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[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 521 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 521

    Commending the people of Albania on the 61st anniversary of the 
 liberation of the Jews from the Nazi death camps, for protecting and 
  saving the lives of all Jews who lived in Albania, or sought asylum 
                      there during the Holocaust.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 27, 2006

   Mr. Schumer (for himself and Mr. McCain) submitted the following 
  resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
    Commending the people of Albania on the 61st anniversary of the 
 liberation of the Jews from the Nazi death camps, for protecting and 
  saving the lives of all Jews who lived in Albania, or sought asylum 
                      there during the Holocaust.

Whereas at the start of World War II, approximately 200 Jews lived in the 
        Republic of Albania, and approximately 1800 Jews escaped to Albania from 
        Western Europe and the former Yugoslavia;
Whereas in 1934, United States Ambassador to Albania Herman Bernstein wrote 
        that, ``There is no trace of any discrimination against Jews in Albania, 
        because Albania happens to be one of the rare lands in Europe today 
        where religious prejudice and hate do not exist, even though Albanians 
        themselves are divided into three faiths.'';
Whereas based on their unique history of religious tolerance, Albanians 
        sheltered and protected Jews, even at the risk of Albanian lives, 
        beginning with the invasion and occupation of Albania by Mussolini's 
        Italian fascists in 1939;
Whereas after Germany occupied Albania in 1943 and the Gestapo ordered Jewish 
        refugees in the Albanian capital of Tirana to register, Albanian leaders 
        refused to provide a list of Jews living in Albania, and Albanian clerks 
        issued false identity papers to protect all Jews who traveled to and hid 
        in Tirana;
Whereas Albanians considered it a matter of national pride and tradition to help 
        Jews during the Holocaust, and due to the actions of many individual 
        Albanians, virtually the entire native and refugee Jewish community in 
        Albania during World War II survived the Holocaust;
Whereas Albania had more Jewish residents after World War II than before World 
        War II;
Whereas in June 1990, Jewish-American Congressman Tom Lantos and former 
        Albanian-American Congressman Joe DioGuardi were the first United States 
        officials to enter Albania in 50 years and received from the Communist 
        Party leader and Albanian President Ramiz Alia a thick file from the 
        Communist archives containing the records of the unpublicized heroic 
        deeds of hundreds of Albanians who rescued Jews during World War II;
Whereas Joe DioGuardi, upon returning to the United States, sent the file for 
        authentication to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' 
        Remembrance Museum in Jerusalem, Israel;
Whereas Yad Vashem has thus far designated 63 Albanians as ``Righteous Persons'' 
        and Albania as one of the ``Righteous Among the Nations'';
Whereas in February 1995, Congressmen Tom Lantos, Benjamin Gilman, and Jerrold 
        Nadler and former Congressman Joe DioGuardi spoke at a ceremony at the 
        United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, commemorating 
        the addition of Albania to the museum's ``Righteous Among the Nations'' 
        installation;
Whereas based on the information authenticated by Yad Vashem, Jewish-American 
        author and philanthropist Harvey Sarner published ``Rescue in Albania'' 
        in 1997, to call international attention to the unique role of the 
        Albanian people in saving Jews from the Nazi Holocaust;
Whereas in October 1997, the Albanian American Civic League and Foundation began 
        the distribution of 10,000 copies of ``Rescue in Albania'' with 
        forewords by Congressmen Lantos and Gilman to bring to the attention of 
        the Jewish people and their leaders in particular the plight of 
        Albanians living under Slobodan Milosevic in order to forestall another 
        genocide;
Whereas on May 15, 2005, Jews and Albanians gathered in New York City in a 
        ``Salute to Albanian Tolerance, Resistance, and Hope: Remembering Besa 
        and the Holocaust'' on the occasion for the 60th anniversary of the 
        liberation of the Nazi death camps; and
Whereas in a statement presented at the ceremony Dr. Mordechai Paldiel, Director 
        of the Department for the Righteous at Yad Vashem, commemorated the 
        heroism of Albanians as ``the only ones among rescuers in other 
        countries who not only went out of their way to save Jews, but vied and 
        competed with each other for the privilege of being a rescuer, thanks to 
        besa'', the code of honor that requires Albanians to save the life of 
        anyone seeking refuge, even if it means sacrificing his own life: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) commends the people of Albania for protecting and 
        saving the lives of all Jews, both native and refugee, living 
        in Albania during the Holocaust;
            (2) commends Yad Vashem in Israel and encourages others to 
        recognize Albanians who took action to protect Jews during the 
        Holocaust for their great courage and heroism; and
            (3) takes this occasion to reaffirm its support for close 
        ties between the United States and Albania.
                                 <all>
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