S.Res. 458 — Agreed to in Senate

III 113th CONGRESS 2d Session S. RES. 458 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES May 22, 2014 Mr. Cardin (for himself, Mr. Kirk, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Brown, Mr. Booker, Mr. Menendez, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Nelson, Mrs. Gillibrand, and Mr. Portman) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to RESOLUTION Recognizing May as Jewish American Heritage Month and honoring Holocaust survivors and their contributions to the United States of America. Whereas in May of each year, people across the United States recognize and celebrate over 350 years of Jewish contributions to the United States through Jewish American Heritage Month; Whereas during the Holocaust, the Nazi regime murdered approximately 6,000,000 Jews, in addition to millions of non-Jews, between 1933 and 1945; Whereas the Nazi regime also imprisoned, persecuted, and tortured hundreds of thousands of Jewish victims who nonetheless survived; Whereas the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Holocaust Encyclopedia estimates that more than 200,000 persecuted Jews found refuge in the United States between 1933 and 1945, and that approximately 137,000 Jewish refugees settled in the United States after World War II in the years between 1945 and 1952; Whereas in subsequent decades, Jewish refugees continued to immigrate to the United States from Europe, the Middle East, and the former Soviet Union; Whereas many survivors of the Holocaust have dedicated their lives to educating future generations about the dangers of bigotry and anti-Semitism and the resiliency of the human spirit; and Whereas countless survivors of the Holocaust living in the United States have made numerous and substantial contributions to society in the areas of the humanities, science, government, law, history, medicine, military service, philosophy, social justice, technology, and more, including— (1) a Marylander who bravely led the decades-long fight for reparations from the French rail companies that transported victims to Nazi concentration camps and killing centers; (2) a former judge on the International Court of Justice and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, who was a member of the United Nations Human Rights Committee, and who is currently a professor specializing in international justice at The George Washington University Law School; (3) a native of France who survived a series of Nazi concentration camps and became a well-known author, lecturer, and actor who appeared as Corporal Louis LeBeau on the 1960s television series Hogan’s Heroes; (4) a native of Poland who spent his childhood in a Nazi labor camp, was educated in the United States, and became a renowned chemist, author, professor, and poet, winning the 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry; (5) a former Member of the House of Representatives and Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and founder of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, who, along with his wife and fellow survivor, devoted his life to championing human rights and freedom around the world; (6) a Polish-born author, historian, educator, member of the United States Holocaust Commission, and recipient of the 2010 Presidential Medal of Freedom; (7) an Austrian native, literary scholar, and professor who authored a 1992 autobiography, Still Alive: A Holocaust Girlhood Remembered, and numerous scholarly publications on the Holocaust and anti-Semitism; (8) a Croatian-born survivor who helped produce the movie Schindler’s List and became an advisor to the USC Shoah Foundation, an archive of testimonies of genocide survivors chaired by Steven Spielberg; (9) an Illinoisan who created the International Monetary Market, served as chairman of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and revolutionized markets by creating financial futures after fleeing Holocaust-era Poland as a child; (10) a Hungarian survivor who served in the United States Army in the Korean War and who was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2005 for his heroic actions while being held in a Chinese POW camp that saved the lives of at least 40 fellow soldiers; (11) a native of Germany who escaped Nazi Germany as a teenager, served as a corporal in the United States Army, was an interpreter and analyst during the Nuremberg Trials, served in the Foreign Service of the Department of State, and authored a book about a Jewish resistor who assassinated a Nazi official and another about Allied intelligence near the end of World War II; (12) a world-renowned psychosexual therapist, radio and television personality, professor, and author who escaped Nazi Germany as a child and fought in the Israeli War of Independence; and (13) the winner of the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize, an author, professor, and activist, whose memoir Night is an internationally acclaimed account of the terrors of the Holocaust: Now, therefore, be it That the Senate— (1) recognizes May 2014 as Jewish American Heritage Month; (2) expresses appreciation for the substantial and varied contributions made to the United States by the survivors of the Holocaust; (3) encourages the people of the United States to learn about the efforts and achievements of Holocaust survivors who immigrated to the United States in the years following World War II; (4) expresses admiration for the more than 100,000 Holocaust survivors living in the United States who continue to bear witness to their personal stories and educate the world; and (5) understands the hardships Holocaust survivors have endured, and supports their desire to age with dignity and comfort in their homes and communities.