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, and 

Mr. INHOFE) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 

the Committee on Foreign Relations 

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; 

and 

(2) 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; 


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•SRES 542 IS 

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 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 on 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— 

(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; 

Whereas, in December 1943, Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed as Supreme Commander of the Allied ExpediVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:33 Mar 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR542.IS SR542

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•SRES 542 IS 

tionary Forces and led the formal coordination of the Allied Forces, with the mission to liberate Europe; 

Whereas, on April 29, 1945, 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, along 

with units of the 42nd Infantry Division and the 20th 

Armored Division, led the liberation of the main Dachau 

concentration camp; 

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

(1) 1,831 deaths in battle; and 

(2) 7,791 casualties; 

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

History and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum honored the 45th Infantry Division with recognition 

as a ‘‘liberating unit’’; 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— 


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•SRES 542 IS 

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

2 anniversary of the liberation of the Dachau con3 centration camp during World War II; 

4 (2) condemns the crimes against humanity com5 mitted by the Nazi regime; and 

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

7 Infantry Division, the 42nd Infantry Division, and 

8 the 20th Armored Division of the Seventh Army of 

9 the United States in the liberation of the thousands 

10 of individuals imprisoned at the Dachau concentra11 tion camp. 

Æ 


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