[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 59 (Thursday, April 12, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H3154-H3155]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              HONORING HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR FRED HILSENRATH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Arkansas (Mr. Hill) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today during Holocaust Days of 
Remembrance to recognize a constituent from my district and a Holocaust 
survivor, Mr. Fred Hilsenrath, of Fairfield Bay, Arkansas.
  I was introduced to Fred by the outstanding mayor of Fairfield Bay, 
Paul Wellenberger. My staff and I had the opportunity to host Fred and 
his wife, Eleanor, for dinner and listen to their incredible story.
  Fred was only 4 years old when Adolph Hitler took over as chancellor 
of Germany and the Nazi regime initiated his systematic extermination 
of the Jewish people of Central Europe. In 1940, after Poland had been 
raided, the Hilsenrath family found themselves stuck between Nazi 
Germany and Russia. Soon they were assembled in the town square, along 
with other Jewish families, to be shipped to concentration camps in 
Romania. After spending years in the camps throughout Romania, facing 
death and witnessing some of the most heinous and grotesque atrocities 
the world has seen, the Hilsenrath family was finally rescued by a 
Jewish Russian soldier.

                              {time}  1030

  Fred and his family then walked from Romania to France to reunite 
with their long-separated father. While in France, Mr. Hilsenrath 
finished high school.
  In April of 1949, Fred moved to the United States. He had $40 to his 
name and knew no English. He studied electrical engineering at the City 
College of New York and obtained long careers with well-known companies 
such as Lockheed Martin, IBM, and Ampex.
  After meeting his wife, Fred moved from San Francisco to Fairfield 
Bay, Arkansas. Here he retired to enjoy the slower pace of life in the 
Ozarks in The Natural State.
  As a man currently in his late eighties, Mr. Hilsenrath has turned 
his horribly painful childhood memories of the trials he faced and that 
so many other Jews faced and experienced during the Holocaust into an 
educational moment.
  In a letter he wrote to me, Fred mentioned a lesson that he wants to 
give to our Arkansas students. He says:

       Not only can we use education as a way to rationally think 
     of our Nation's involvement in the future of our country as 
     well as the world, but also to recognize the seed in their 
     own heart; each of the students has a dream, they must find 
     it now, not later, so that they can focus their lives on 
     their future.

  Mr. Hilsenrath understands the deep need for education and how it 
plays a part in our moments of history.
  It is an honor for me and my staff not only to have met such an 
inspirational person, but to also represent him in the people's House.


 Congratulating DuShun Scarbrough on Martin Luther King Remembrance Day

  Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate my friend DuShun 
Scarbrough, director of the Arkansas Martin Luther King, Jr. 
Commission, for being awarded the Martin Luther King, Jr. Drum Major 
Innovation Service Award.
  The MLK, Jr. Drum Major Innovation Service award, given to only 20 
individuals nationwide, is awarded to volunteers who perform 
extraordinary everyday acts of service.
  DuShun's leadership at the commission has proved to be invaluable 
toward its mission to promote understanding and acceptance of 
nonviolence, human equality, and community building among all 
Arkansans.
  Last week, my office was honored to welcome members of the 
commission, including Arkansas treasure and civil rights icon, Annie 
Abrams, along with former Wrightsville, Arkansas, Mayor Pat Ward while 
we commemorated and

[[Page H3155]]

mourned the 50th anniversary of Dr. King's assassination. However, we 
continue to honor Dr. King's vision for our great Nation.
  DuShun and the commission continue to remind us of how far we have 
come and how we need to continue to uphold the legacy of the civil 
rights movement and embrace Dr. King's teaching of compassion, 
nonviolence, and democracy.
  I would like to extend my congratulations to Mr. Scarbrough and the 
Arkansas Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission for representing Arkansas 
on the national stage and for his receiving this important recognition.
  He, along with Reverend Jesse Turner, a site coordinator for the 
National Alliance of Faith and Justice in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, who 
also received this award, have represented our State with honor and 
dignity.
  I encourage our citizens in Arkansas and across the country to 
remember the inspiring words of Dr. King and spend time in service to 
their neighbors and all of our communities.

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