[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 150 (Monday, September 22, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1857-E1858]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               HONORING HOLOCAUST MUSEUM AND STUDY CENTER

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELIOT L. ENGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 22, 2008

  Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, the Holocaust Museum and Study Center over 
the past 30 years has become an important museum, cultural and 
educational center for one of the greatest tragedies of history that 
must never be forgotten.
  The museum originated in 1979 with the appointment of the Rockland 
County Holocaust Commission by the County Legislature. It opened its 
doors in 1988 dedicated to educate, examine and explore the history of 
the Holocaust. The museum uses educational programs, lectures, 
exhibitions, teaching training seminars, and commemoration ceremonies 
to ensure that the lessons of the Holocaust are not forgotten.
  The Holocaust Museum and Study Center uses the witness of Holocaust 
survivors living in Rockland, stories of triumph and survival in the 
face of a highly efficient and determined Nazi death machine. The 
museum also includes the stories of Allied soldiers who, in defeating 
the Nazis, liberated the death camps.
  Remembering and teaching the history of the Holocaust is essential if 
we are never to repeat its terrible events. The tragic events of Rwanda 
tell us that the lessons of the Holocaust are still to be learned.
  The murder of six million Jews as well as millions more of Gypsies, 
the handicapped, Slavic peoples and others such as Communists, 
homosexuals, Jehovah Witnesses, and Socialists, just for being who they 
were must not be repeated.
  The Holocaust Museum and Study Center teaches this dramatic lesson so 
that we never have to learn it again. It is a powerful force for good 
in a world that still needs it.

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