[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 67 (Thursday, April 16, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Page S1817]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      REMEMBERING SAMUEL R. HARRIS

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, the Hebrew phrase ``l'dor v'dor'' means 
``from generation to generation,'' and it is an important principle in 
the Jewish faith. This phrase describes the passage of beliefs, values, 
and traditions from parent to child, mentor to student. ``L'dor v'dor'' 
is a message of Jewish resilience, a testament to their continued 
spirit in the face of centuries of oppression. My friend Samuel R. 
Harris was the living embodiment of this maxim.
  As one of the youngest survivors of the Holocaust, Sam dedicated his 
life to telling his story of growing up in Nazi-occupied Poland. Sam 
played an indispensable part in expanding Holocaust education in 
Illinois, where he helped create the Illinois Holocaust Museum and 
Education Center. In doing so, Sam inspired thousands of people to 
stand up against hate, injustice, and oppression. Sam was a powerful 
force for good, and it is with deep sadness that I share the news of 
his passing.
  Sam was born in Deblin, Poland, in 1935, as the youngest of seven 
children to an Orthodox Jewish family. His childhood before the war was 
filled with happiness and joy, but it would last only 4 short years 
before the Nazis invaded Poland in September 1939. Deblin was one of 
the locations where the Polish Air Force trained, which meant that it 
was a target for the Luftwaffe, who blanketed the city with bombs at 
the start of their invasion. Soon after, the Nazis arrived in Sam's 
town, where they terrorized and beat Jewish families. They evicted 
Sam's family from their home and forced them to live in one of the 
Nazi-created ghettos, designed to starve the Jewish population who 
inhabited them.
  Sam lived in the ghetto until 1942, when the Nazis escalated their 
genocide campaign and began to round up families to be taken to 
extermination camps. As Sam walked with his parents toward the cattle 
car, his father pushed him out of the line so that Sam could escape 
execution. Sam ran and hid with his two sisters Rosa and Sara. Rosa, 
the oldest of the three, was forced to work in a labor camp outside of 
Deblin, and she smuggled Sam and Sara with her, as they were too young 
to survive on their own. Sam never saw his parents or his other 
siblings again; they were deported to the Treblinka extermination camp 
and murdered.
  Sam and his two surviving siblings remained in Nazi concentration 
camps for nearly 3 years, where they were subject to daily abuse and 
torment. In January 1945, they were liberated by Russian soldiers, and 
soon after, Sam fled to Austria, then to America, arriving in 
Northbrook, IL, in 1947. When Sam arrived at his new home, he handed 
his adopted mother his suitcases and told her that he ``never wanted to 
see his luggage again.'' Sam had hoped to leave his experience and 
trauma under Nazi occupation behind. As he went through high school and 
college, he never spoke about his childhood in Poland. Sam would go on 
to graduate from Grinnell College and build a successful career in the 
insurance industry. He met the love of his life Janice--``Dede''--and 
had two children Julie and David.
  Sam had built a life for himself in America, but he could not leave 
his past behind. In the 1970s, the United States witnessed a resurgence 
in anti-semitism, with the neo-Nazi marches in Skokie, IL, and Sam was 
increasingly encouraged by his family, friends, and other survivors to 
speak out about what he witnessed in Poland. Upon the insistence of 
Ernest Michel, Auschwitz survivor and Nuremberg Trials reporter, Sam 
became involved with the Illinois Holocaust Foundation. As Sam began to 
share his story, he took on a greater role in Holocaust education 
advocacy in Illinois. Sam pushed Illinois to become the first State in 
the Nation to make Holocaust education mandatory in public schools, 
which it did in 1990. He authored a memoir about his experience and 
went on to teach thousands of students about what he went through as a 
Jewish person suffering under Nazi occupation.
  Sam's most enduring accomplishment lies in the creation of the 
Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center in Skokie, which opened 
its doors in 2009. Sam fought tirelessly for its construction, 
organizing donation drives, public interest, and governmental support. 
Before the creation of the new museum, the largest Holocaust education 
center in Illinois was barely equipped to handle 30,000 visitors in 1 
year. Thanks to Sam, more than 100,000 students now visit Skokie every 
year to learn about the Holocaust and the importance of tolerance. The 
museum itself, while currently closed for renovations, is designed to 
contain a dark side, depicting Hitler's rise and the Nazi plans for the 
final solution, and a bright side, describing the joint resistance to 
Nazi fascism by Jewish and non-Jewish people alike.
  In a way, the museum's format mirrors Sam's life. His childhood was 
filled with unimaginable pain and heartache, yet he never lost his 
faith in humanity. In his book, Sam wrote that ``everyone has both good 
and bad [in them]. I choose to look at the good.'' Sam embodied this 
sentiment every day. He was filled with love for the people around him, 
and he spent his time on Earth committed to the idea that through 
education and learning we might bring out more of the good in people. 
In 2014, Sam won the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, one of America's most 
eminent awards, in honor of his resilience and his advocacy. Despite 
Sam's numerous awards and accomplishments, he maintained that the best 
thing to ever happen to him was his wife Dede. Loretta and I send our 
deepest condolences to Dede, Julie, and Sam's grandchildren Jessica and 
Jeremy.
  Sam wrote at the end of his memoir that ``good will prevail in the 
long run.'' Through sharing his story, his faith, and his unyielding 
optimism, Sam brought us closer to that reality. From generation to 
generation, Sam taught us the lessons of his past so that we may create 
a better future. May his memory be a blessing.

                          ____________________