IV

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 162

Expressing the sense of the Congress that the Auschwitz-Birkenau state

museum in Poland should release seven paintings by Auschwitz survivor

Dina Babbitt made while she was imprisoned there, and that the governments of the United States and Poland should facilitate the return

of Dina Babbitt’s artwork to her.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 22, 1999

Ms. BERKLEY (for herself, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. ACKERMAN, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr.

BERMAN, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr.

CARDIN, Mr. CROWLEY, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. DEUTSCH,

Mr. ENGEL, Mr. FILNER, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr.

FROST, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr.

HINCHEY, Mr. HOEFFEL, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. HOLT, Mr. INSLEE, Mrs.

JONES of Ohio, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. LEVIN, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. LUCAS of

Kentucky, Mr. LUTHER, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Mr. MATSUI, Mrs.

MCCARTHY of New York, Ms. MCCARTHY of Missouri, Mr. MCDERMOTT,

Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. MOORE, Mr. NADLER, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr. PALLONE, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. POMEROY, Ms. RIVERS, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. RUSH, Mr.

SANDLIN, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SHOWS, Mr. SISISKY, Ms. SLAUGHTER,

Ms. STABENOW, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. UDALL

of New Mexico, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. WEINER, Mr. WEYGAND, Mr.

WEXLER, Ms. WOOLSEY, AND Mr. WU) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Congress that the AuschwitzBirkenau state museum in Poland should release seven

paintings by Auschwitz survivor Dina Babbitt made while
2

•HCON 162 IH

she was imprisoned there, and that the governments

of the United States and Poland should facilitate the

return of Dina Babbitt’s artwork to her.

Whereas Dina Babbitt (formerly known as Dinah

Gottliebova), a United States citizen now 76 years old,

has requested the return of watercolor portraits she

painted while suffering a year and a half long internment

at the Auschwitz death camp;

Whereas Dina Babbitt was ordered to paint the portraits by

the infamous war criminal Dr. Josef Mengele;

Whereas Dina Babbitt’s life, and her mother’s life, were

spared only because she painted portraits of doomed inmates of Auschwitz-Birkenau, under orders from Dr.

Josef Mengele;

Whereas Dina Babbitt is unquestionably the rightful owner

of the artwork, since it was produced by her own talented

hands as she survived the unspeakable conditions that

prevailed at the Auschwitz death camp;

Whereas only 22 of the 3,800 Czech Jews scheduled for

death at Auschwitz in March of 1944 survived the Auschwitz ordeal, and among those who were murdered were

relatives of Dina Babbitt;

Whereas to continue to deny Dina Babbitt the property that

is rightfully hers adds to the pain and suffering she has

experienced because of the Auschwitz ordeal;

Whereas the artwork is not available to public view at the

Auschwitz-Birkenau state museum and therefore this

unique and important body of work is essentially lost to

history; and
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Whereas this continued injustice can be righted through cooperation between agencies of the United States and Poland: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That the Congress—

3 (1) recognizes the moral right of Dina Babbitt

4 to obtain the artwork she created, and recognizes

5 her courage in the face of the evils perpetrated by

6 the Nazi command of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death

7 camp, including the atrocities committed by Dr.

8 Josef Mengele;

9 (2) urges the President to make all efforts nec10 essary to retrieve the seven watercolor portraits

11 Dina Babbitt painted, while suffering a year and a

12 half long internment at the Auschwitz death camp,

13 and return them to her;

14 (3) urges the State Department to make imme15 diate diplomatic efforts to facilitate the transfer of

16 the seven original watercolors painted by Dina Bab17 bitt from the Auschwitz-Birkenau state museum to

18 Dina Babbitt, the rightful owner;

19 (4) urges the Government of Poland to imme20 diately enable facilitate the return of the artwork

21 painted by Dina Babbitt from the Auschwitz22 Birkenau state museum to Dina Babbitt; and
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•HCON 162 IH

1 (5) urges the officials of the Auschwitz2 Birkenau state museum to transfer the seven origi3 nal paintings to Dina Babbitt as expeditiously as

4 possible.

Æ