[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 6483-6484]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENJAMIN L. CARDIN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 27, 2006

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate Yom Hashoah, 
Holocaust Matrys' and Heroes' Remembrance Day, which memorializes the 6 
million Jews murdered by the Nazis during their campaign of genocide in 
World War II. We mourn the innocent lives lost and vibrant communities 
destroyed while the world shamefully stood silent, and honor those 
heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto who faced certain death when they refused 
to submit to the Nazi's planned extermination of their community.
  To this day, Mr. Speaker, many European countries have failed to 
right the past wrongs of the Holocaust by failing to adequately redress 
the wrongful confiscation of property by the Nazi and communist 
regimes. These seizures took place over decades; they were part of the 
modus operandi of repressive, totalitarian regimes; and they affected 
millions of people. The passage of time, border changes, and population 
shifts are only a few of the things that make the wrongful property 
seizures of the past such difficult problems to address today.
  While I recognize that many obstacles stand in the way of righting 
these past wrongs, I do not believe that these challenges make property 
restitution or compensation impossible. On the contrary, I believe much 
more should have been done--and can still be done now--while our 
elderly Holocaust survivors are still living.
  Today I also want to sound the alarm about a disturbing trend that 
Jews face today: a rising tide of anti-Semitism throughout the world.
  I serve as the Ranking Member of the Commission on Security and 
Cooperation in Europe, CSCE, commonly known as the Helsinki Commission. 
In 2004 I traveled as part of the U.S. Delegation, with former 
Secretary of State Colin Powell, to attend a special conference in 
Berlin addressing anti-Semitism, held under the auspices of the 
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, OSCE. The OSCE is 
a 55-nation regional security organization which promotes democracy and 
human rights in Europe, Central Asia, and North America.
  Before traveling to Berlin, I made a point to visit Auschwitz for the 
first time. I was shocked and stunned to see how efficient the Nazi 
operation was: they wanted to maximize the number of individuals that 
could be killed.

[[Page 6484]]

  Seeing the remains of that factory of intolerance, hate and death, it 
reaffirmed how we must continually stress the importance of advancing 
understanding throughout the OSCE region and the entire world. We must 
tirelessly work to build understanding and respect between different 
communities to prevent future acts of prejudice and injustice.
  At the Berlin Conference, I had the privilege of participating as a 
member of the U.S. delegation, and I gave the official U.S. statement 
in the session on tolerance. The meeting ended with the issuance of the 
Berlin Declaration of Action.
  The Berlin Declaration laid out a number of specific steps for states 
to take to combat the rising tide of anti-Semitism, including: striving 
to ensure that their legal systems foster a safe environment free from 
anti-Semitic harassment, violence or discrimination; promoting 
educational programs; promoting remembrance of the Holocaust, and the 
importance of respecting all ethnic and religious groups; combating 
hate crimes, which can be fueled by racist and anti-Semitic propaganda 
on the Internet; encouraging and supporting international organizations 
and NGO's; and encouraging the development of best practices between 
law enforcement and educational institutions.
  As we commemorate Yom Hashoah, let us honor the memory of those who 
perished in the Holocaust by pledging to fight intolerance, hate 
crimes, and violence in our community and around the world. We shall 
never be silent again.

                          ____________________