I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1299 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the group of heroic participants 

in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising who led an armed resistance against 

Nazi occupiers and fought to preserve and protect the Jewish culture. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 1, 2023 

Mr. KEATING (for himself, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Ms. KAPTUR, and Mr. 

TURNER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the group of heroic 

participants in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising who led 

an armed resistance against Nazi occupiers and fought 

to preserve and protect the Jewish culture. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Heroes of the Warsaw 

5 Ghetto Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The Jewish people have long formed an in2 tegral part of the culture and history of Europe and 

3 of Poland. 

4 (2) Europeans Jews contribute to the rich di5 versity of society and culture across Europe. 

6 (3) For centuries, prior to World War II, Po7 land represented a center of Jewish life in Europe 

8 and was home to millions of Jews. 

9 (4) Prior to World War II, 350,000 Jews lived 

10 in Warsaw, representing about 30 percent of the 

11 city’s population. 

12 (5) Following the Nazi takeover of Poland, the 

13 Germans established the Warsaw ghetto in October 

14 1940, and unlawfully confined Jewish civilians to the 

15 ghetto in November 1940, with the population of the 

16 ghetto reaching a height of 400,000 Jews. 

17 (6) Life in the Warsaw ghetto was marked by 

18 widespread starvation, disease, physical violence, and 

19 deplorable conditions unsuitable for life, leading to 

20 the deaths of 83,000 Jews between 1940 and mid21 1942. 

22 (7) In less than two months in 1942, German 

23 units deported about 265,000 Jews from Warsaw to 

24 the Treblinka death camp and killed an additional 

25 35,000 Jews inside the ghetto. 


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1 (8) In early 1943, German and SS units in2 tended to deport the remaining Jewish population of 

3 the ghetto to forced labor camps, but many Jews re4 sisted deportation. 

5 (9) The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising began on 

6 April 19, 1943, when SS and police forces appeared 

7 outside the walls of the Warsaw ghetto with the in8 tent of liquidating the ghetto and deporting its re9 maining inhabitants. 

10 (10) Aided in part by arms from the Polish un11 derground and relying on clandestinely organized 

12 Jewish self-defense groups, the ghetto heroically re13 sisted German forces, mounting an organized armed 

14 resistance against SS and police units and fighting 

15 against impossible odds. 

16 (11) Jews in the ghetto continued to fend off 

17 their German occupiers for almost one month, fight18 ing to the last. 

19 (12) After weeks of resistance, the Germans 

20 systematically destroyed the ghetto, burning build21 ings and razing city blocks in an attempt to erase 

22 the memory and existence of the Jewish people. 

23 (13) By May 16, 1943, German forces had sup24 pressed the uprising and deported the ghetto’s surVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:37 Mar 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1299.IH H1299

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1 viving inhabitants to concentration camps and killing 

2 centers. 

3 (14) The heroes of the Warsaw ghetto who 

4 bravely defended themselves in the face of unimagi5 nable crimes set an example for other occupied cities 

6 and for other Jewish communities. 

7 (15) In total, over 3,000,000 Polish Jews were 

8 murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust, with 

9 only about 380,000 Polish Jews still alive in Poland, 

10 the Soviet Union, or in concentration camps by the 

11 end of the war. 

12 (16) Genocide involves the erasure and elimi13 nation of the memory and culture of a people, and 

14 therefore the United States must work to preserve 

15 the historical record of Jewish people around the 

16 world, many of whom now live in the United States. 

17 (17) Current and future generations benefit 

18 from the preservation and memorialization of their 

19 history and culture. 

20 (18) Millions of Jewish people whose ancestors 

21 came from Poland now live in the United States, 

22 Israel, and around the world. 

23 (19) Preservation of the history and culture of 

24 Jewish people in Poland is essential to learning the 


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1 lessons of history and ensuring the prosperity of the 

2 Jewish people for future generations. 

3 (20) Museums are an important contributor to 

4 the historical preservation of human memory, pro5 viding cultural, education and civic centers where 

6 people can learn about the life and record of individ7 uals or groups of people from the past. 

8 (21) Museums dedicated to the historical mem9 ory of Jewish people or the struggle for survival of 

10 the Jewish people during the Holocaust play a crit11 ical role in preserving the memory of Jewish people. 

12 (22) The construction of further museums, in13 cluding the Warsaw Ghetto Museum, would be a 

14 welcoming place for all visitors who want to better 

15 understand the fate of Jews incarcerated in the 

16 Warsaw ghetto. 

17 (23) The POLIN Museum of the History of the 

18 Polish Jews is a central location for Jewish people 

19 around the world to learn about the life, history, and 

20 culture of their ancestors. 

21 (24) The POLIN Museum is an important edu22 cational hub for all people to learn about the rich 

23 history of Jewish people who were targeted and he24 roically fought back against the Nazis in their at25 tempt to erase the memory of Jewish life in Europe. 


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1 (25) The POLIN Museum in Warsaw should be 

2 celebrated for the important role it plays in the pres3 ervation of the memory of Jewish life as it docu4 ments the long history of Jewish life in Poland and 

5 Europe both before and after the war, and sits on 

6 the site of the former Warsaw ghetto where so many 

7 heroic Jews fought against the erasure of the mem8 ory of the Jewish people. 

9 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

10 (a) PRESENTATIONS AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

11 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem12 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

13 for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of the Con14 gress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in collective 

15 commemoration of the group of heroic participants in the 

16 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising who led an armed resistance 

17 against Nazi occupiers and fought to preserve and protect 

18 the Jewish culture. 

19 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purposes of the 

20 presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 

21 of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the 

22 ‘‘Secretary’’) shall strike the gold medal with suitable em23 blems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the 

24 Secretary. 


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1 (c) UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MU2 SEUM.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Following the award of the 

4 gold medal under subsection (a), the gold medal 

5 shall be given to the United States Holocaust Memo6 rial Museum, where it shall be available for display 

7 and research in accordance with the Museum’s poli8 cies regarding materials in the Museum’s care. 

9 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

10 Congress that the United States Holocaust Memo11 rial Museum should make the gold medal received 

12 under paragraph (1) available for display elsewhere, 

13 in accordance with the Museum’s policies regarding 

14 materials in the Museum’s care, at other appropriate 

15 locations, including those associated with commemo16 ration of the Holocaust and other relevant entities 

17 such as the POLIN Museum of the History of the 

18 Polish Jews, that may make such a request. 

19 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

20 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

21 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 at 

22 a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 

23 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 


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1 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

2 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medal struck pursuant 

3 to this Act is a national medal for purposes of chapter 

4 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

5 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 

6 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 

7 struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 

8 items. 

9 SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 

10 SALE. 

11 (a) AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS.—There is 

12 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

13 Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec14 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck pursuant 

15 to this Act. 

16 (b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—The amounts received 

17 from the sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under 

18 section 3 shall be deposited into the United States Mint 

19 Public Enterprise Fund. 

Æ 


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