III 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 142 

Observing Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, and calling on the remaining member countries of the International Commission of the International Tracing Service to ratify the May 2006 amendments to the 

1955 Bonn Accords immediately to allow open access to the Bad Arolsen 

archives. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 10, 2007 

Mr. BIDEN (for himself, Mr. WARNER, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. KOHL, 

Mr. KERRY, Mr. SALAZAR, Mr. CASEY, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mr. KENNEDY, 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. BAUCUS, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. OBAMA, and Mr. 

WYDEN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Observing Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, and calling on the remaining member countries of the International Commission of the International Tracing Service 

to ratify the May 2006 amendments to the 1955 Bonn 

Accords immediately to allow open access to the Bad 

Arolsen archives. 

Whereas April 15, 2007, marks the international observance 

of Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, a day to remember and mourn the millions who died during the Holocaust of World War II; 


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•SRES 142 IS 

Whereas thousands of Holocaust survivors, historians, and 

researchers are being denied access to files, located at 

Bad Arolsen, Germany, that tell the story of unspeakable 

crimes committed by the Nazis; 

Whereas the Bad Arolsen archives contain 30,000,000 to 

50,000,000 pages of documents that record the individual 

fates of over 17,000,000 victims of Nazi persecution; 

Whereas the Bad Arolsen archives are administered by the 

International Tracing Service, which in turn is supervised 

by an international commission composed of 11 member 

countries established by the Agreement Constituting an 

International Commission for the International Tracing 

Service, signed at Bonn June 6, 1955 (6 UST 6186) 

(commonly known as the ‘‘Bonn Accords’’); 

Whereas the member countries of the International Commission are the United States, Israel, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, and the United Kingdom; 

Whereas, in May 2006, after years of delay, the member 

countries of the International Commission commendably 

agreed to amend the Bonn Accords to make the Bad 

Arolsen archives public for the first time and agreed to 

place digitized copies of the documents in the archives at 

Holocaust research centers in other countries, including 

the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; 

Whereas the May 2006 amendments will become effective 

only after each of the 11 member countries completes the 

ratification process; 

Whereas the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, Poland, and the Netherlands have completed the ratification 

process; and 


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•SRES 142 IS 

Whereas opening the Bad Arolsen archives is an urgent matter: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) joins people around the world in observing 

3 Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, and 

4 mourning the millions who were lost during the Hol5 ocaust; 

6 (2) commends the United States, the United 

7 Kingdom, Israel, Poland, and the Netherlands, as 

8 the member countries of the International Commis9 sion of the International Tracing Service that have 

10 completed the ratification of the May 2006 amend11 ments to the Agreement Constituting an Inter12 national Commission for the International Tracing 

13 Service, signed at Bonn June 6, 1955 (6 UST 6186) 

14 (commonly known as the ‘‘Bonn Accords’’); 

15 (3) calls on Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, 

16 Italy, and Luxembourg, the member countries of the 

17 International Commission that have not yet ratified 

18 the May 2006 amendments to the Bonn Accords, to 

19 do so immediately; 

20 (4) calls on the International Commission to 

21 approve the immediate distribution of copies of the 

22 documents from the Bad Arolsen archives that have 

23 already been digitized when the International Com24 mission meets in Amsterdam in May 2007; and 


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•SRES 142 IS 

1 (5) respectfully requests the Secretary of the 

2 Senate to transmit copies of this resolution to the 

3 Secretary of State and to the ambassadors rep4 resenting each of the member countries of the Inter5 national Commission in the United States. 

Æ 


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