I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6015 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Benjamin Berell Ferencz, in recognition of his service to the United States and international community 

during the post-World War II Nuremberg trials and lifelong advocacy 

for international criminal justice and rule of law. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 18, 2021 

Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida (for herself, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, 

Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. RYAN, Mr. MANN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. 

SUOZZI, Mrs. CAMMACK, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. ELLZEY, Ms. SALAZAR, Mr. 

KHANNA, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. TRONE, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CARSON, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. 

GOTTHEIMER, Mrs. LURIA, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, 

Ms. NORTON, Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. 

SOTO, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. MENG, and Mr. CICILLINE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, 

and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Benjamin Berell 

Ferencz, in recognition of his service to the United 

States and international community during the postWorld War II Nuremberg trials and lifelong advocacy 

for international criminal justice and rule of law. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 6015 IH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Benjamin Berell 

3 Ferencz Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Benjamin ‘‘Ben’’ Berell Ferencz was born 

7 on March 11, 1920, in Transylvania, now modern 

8 day Hungary. 

9 (2) In 1920, Ben and his family fled anti-Se10 mitic persecution and emigrated to the United 

11 States. Ben grew up in New York City, and in 1940, 

12 was awarded a scholarship to Harvard Law School 

13 where he graduated with honors. 

14 (3) After the onset of World War II, Ben en15 listed in the United States Army in 1943, and joined 

16 an anti-aircraft artillery battalion preparing for the 

17 invasion of France. As an enlisted man under Gen18 eral Patton, he fought in most of the major cam19 paigns in Europe. 

20 (4) As Nazi atrocities were uncovered, Ben was 

21 transferred to a newly created War Crimes Branch 

22 of the Army to gather evidence of war crimes that 

23 could be used in a court of law to prosecute persons 

24 responsible for these crimes. Ben documented the 

25 horrors perpetrated by Nazi Germany, visiting con26 centration camps as they were liberated. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 6015 IH

1 (5) At the end of 1945, Ben was honorably dis2 charged from the United States Army with the rank 

3 of Sergeant of Infantry. He had been awarded five 

4 battle stars. 

5 (6) In 1946, the United States Government re6 cruited Ben to join the team working on the Nurem7 berg tribunals, a novel independent court established 

8 to try top-ranking Nazi officials for crimes per9 petrated during the course of the war, including 

10 those crimes we now call the Holocaust. Mr. Ferencz 

11 was sent to Berlin to oversee a team of 50 research12 ers investigating official Nazi records, which pro13 vided overwhelming evidence to implicate German 

14 doctors, lawyers, judges, generals, industrialists, and 

15 others in genocide. 

16 (7) By 1948, at age 27, Ben had secured 

17 enough evidence to prosecute 22 SS members of 

18 Nazi killing squads charged for the murder of over 

19 1,000,0000 Jewish, Roma, Soviet, and other men, 

20 women, and children in shooting massacres in occu21 pied Soviet territory. He was appointed chief pros22 ecutor in the Einsatzgruppen Trial, in what the As23 sociated Press called ‘‘the biggest murder trial in 

24 history’’. The court found 20 Nazi officials guilty of 

25 war crimes, crimes against humanity, and memberVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:44 Nov 30, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6015.IH H6015

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 6015 IH

1 ship in a criminal organization for their roles in the 

2 murder of over a million people. An additional two 

3 defendants were found guilty for membership in a 

4 criminal organization. 

5 (8) After the Nuremberg trials ended, Ben 

6 fought for compensation for victims and survivors of 

7 the Holocaust, the return of stolen assets, and other 

8 forms of restitution for those who had suffered at 

9 the hands of the Nazis. 

10 (9) Since the 1970s, Ben has worked tirelessly 

11 to promote development of international mechanisms 

12 to outlaw and punish aggressive war and the crimes 

13 of genocide, crimes against humanity and war 

14 crimes. His efforts contributed to the establishment 

15 of the International Criminal Court and to the rec16 ognition of aggression as an international crime. 

17 (10) Ben is a tireless advocate for international 

18 criminal justice and the conviction that the rule of 

19 law offers the world a sustainable path to stem con20 flict and reach peaceful conclusions to geopolitical 

21 disputes. His unwavering goal has been ‘‘to establish 

22 a legal precedent that would encourage a more hu23 mane and secure world in the future’’. 

24 (11) Ben, at age 101, is still active, giving 

25 speeches throughout the world about lessons learned 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 6015 IH

1 during his extraordinary career. He is compelled by 

2 the imperative to ‘‘replace the rule of force with the 

3 rule of law’’, promoting judicial mechanisms that 

4 can resolve conflict. He often tells young people to 

5 ‘‘never give up’’ because the fight for peace and jus6 tice is worth the long struggle ahead. 

7 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

8 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

9 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem10 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

11 for the presentation, on behalf of the Congress, of a gold 

12 medal of appropriate design to Benjamin Berell Ferencz, 

13 in recognition of his service to the United States and inter14 national community during the post-World War II Nurem15 berg trials and lifelong advocacy for international criminal 

16 justice and rule of law. 

17 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For purposes of the 

18 presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 

19 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec20 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

21 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec22 retary. 

23 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may strike and sell 

25 duplicates in bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 6015 IH

1 to section 3 under such regulations as the Secretary may 

2 prescribe, at a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, 

3 including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and 

4 overhead expenses. 

5 (b) UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MU6 SEUM.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 

8 a duplicate medal described under subsection (a) to 

9 the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 

10 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

11 Congress that the United States Holocaust Memo12 rial Museum should make the duplicate medal re13 ceived under this subsection available for display to 

14 the public whenever the United States Holocaust 

15 Memorial Museum determines that such display is 

16 timely, feasible, and practical. 

17 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

18 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu19 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

20 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

21 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 

22 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

23 under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 6015 IH

1 SEC. 6. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

2 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

3 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 

4 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

5 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

6 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

7 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro8 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 

9 vote on passage. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS