[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 18 (Tuesday, January 28, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E93]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        RECOGNIZING INTERNATIONAL HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY 2020

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. GERALD E. CONNOLLY

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 28, 2020

  Mr. CONNOLLY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 
International Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust. The United Nations 
General Assembly designated January 27 as this remembrance day to 
inspire reflection on the events that led to the execution of more than 
six million Jews and countless other oppressed communities.
   This year marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the 
Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi death camp, which I visited in August 2018. 
This complex is most notorious for its horrific death toll, resulting 
in more than 1.1 million deaths in its few years of operation. To 
describe the inhumanity observed in Auschwitz and other camps, 
holocaust survivor Lilly Appelbaum Malnik stated the following:
   ``And they said, `From now on you do not answer by your name. Your 
name is your number.' And the delusion, the disappointment, the 
discouragement that I felt, I felt like I was not a human person 
anymore.''
   We must never forget the victims of the Holocaust and never cease 
working towards a more just society. Within 25 years, it is likely no 
Holocaust survivor will be alive to account for the events carried out 
in extermination camps. According to a 2018 survey commissioned by the 
Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, 41 percent of 
American adults do not know about Auschwitz. With hate crimes reaching 
a 16-year high in 2018, it is imperative that we recount the atrocities 
of the Holocaust, lest discrimination based on race, religion, 
disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity 
continue to spread.
   Madam Speaker, people throughout the world are coming together to 
commemorate the more than six million lives lost during the Holocaust. 
We stand in solidarity with the United Nations in remembering these 
victims and honoring those who defend human rights. We must always be 
vigilant that this horror of humanity is never repeated.

                          ____________________