
       This weekend, thousands of people will come to Washington--
     from synagogues, churches, college campuses, and communities 
     across the country--to give voice to their concern about 
     Darfur.
       I look forward to meeting with some of them. And I will 
     discuss with them what I think it means to bear witness to 
     genocide.
       Bearing witness means we remember . . . but memory is not 
     enough.
       Bearing witness means giving testimony . . . but statements 
     are not enough.
       Bearing witness means learning from history . . . but 
     knowledge is not enough.
       Bearing witness must also mean acting against evil.
       President Bush has been pressing the world to help the 
     people of Darfur.
       Our first imperative is to continue providing humanitarian 
     relief to those who are suffering. To date in 2006, the 
     United States has provided more than 86% of the food 
     distributed by the World Food Program in Sudan. On my visits, 
     I have had the privilege to meet with the brave humanitarian 
     relief workers--mostly from nongovernmental organizations--
     who risk their lives to feed the hungry and care for the sick 
     and frightened.
       Second, we need to improve security on the ground for the 
     people of Darfur. This means transitioning from the current 
     African Union peacekeeping force to a larger, more robust 
     United Nations peacekeeping mission with a strong mandate, 
     and with support from NATO. There is resistance to overcome, 
     but it must be done. There is no time to waste.
       Finally, although humanitarian relief and peacekeeping 
     forces are vital, they are only holding actions: We need a 
     peace agreement to settle the Darfur conflict. The United 
     States is working side-by-side with the African Union and the 
     European Union to energize the Abuja peace talks. A peace 
     accord for Darfur is within reach. But such an agreement 
     would only be the foundation of the next phase--to provide 
     assistance to allow people to return home, reconcile tribes, 
     and offer a path for development, opportunity, and hope.
       Another quote on the wall of the Holocaust Museum--this one 
     from the Book of Isaiah--reminds us that we are all 
     witnesses.
       As witnesses, we are here to remember.
       As witnesses, we must be ever vigilant.
       But above all, witnesses cannot be bystanders.
       And so today we renew our resolve to take action, so that 
     we can fulfill the promise of the survivors and the 
     liberators: ``Never Again.''

     

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