H. Res. 283 

In the House of Representatives, U. S., 

May 4, 2009. 

Whereas Rabbi Charles H. Rosenzveig, Holocaust survivor, 

scholar, teacher, and founder of the Nation’s first freestanding Holocaust Memorial Center, passed away on 

December 11, 2008, which corresponds to the 14th of 

Kislev, 5769 of the Hebrew calendar, and was buried in 

Jerusalem, Israel; 

Whereas Rabbi Charles H. Rosenzveig was beloved by 

friends, family, and congregants and is survived by his 

wife Helen and four children, Martin Rosenzveig, Rabbi 

Ely Rosenzveig, Judy Rosenzveig, and Adina 

Novogrodsky, and ten grandchildren; 

Whereas Rabbi Charles H. Rosenzveig was born on November 

13, 1920, in Ostrovitz, Poland, to Yente and Eliezer 

Lippa Rosenzveig; 

Whereas Rabbi Charles H. Rosenzveig was educated in the 

Jewish cheder and prestigious Bialystok Yeshiva, and 

studied the laws of his faith concerning the importance 

of good deeds and social justice, and developed exceptional knowledge of the Talmud, the rabbinic interpretation of Jewish Law; 

Whereas Rabbi Charles H. Rosenzveig endured and bore witness to the horrific atrocities of the Holocaust, the 
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Shoah, and members of his immediate and extended family perished at the hands of the Nazis; 

Whereas Rabbi Charles H. Rosenzveig managed to escape his 

Nazi persecutors, fled from Poland to the Soviet Union 

before immigrating to the United States, settling at first 

in New York City in 1947; 

Whereas Rabbi Charles H. Rosenzveig attended the world-renowned Yeshiva University in Manhattan and was ordained in 1951 as a rabbi, leader, and teacher in the 

Jewish community; 

Whereas, upon receiving the rabbinic designation, Rabbi 

Charles H. Rosenzveig led Congregation Mt. Sinai in 

Port Huron, Michigan, where he served as spiritual leader until 1993, when he left the pulpit to devote his entire 

energy and spirit to the Holocaust Memorial Center, a 

project he had envisioned since his escape from Europe; 

Whereas the Holocaust Memorial Center, established in 1984 

at the Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield, 

Michigan, became the Nation’s first free-standing Holocaust Memorial Center; 

Whereas the Holocaust Memorial Center is a monument to 

the memory of the victims of the Holocaust, and an educational institution with a mission to teach the lesson of 

tolerance to future generations, welcoming millions of 

visitors from around the world wishing to learn about the 

horrors of the Holocaust in order to prevent such a tragedy from occurring again; 

Whereas other Holocaust centers around the country have 

been built, many modeled on Rabbi Charles H. 

Rosenzveig’s original Holocaust Memorial Center; 
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Whereas Rabbi Charles H. Rosenzveig traveled and spoke extensively to raise awareness and grow the Holocaust Memorial Center, allowing the Holocaust Memorial Center 

to move from its original home in West Bloomfield, 

Michigan, to a large, state-of-the-art museum in Farmington Hills, Michigan, that also houses the Museum of 

European Heritage and the International Institute of the 

Righteous; 

Whereas it was Rabbi Charles H. Rosenzveig’s vision for the 

new center to enlighten future generations about the horrors of the Holocaust and nourish a social consciousness 

whereby the ‘‘righteous acts of the few become the standard of the many’’; and 

Whereas Rabbi Charles H. Rosenzveig succeeded in providing 

the tools necessary for the message of ‘‘Never Again’’ to 

be understood by future generations: Now, therefore, be 

it 

Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

(1) mourns the passing of Rabbi Charles H. 

Rosenzveig and pauses to remember the 6,000,000 Jews 

killed in the Holocaust and the more than 11,000,000 

people murdered in World War II; and 

(2) honors the life and accomplishments of Rabbi 

Charles H. Rosenzveig as a scholar, teacher, rabbi, and 
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Founder and Director of the Holocaust Memorial Center. 

Attest: 

Clerk.