[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 83 (Tuesday, June 5, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E978]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                HONORING JEWISH AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH

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                          HON. SHELLEY BERKLEY

                               of nevada

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 5, 2012

  Ms. BERKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mark Jewish American 
Heritage Month.
  My family's story is very much an American Jewish story. On my 
father's side of the family, from the Russia-Poland border, an entire 
1,000-year culture was wiped out as a result of World War II. My 
mother's side of the family comes from Thessaloniki, Greece, where 
there was a very vibrant Jewish community prior to World War II, 
totaling half of the city's entire population. But by the time the 
Nazis finished, there were only 1,000 Jews left there and I am not 
presumptuous enough to think that my family would have been among those 
chosen to live.
  My family escaped both the Russia-Poland area and Thessaloniki in 
order to come to our Nation's shores. And I grew up hearing stories of 
what their lives had been and how thrilled they were to come to the 
safe haven of the United States of America. It was the very survival of 
my family. Had they stayed where they lived in Europe, we would have 
been exterminated in the Holocaust, but we came to this remarkable 
country, where we've not only survived, but we've thrived.
  When my grandparents came here--and this is a story that is so common 
among American Jewish families--they couldn't speak English. They had 
no money. They had no skills. The only thing they had was a dream that 
their children and their children's children would have a better life 
here in the United States than they had where they came from.
  We American Jews are lucky to be a part of the fabric of this great 
country, to have full acceptance, to be able to access the highest 
levels of power, to be able to effectuate meaningful change in a very 
positive way by participating in the American political process. We 
have made more than a life for ourselves in the United States of 
America. We are very proud Americans, and we are very proud Jews. And 
we appreciate so much the fact that this country offered so many 
remarkable opportunities and gave us a chance not only for survival, 
but to become a part of something so much bigger than ourselves.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in marking this special occasion.

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