[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 97 (Friday, June 15, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1303-E1304]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




RECOGNIZING JOHN PEHLE FOR HIS CONTRIBUTIONS IN HELPING RESCUE JEWS AND 
                  OTHER MINORITIES FROM THE HOLOCAUST

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 11, 2007

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, while we often celebrate the 
efforts of those who admirably risked their lives to protect others 
during the Holocaust, there remain many whose efforts have gone largely 
unnoticed. The American Government officials who helped create the War 
Refugee Board may not have put their lives in danger, but their efforts 
on behalf of the victims of Nazi power helped save thousands. 
  As early as 1942, our Government had received extensive, credible 
information confirming the atrocities being committed against

[[Page E1304]]

Jews and other minorities throughout Europe. In spite of these 
substantiated reports of Nazi instigated genocide, the United States 
Government refused to assist those in need of our help, choosing 
instead to pursue a policy tantamount to acquiescence.
  John Pehle, a young lawyer in the Treasury Department, however, chose 
to act. He, along with Josiah Dubois, Assistant General Counsel of the 
Treasury Department, and Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, took it 
upon themselves to ensure the American Government not only acknowledged 
the crimes being committed in Europe, but also played an active role in 
aiding those suffering at the hands of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi 
collaborators. In 1943, they presented a memorandum to President 
Franklin D. Roosevelt urging him to take immediate action to assist the 
victims of Nazi crimes.
  Largely as a result of these men's efforts, President Roosevelt 
created the War Refugee Board on January 22, 1944. Roosevelt stated 
that through the work of the Board, the United States would ``take all 
measures within its power to rescue the victims of enemy oppression . . 
. to afford such victims all possible relief and assistance.'' Despite 
its monumental mission, the War Refugee Board was only comprised of 30 
employees and allocated $1 million to carry out its tasks.
  With the generous financial assistance of thousands of American Jews 
and others, the War Refugee Board was able to save as many as 200,000 
Jews and other persecuted minorities. Of those, 15,000 were evacuated 
from areas controlled by Germany and its allies, 48,000 were 
transferred from Transnistria to safe areas of Romania, and at least 
another 10,000 were protected throughout other parts of Axis Europe by 
War Refugee Board funded underground activities. Additionally, through 
their assistance to the International Red Cross, the War Refugee Board 
helped to provide food parcels to civilians in internment camps as well 
as support and protection for some 3,000,000 Allied and Axis prisoners 
of war.
  In passing this legislation, the House will recognize not only the 
noble efforts of the War Refugee Board, but also the efforts of those 
Government officials who made it their personal mission to ensure that 
America's policies abroad reflected our Nation's ideals of justice and 
compassion. The work of John Pehle, Henry Morgenthau, Josiah Dubois, 
and the War Refugee Board embodied the American tradition of reaching 
out to those most in need and helped make America the beacon of hope it 
has come to symbolize for so many.
  Mr. Speaker, at a time when America's moral authority is questioned 
as strongly as it is today, it is important to remember those Americans 
in our history who have worked tirelessly to ensure the United States 
meets the ethical responsibility that comes with our standing in the 
world.

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