IV 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. CON. RES. 46 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 18, 2016 

Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Expressing support for the goal of ensuring that all Holocaust victims live with dignity, comfort, and security 

in their remaining years, and urging the Federal Republic of Germany to continue to reaffirm its commitment 

to comprehensively address the unique health and welfare 

needs of vulnerable Holocaust victims, including home 

care and other medically prescribed needs. 

Whereas the annihilation of 6,000,000 Jews during the Holocaust and the murder of millions of others by the Nazi 

German state constitutes one of the most tragic and heinous crimes in human history; 

Whereas hundreds of thousands of Jews survived persecution 

by the Nazi regime despite being imprisoned, subjected to 

slave labor, moved into ghettos, forced to live in hiding 

or under false identity or curfew, or required to wear the 

‘‘yellow star’’; 

Whereas in fear of the oncoming Nazi Einsatzgruppen, or 

‘‘Nazi Killing Squads’’, and the likelihood of extermiVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:37 Jul 18, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SC46.RFH SC46

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SCON 46 RFH 

nation, hundreds of thousands of Jewish Nazi victims 

fled for their lives; 

Whereas whatever type of persecution suffered by Jews during the Holocaust, the common thread that binds Holocaust victims is that they were targeted for extermination 

and they lived with a constant fear for their lives and the 

lives of their loved ones; 

Whereas Holocaust victims immigrated to the United States 

from Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and the 

former Soviet Union between 1933 and the date of adoption of this resolution; 

Whereas it is estimated that there are at least 100,000 Holocaust victims living in the United States and approximately 500,000 Holocaust victims living around the 

world, including child survivors of the Holocaust; 

Whereas tens of thousands of Holocaust victims are at least 

80 years old, and the number of surviving Holocaust victims is diminishing; 

Whereas at least 50 percent of Holocaust victims alive today 

will pass away within the next decade, and those living 

victims are becoming frailer and have increasing health 

and welfare needs; 

Whereas Holocaust victims throughout the world continue to 

suffer from permanent physical and psychological injuries 

and disabilities and live with the emotional scars of a systematic genocide against the Jewish people; 

Whereas many of the emotional and psychological scars of 

Holocaust victims are exacerbated in the old age of the 

Holocaust victims; 


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Whereas the past haunts and overwhelms many aspects of 

the lives of Holocaust victims when their health fails 

them; 

Whereas Holocaust victims suffer particular trauma when 

their emotional and physical circumstances force them to 

leave the security of their homes and enter institutional 

or other group living residential facilities; 

Whereas tens of thousands of Holocaust victims live in poverty and cannot afford, and do not receive, sufficient 

medical care, home care, mental health care, medicine, 

food, transportation, and other vital life-sustaining services that allow individuals to live their final years with 

comfort and dignity; 

Whereas Holocaust victims often lack family support networks and require social worker-supported case management in order to manage their daily lives and access government-funded services; 

Whereas in response to a letter sent by Members of Congress 

to the Minister of Finance of Germany in December 

2015 relating to increased funding for Holocaust victims, 

German officials acknowledged that ‘‘recent experience 

has shown that the care financed by the German Government to date is insufficient’’ and that ‘‘it is imperative 

to expand these assistance measures quickly given the advanced age of many of the affected persons’’; 

Whereas German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer acknowledged, 

in 1951, the responsibility of Germany to provide moral 

and financial compensation to Holocaust victims worldwide; 

Whereas every successive German Chancellor has reaffirmed 

that acknowledgment, including Chancellor Angela 


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Merkel, who, in 2007, reaffirmed that ‘‘only by fully accepting its enduring responsibility for this most appalling 

period and for the cruelest crimes in its history, can Germany shape the future’’; 

Whereas, in 2015, the spokesperson of Chancellor Angela 

Merkel confirmed that ‘‘all Germans know the history of 

the murderous race mania of the Nazis that led to the 

break with civilization that was the Holocaust . . . we 

know the responsibility for this crime against humanity 

is German and very much our own’’; and 

Whereas Congress believes it is the moral and historical responsibility of Germany to comprehensively, permanently, 

and urgently provide resources for the medical, mental 

health, and long-term care needs of all Holocaust victims: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 

2 concurring), That Congress— 

3 (1) acknowledges the financial and moral com4 mitment of the Federal Republic of Germany over 

5 the past seven decades to provide a measure of jus6 tice for Holocaust victims; and 

7 (2) supports the goal of ensuring that all Holo8 caust victims in the United States and around the 

9 world are able to live with dignity, comfort, and se10 curity in their remaining years. 

Passed the Senate July 14, 2016. 

Attest: JULIE E. ADAMS, 

Secretary. 


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