Holocaust Memorial Day

HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY -- (Extensions of Remarks - April 25, 2006)

* Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate Yom Hashoa, Holocaust Memorial Day.

* Yom Hashoa is a day set aside on the Jewish calendar to recall with great reverence and respect the lives of the millions of victims of the Holocaust.

* More than 60 years ago, a maniacal dictator rose to power in Europe, and darkness fell upon the earth. Through a doctrine of hatred and destruction, he slew blameless, pure and innocent, men, women and children. The Nazis were intent on performing a systematic annihilation of the Jewish people. Their brutal endeavor to commit genocide was no more evident than in their zeal for murdering children.

* It is a heinous crime to destroy a people's past and to annihilate their future. One can only imagine the contributions to the world lost by this act of genocide, not only for our generation but for the future generations that will now never exist.

* For the survivors, the Holocaust did not end with liberation. Like the marks on their arms, their lives were forever marked by this atrocity. Those who survived faced the enormous challenge of rebuilding their lives. Many succeeded, others did not, but all would remember the horror of the crimes that were perpetrated against them. Survivors who suffered this hell are a living testament to the depths of evil to which man can fall. We must never again allow such a monstrous crime by man to be committed again.

* We read in Sefer Yeshayahu, the book of Isaiah:

In my house and within my walls, I shall give them a Yad Vashem--a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; an eternal, imperishable name will I give them.

* On Thursday, in the United States Capitol Rotunda, we will observe Yom Hashoa. Through our observance, we create a human monument assuring that these innocent victims will not be forgotten. We here in the United States, the birthplace of Thomas Jefferson and Martin Luther King, are privileged to enjoy the greatest freedom known to man. We must never allow ourselves to take these freedoms for granted. We must never forget the genocide and human rights abuses that have occurred and, sadly, continue to occur around the world. We must not remain silent. We must dedicate ourselves to continuing to educate people around the globe about the horrors of the Holocaust. We must be eternally vigilant that such intolerance never happens again.

God full of mercy who dwells on high

Grant perfect rest on the wings of Your Divine Presence

In the lofty heights of the holy and pure who shine as the brightness of the heavens to the souls of the men, women and children who were slaughtered, burned and murdered during the Holocaust for the sanctification of your name,

who have gone to their eternal rest

let us pray for the elevation of their souls.

May their resting place be in the Garden of Eden.

Therefore, the Master of mercy will care for them under the protection of His wings for all time

And bind their souls in the bond of everlasting life.

God is their inheritance and may they rest in peace and let us say Amen.

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