III 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 542 

Commemorating the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Dachau 

concentration camp during World War II. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 12, 2020 

Mr. GARDNER (for himself, Ms. SINEMA, Ms. MCSALLY, Mr. BENNET, Mr. 

INHOFE, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. ROSEN, Mrs. BLACKBURN, and Mr. CRAMER) 

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Relations 

JUNE 3, 2020 

Reported by Mr. RISCH, with an amendment and an amendment to the 

preamble 

JUNE 16, 2020 

Considered, amended, and agreed to with an amended preamble 

RESOLUTION 

Commemorating the 75th anniversary of the liberation of 

the Dachau concentration camp during World War II. 

Whereas the Dachau concentration camp, established in 

March 1933— 

(1) was the first concentration camp established by 

the German National Socialist, or ‘‘Nazi’’, government; 

(2) served as a model for all subsequent Nazi concentration camps; 

(3) was a training center for the notoriously brutal 

SS concentration camp guards; and 


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(4) operated continuously until the end of World 

War II in 1945; 

Whereas the Dachau concentration camp housed Germans 

who were deemed political, racial, or social threats by the 

Nazi regime, including Communists, Social Democrats, 

Jews, Roma, members of the clergy, Jehovah’s Witnesses, 

and other religious and cultural minorities; 

Whereas, in addition to Germans, prisoners at the Dachau 

concentration camp included Poles, Hungarians, Austrians, Italians, Lithuanians, Czechs, Slovenes, Belgians, 

and other foreign nationals from countries occupied or invaded by Germany; 

Whereas the Nazis imprisoned more than 200,000 civilians in 

the Dachau concentration camp and the more than 100 

subcamps of the Dachau concentration camp; 

Whereas the Nazis murdered tens of thousands of innocent 

civilians, and allowed countless others to die from disease, starvation, malnutrition, and exhaustion, at the Dachau concentration camp, one of many camps where the 

Nazis brutally killed millions of people, including 

6,000,000 Jews during the Holocaust; 

Whereas the Nazis tortured, and conducted medical experiments that led to the death or permanent disabling of, 

hundreds of civilian prisoners at the Dachau concentration camp, including by— 

(1) subjecting the prisoners to pressure extremes; 

(2) submersing the prisoners in freezing water; 

(3) forcing the prisoners to drink salt water; and 

(4) infecting the prisoners with malaria; 

Whereas the Nazis subjected civilian prisoners at the Dachau 

concentration camp to forced labor— 


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(1) first for the initial construction and expansion of 

the camp; and 

(2) later primarily for armaments production to supply the German military; 

Whereas, following the advance of Allied Forces, the Nazi regime began the systematic transfer of prisoners from 

evacuated concentration camps to the Dachau concentration camp for continued imprisonment, resulting in the 

deaths of thousands of weakened and malnourished prisoners and leading to the discovery of the infamous ‘‘Dachau death train’’, consisting of nearly 40 railroad cars 

containing the bodies of approximately 2,310 prisoners; 

Whereas, in December 1943, Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed as Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces and led the formal coordination of the Allied Forces, with the mission to liberate Europe; 

Whereas the main Dachau concentration camp was liberated 

on April 29, 1945; 

Whereas that liberation was led by— 

(1) the 45th Infantry ‘‘Thunderbird’’ Division of the 

Seventh Army of the United States (referred to in this 

preamble as the ‘‘45th Infantry Division’’), under the 

leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Felix Sparks, member of 

the Colorado Army National Guard and Commander of 

the Third Battalion of the 157th Infantry Regiment of 

the 45th Infantry Division; 

(2) the 42nd Infantry ‘‘Rainbow’’ Division of the 

Seventh Army of the United States (referred to in this 

preamble as the ‘‘42nd Infantry Division’’), under the 

leadership of Brigadier General Henning Linden; and 


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(3) the 20th Armored Division of the Seventh Army 

of the United States (referred to in this preamble as the 

‘‘20th Armored Division’’); 

Whereas the 45th Infantry Division— 

(1) was composed of National Guard units from Colorado, Oklahoma, Arizona, and New Mexico; and 

(2) deployed in June 1943 in support of the Allied 

Forces during World War II; 

Whereas the 42nd Infantry Division— 

(1) was composed of personnel from every State of 

the United States; and 

(2) deployed in December 1944 in support of the Allied Forces during World War II; 

Whereas the 20th Armored Division— 

(1) was activated at Fort Campbell and, until October of 1944, trained soldiers and qualified those soldiers 

for overseas shipment as replacement soldiers for armored units; and 

(2) deployed in February 1945 in support of the Allied Forces during World War II; 

Whereas, in the European theater of operation, the 45th Infantry Division suffered— 

(1) 1,831 deaths in battle; and 

(2) 7,791 battle casualties; 

Whereas, in the European theater of operation, the 42nd Infantry Division suffered— 

(1) 655 deaths in battle; and 

(2) 3,971 battle casualties; 

Whereas, in the European theater of operation, the 20th Armored Division suffered— 

(1) 59 deaths in battle; and 


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(2) 186 battle casualties; 

Whereas, in 1985, the United States Army Center of Military 

History and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum honored the 45th Infantry Division, the 42nd Infantry Division, and the 20th Armored Division with recognition as ‘‘liberating units’’; and 

Whereas commemoration of the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp will instill in all people of the United 

States a greater awareness of the unspeakable tragedies 

of the Holocaust: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) commemorates April 29, 2020, as the 75th 

3 anniversary of the liberation of the Dachau con4 centration camp during World War II; 

5 (2) calls on all people of the United States to 

6 remember the tens of thousands of innocent victims 

7 murdered at the Dachau concentration camp as part 

8 of the Holocaust, the 6,000,000 Jews killed through9 out the Holocaust, and all of the victims of the Nazi 

10 reign of terror; and 

11 (3) recognizes the valorous efforts of the 45th 

12 Infantry Division, the 42nd Infantry Division, and 

13 the 20th Armored Division of the Seventh Army of 

14 the United States in the liberation of the thousands 

15 of individuals imprisoned at the Dachau concentra16 tion camp. 

Æ 


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