[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 151 (Tuesday, September 23, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H8637-H8638]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RECOGNIZING THE 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 1938 OCCURRENCE OF
KRISTALLNACHT, THE NIGHT OF BROKEN GLASS
Mr. SCOTT of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1435) recognizing the 70th anniversary
of the 1938 occurrence of Kristallnacht, The Night of Broken Glass.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The text of the resolution is as follows:
H. Res. 1435
Whereas November 9, 2008, through November 10, 2008, marks
the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht, The Night of Broken
Glass;
Whereas during Kristallnacht, hundreds of synagogues in
Germany and Austria were burned and destroyed, businesses and
homes were ransacked, scores of innocent people were killed
because they were Jews, and thousands of others were arrested
and sent to concentration camps;
Whereas Kristallnacht was sanctioned by the Nazi state to
foment anti-Semitism and terrorize Jewish citizens;
Whereas the shattered panes of glass that littered
sidewalks, most of it coming from the shop windows of Jewish
stores, gave the pogrom its name, Kristallnacht or ``Night of
Broken Glass'';
Whereas Kristallnacht marked the Nazis' first centrally
organized operation of large-scale, anti-Jewish violence;
Whereas the lack of any serious diplomatic consequences
from civilized nations led the Governments of Germany and
Austria to believe that further atrocities would go
unpunished;
Whereas Kristallnacht served as a prelude to the Second
World War, to the death of millions of innocent people, and
to the mass murders and carnage on a scale never before seen
in human history;
Whereas the reign of the Nazi government marks one of the
darkest periods in civilized history; and
Whereas Kristallnacht should remind us all that evil must
be confronted forcefully and the civilized world cannot watch
idly while barbarism and mass murder are committed against
innocent peoples: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) recognizes the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht, The
Night of Broken Glass;
(2) pays tribute to the over 6,000,000 Jewish people who
were killed during the Holocaust; and
(3) recommits the United States to continued vigilance
against these kind of atrocities and urges the international
community to fight against organized aggression directed at
religious, ethnic, and other minority groups wherever it may
occur.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Georgia (Mr. Scott) and the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Georgia.
General Leave
Mr. SCOTT of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks
and to include extraneous material on the resolution under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Georgia?
There was no objection.
Mr. SCOTT of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this
resolution, and I yield myself as much time as I may consume.
Let me first thank the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Hodes) for
offering this important resolution, which marks the 70th anniversary of
Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass. His leadership on the
Holocaust-related issues is greatly appreciated.
On the night of November 9, 1938, the streets of German and Austrian
cities were littered with the shattered glass of Jewish homes,
businesses and synagogues. Ninety-one people lost their lives and
30,000 were deported to concentration camps during the course of
[[Page H8638]]
this pogrom. Buchenwald and Dachau soon filled with Jews who had been
deprived of their property, their savings and their livelihoods by the
Nazis.
Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, showed the world once and
for all the true face of the Nazi regime and served as a prelude to the
horrors that would soon befall Europe's Jewish community. As Germany's
synagogues burned on this terrible night, the governments of the west,
including our own, failed to take meaningful action. Ambassadors were
recalled, speeches were made, but the Nazis' orchestrated pogrom
resulted in the diplomatic equivalent of just a slap on the wrist.
We condemn not just the destruction wrought against Germany and
Austria's Jewish community that terrifying night, but we also condemn
the world's inaction, which undoubtedly led the Nazis to believe the
international community would offer little resistance to their plans to
murder all the Jews in Europe.
Though 70 years have passed since the Nazis began to set in motion
the final solution, and 63 years since the liberation of the last of
their death camps, we must continue to maintain our vigilance against
all forms of ethnic, national and religious hatreds.
Adolf Hitler exploited the world's failure to protect those
threatened by the Nazi's vicious ideology of hate. As we reflect upon
the anniversary of this infamous night and pay tribute to the over 6
million people killed in the Holocaust, we must recommit ourselves to
preventing genocide anywhere and any time.
I strongly support this resolution, and I reserve the balance of my
time.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
The night of November 9 through November 10 of the year 1938
consisted of hours of darkness that the world cannot afford to forget.
Known as Kristallnacht, that horrible night of unleashed terror and
violence that we remember in this resolution before us today, was the
clear signal for the start of Adolf Hitler's orchestrated campaign of
genocide.
On that night, as state-sponsored violence poured out into the
streets, the halls of civilized governments were mute. Joseph Goebbels
had announced in his speech on the day of November 8, and I quote,
``The Fuhrer has decided that . . . demonstrations should not be
prepared or organized by the Party, but insofar as they erupt
spontaneously, they are not to be hampered.''
Following that speech, regional leaders of Hitler's National
Socialist Party issued instructions to their local offices, and
violence erupted across Germany and in some neighboring countries as
well, in a matter that was anything but spontaneous. For 48 terrible
hours, mobs rampaged through the streets of German, Czechoslovak and
Austrian cities.
The riots destroyed 267 synagogues, shattered an estimated 7,500
windows of Jewish-owned businesses and desecrated many Jewish
cemeteries. The Night of Broken Glass claimed the lives of at least 91
Jewish citizens.
Unfortunately, the rest of the world remained largely silent when
confronted with the news of this organized brutality. We can only
wonder how history might have changed, how the war and the genocide of
the subsequent years might have been avoided if silence had been
replaced by condemnation and strong action.
As we look back at the events of that terrible night, from the
perspective of the passage of 70 years, we recall what our president at
that time, Franklin Roosevelt, said. ``I, myself, could scarcely
believe that such things could occur in a 20th century civilization.''
As we consider this resolution, which notes this terrible event 70
years ago and the subsequent organized murder of more than 6 million
Jews across Europe during World War II, we realize how important it is
that we remember the lessons of the 20th century today at the start of
the 21st century.
I urge strong adoption of this important resolution, and I reserve
the balance of our time.
Mr. SCOTT of Georgia. Madam Speaker, we have no further speakers at
this time.
However, let me conclude by simply stating that Adolf Hitler and the
Nazis perpetrated the most heinous tragedy of man's inhumanity to man.
We will never forget it, and people all across this Nation on this 70th
anniversary say never, never again.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Madam Speaker, I echo the sentiments of my good
friend, and I yield back the balance of our time.
Mr. SCOTT of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my
time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Scott) that the House suspend the rules and
agree to the resolution, H. Res. 1435.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the resolution was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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