[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 63 (Thursday, April 19, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E787]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY--YOM HASHOAH

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                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 19, 2007

  Mr. TOWNS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate Yom HaShoah, 
Holocaust Remembrance Day. I join the Jewish communities of my district 
in Brooklyn, the entire American Jewish community, and the State of 
Israel in recognizing this barbaric chapter of world history.
  Over 60 years ago, the Nazi regime in Germany began the wholesale 
slaughter of the European Jewry. This occurred with little public 
outrage in the United States and the international community. The 
world, as well the American government under President Franklin Delano 
Roosevelt, refused to act to save European Jewry and that silence 
undoubtedly contributed to the death of six million Jews, a million of 
whom were children.
  When we hear the number six million, we shudder. The enormity of that 
number is paralyzing. Merely trying to count to six million would take 
months. Imagining the Nazi death machine executing so many human beings 
is daunting. Particularly for those of us who have not survived the 
Holocaust, absorbing the reality of that destruction from survivors is 
so essential to passing on the history of the Holocaust.
  The moving museums and heart wrenching memorials dedicated to the 
Holocaust across the United States are vital in educating today's youth 
about the horrors of the Holocaust, and I want to commend all 
organizations and groups that are committed to this important work. It 
is additionally critical that European countries preserve the glaring 
remnants of the Holocaust that still exist today. Whether they are 
death camps, mass gravesites, cemeteries, synagogues or other holy 
sites from pre-Holocaust Europe, European governments have an 
obligation to preserve those sites for future generations. Sadly, 
numerous European countries including Lithuania, Ukraine and Romania 
have on occasion shirked their responsibilities in this regard.
  While we remember the absolute devastation the Holocaust wrought on 
the Jewish community, we also mark the strength of those who heroically 
resisted the Nazis including those who fought in the Warsaw Ghetto 
Uprising and at the Sobibor extermination camp.
  I am privileged to represent a large but dwindling population of 
Holocaust survivors in my district. Many of these survivors rebuilt 
their lives with nothing more than the shirt on their back. Today, 
based on the strong foundations of those Holocaust survivors, the 
beautiful Jewish communities of Williamsburg, Midwood and Canarsie have 
flourished. These communities represent the best of Jewish life and 
have been instrumental in resurrecting religious life in the aftermath 
of the Holocaust by creating synagogues, yeshivas, and other religious 
institutions.
  Madam Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the 
efforts of organizations that have taken extraordinary steps in 
servicing and caring for the Holocaust survivor population in my 
district: The Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty; The United Jewish 
Organizations of Williamsburg; The Council of Jewish Organizations of 
Flatbush; The Jewish Community Council of Canarsie; The Conference of 
Jewish Material Claims Against Germany; Peasch Tikvah and all the 
Bikkur Cholim organizations. Their selfless work for Holocaust 
survivors continues to serve as an inspiration to me and I am honored 
to recognize their hard work.
  Madam Speaker, I join my colleagues here today in remembering the 
Holocaust. Though there are still Holocaust deniers today, it is 
imperative that we never forget.

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