H. Res. 226 

In the House of Representatives, U. S., 

June 11, 2007. 

Whereas some 6,000,000 Jews were slaughtered pursuant to 

Adolf Hitler’s diabolical plan for the total extermination 

of the Jews during the Third Reich, and even more would 

have perished had it not been for the efforts of a number 

of United States Government officials who spoke out 

forcefully against American policy and persuaded President Franklin D. Roosevelt of the need for extraordinary 

measures to save Jewish lives; 

Whereas on November 9, 1943 – the 5th anniversary of 

Kristallnacht, when pogroms against Jews and the burning of synagogues and Jewish businesses and homes were 

carried out throughout Nazi Germany – identical Congressional resolutions were introduced in both houses of 

Congress calling for the creation of a United States Government commission ‘‘to formulate and effectuate a plan 

of immediate action designed to save the surviving Jewish 

people of Europe from extinction at the hands of Nazi 

Germany’’; 

Whereas the Senate version was introduced by Senator Guy 

Gillette of Iowa with the support of Elbert Thomas of 

Utah and Edwin Johnson of Colorado and was unanimously approved in the Senate Foreign Relations Com-
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mittee on December 20, 1943, and scheduled for a full 

Senate vote in early 1944; 

Whereas the House version was introduced by Representative 

Will Rogers, Jr., of California and extensive hearings on 

the resolution were held by the House Foreign Affairs 

Committee; 

Whereas United States Government agencies were receiving 

extensive credible information about the extent of Nazi 

atrocities against the Jews and other minorities in Europe, nevertheless, the policy of the United States as developed and implemented in the Department of State opposed American government action to save the lives of 

Jewish and other minorities who were being systematically exterminated by the Nazi German government; 

Whereas in 1943 and early 1944, an extraordinary group of 

officials at the United States Department of Treasury 

sought to change those policies and Secretary of the 

Treasury Henry Morgenthau directed the preparation of 

a memorandum to the President of the United States 

urging more direct and forceful American action to aid 

Jewish victims of the Nazi atrocities, and this document, 

prepared by Josiah DuBois, Jr., Assistant General Counsel of the Treasury Department, and John Pehle, a 33- 

year-old attorney in the Foreign Funds Control unit of 

the Treasury Department, was presented to President 

Franklin D. Roosevelt by Secretary Morgenthau, Randolph Paul and Pehle on January 16, 1944; 

Whereas President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9417 on 

January 22, 1944, affirming that ‘‘it is the policy of this 

Government to take all measures within its power to rescue the victims of enemy oppression who are in imminent 

danger of death and otherwise afford such victims all 
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possible relief and assistance consistent with the successful prosecution of the war’’ and creating the War Refugee Board, composed of the Secretaries of State, Treasury and War, to carry out this policy; 

Whereas John Pehle was appointed the Acting Executive Director and subsequently Executive Director of the Board 

and Josiah DuBois, Jr. was appointed General Counsel 

of the Board; 

Whereas on January 25, 1944, the Board issued a critically 

important diplomatic cable to all United States diplomatic missions abroad ordering that ‘‘action be taken to 

forestall the plot of the Nazis to exterminate the Jews 

and other persecuted minorities in Europe’’ and developed new programs to increase the flow of Jewish and 

other refugees from Nazi persecution to neutral countries 

in Europe, including Turkey, Portugal, Switzerland, 

Spain, and Sweden, from where they were assisted to go 

to North Africa, Palestine and North and South America; 

Whereas the Board assisted the International Red Cross to 

provide food parcels to ‘‘stateless’’ civilians in internment 

camps, to support and protect some 3,000,000 Allied and 

Axis prisoners of war, and to streamline Federal licensing 

procedures for the transmission of funds to pay for Red 

Cross relief supplies and rescue operations, thus saving 

the lives of thousands of Jews and other internees; 

Whereas in April 1944, John Pehle, on behalf of the War 

Refugee Board, urged all neutral nations to increase 

their diplomatic representation in Hungary to help prevent the accelerating deportation of Jews to AuschwitzBirkenau and other Nazi extermination camps and to 

begin providing vital funding and other resources to as-
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sist in saving Hungarian Jews from concentration and 

extermination camps; 

Whereas the War Refugee Board sought out Swedish citizen 

Raoul Wallenberg and, with the support of the Swedish 

government and its legation in Budapest, supported one 

of the most extensive and successful rescue efforts during 

the Holocaust; and 

Whereas subsequent academic studies have credited the War 

Refugee Board with rescuing as many as 200,000 Jews 

from Nazi occupied countries through the efforts of 

Wallenberg and others: Now, therefore, be it 

Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

(1) honors the efforts and contributions of those 

who worked for the establishment of the War Refugee 

Board and for a more active United States policy to rescue Jews and other victims of Nazi repression who were 

in imminent danger of death and to provide these persecuted minorities with relief and assistance during 

World War II; and 

(2) commends in particular the actions of Secretary 

of Treasury Henry Morgenthau, Josiah DuBois, Jr., and 

John Pehle for their dedication and devotion to helping 
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rescue Jews and other persecuted minorities in the Holocaust. 

Attest: 

Clerk.