World War II Heroes and Holocaust Survivors

Floor Speech

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Mr. President, on Tuesday, November 11, Americans across the country will gather to honor those who have fought for our freedom and thank them for a debt we can never fully repay.

This year marks the 97th anniversary of the end of World War I. Our victory in that ``war to end all wars'' showed us that we could not ignore the rest of the world. And as President Clinton said, ``while that war proved our strength, it did not prove our wisdom. ..... We turned our backs on the rest of the world. We ignored the signs of danger. Soon we had a Great Depression, and soon that depression led to aggression and then to another world war--one that would claim a half million American lives.''

Whenever freedom is threatened, our brave men and women have answered the call to serve. Today, I would like to highlight our debt to the heroes and survivors of World War II. Earlier this year, we commemorated International Holocaust Remembrance Day and paid tribute to the nearly 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazi regime. This year marks the 70th anniversary that Allied Forces entered concentration camps--like Auschwitz-Birkenau--and liberated thousands of prisoners.

On the eve of this Veterans Day, nine American heroes and Holocaust survivors are being honored in my home State of Illinois. Today, I want to share their remarkable stories. As the memory of the Holocaust passes from those who were there to the generations that weren't we can't forget the importance of remembrance.

GEN Dwight D. Eisenhower, the supreme commander of Allied Forces in Europe, understood this and documented what he saw. After visiting a liberated Nazi camp, he urged Washington to send congressional delegations to witness Nazi crimes firsthand so that in the future there could be no attempt to dismiss these allegations as ``propaganda.''

With the remaining eyewitnesses in their twilight years, the responsibility to ensure that future generations never forget these atrocities falls to us. I want to commend these men and women for their brave actions and quiet courage. Today, we honor their sacrifice by remembering the horrors they witnessed and proclaiming in one unified voice: ``Never again.'' I am privileged to honor them and remember their stories. They are true heroes.

I would like to acknowledge Dr. George Brent, Edith Stern, Margie Oppenheimer, Hannah Messinger, Walter Reed, Joseph Dobryman, Lewis Pazoles, Harry Nichols, and Anthony Gargano. But behind every name is a story. I ask unanimous consent to have their stories printed in the Record.

Our hearts break for these men and women who mourn their families. But while their stories agonize, they also inspire. Their lives are not just stories of survival; they are stories of triumph and grace in the face of unspeakable evil. I want to thank each of them for the courage to share their stories.

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