Heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto Congressional Gold Medal Act

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the group of heroic participants in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising who led an armed resistance against Nazi occupiers and fought to preserve and protect the Jewish culture. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto Congressional Gold Medal Act 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) The Jewish people have long formed an integral part of the culture and history of Europe and of Poland. (2) Europeans Jews contribute to the rich diversity of society and culture across Europe. (3) For centuries, prior to World War II, Poland represented a center of Jewish life in Europe and was home to millions of Jews. (4) Prior to World War II, 350,000 Jews lived in Warsaw, representing about 30 percent of the city’s population. (5) Following the Nazi takeover of Poland, the Germans established the Warsaw ghetto in October 1940, and unlawfully confined Jewish civilians to the ghetto in November 1940, with the population of the ghetto reaching a height of 400,000 Jews. (6) Life in the Warsaw ghetto was marked by widespread starvation, disease, physical violence, and deplorable conditions unsuitable for life, leading to the deaths of 83,000 Jews between 1940 and mid-1942. (7) In less than two months in 1942, German units deported about 265,000 Jews from Warsaw to the Treblinka death camp and killed an additional 35,000 Jews inside the ghetto. (8) In early 1943, German and SS units intended to deport the remaining Jewish population of the ghetto to forced labor camps, but many Jews resisted deportation. (9) The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising began on April 19, 1943, when SS and police forces appeared outside the walls of the Warsaw ghetto with the intent of liquidating the ghetto and deporting its remaining inhabitants. (10) Aided in part by arms from the Polish underground and relying on clandestinely organized Jewish self-defense groups, the ghetto heroically resisted German forces, mounting an organized armed resistance against SS and police units and fighting against impossible odds. (11) Jews in the ghetto continued to fend off their German occupiers for almost one month, fighting to the last. (12) After weeks of resistance, the Germans systematically destroyed the ghetto, burning buildings and razing city blocks in an attempt to erase the memory and existence of the Jewish people. (13) By May 16, 1943, German forces had suppressed the uprising and deported the ghetto’s surviving inhabitants to concentration camps and killing centers. (14) The heroes of the Warsaw ghetto who bravely defended themselves in the face of unimaginable crimes set an example for other occupied cities and for other Jewish communities. (15) In total, over 3,000,000 Polish Jews were murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust, with only about 380,000 Polish Jews still alive in Poland, the Soviet Union, or in concentration camps by the end of the war. (16) Genocide involves the erasure and elimination of the memory and culture of a people, and therefore the United States must work to preserve the historical record of Jewish people around the world, many of whom now live in the United States. (17) Current and future generations benefit from the preservation and memorialization of their history and culture. (18) Millions of Jewish people whose ancestors came from Poland now live in the United States, Israel, and around the world. (19) Preservation of the history and culture of Jewish people in Poland is essential to learning the lessons of history and ensuring the prosperity of the Jewish people for future generations. (20) Museums are an important contributor to the historical preservation of human memory, providing cultural, education and civic centers where people can learn about the life and record of individuals or groups of people from the past. (21) Museums dedicated to the historical memory of Jewish people or the struggle for survival of the Jewish people during the Holocaust play a critical role in preserving the memory of Jewish people. (22) The construction of further museums, including the Warsaw Ghetto Museum, would be a welcoming place for all visitors who want to better understand the fate of Jews incarcerated in the Warsaw ghetto. (23) The POLIN Museum of the History of the Polish Jews is a central location for Jewish people around the world to learn about the life, history, and culture of their ancestors. (24) The POLIN Museum is an important educational hub for all people to learn about the rich history of Jewish people who were targeted and heroically fought back against the Nazis in their attempt to erase the memory of Jewish life in Europe. (25) The POLIN Museum in Warsaw should be celebrated for the important role it plays in the preservation of the memory of Jewish life as it documents the long history of Jewish life in Poland and Europe both before and after the war, and sits on the site of the former Warsaw ghetto where so many heroic Jews fought against the erasure of the memory of the Jewish people. 3. Congressional Gold Medal (a) Presentations authorized The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of the Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in collective commemoration of the group of heroic participants in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising who led an armed resistance against Nazi occupiers and fought to preserve and protect the Jewish culture. (b) Design and striking For the purposes of the presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the Secretary (c) United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (1) In general Following the award of the gold medal under subsection (a), the gold medal shall be given to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, where it shall be available for display and research in accordance with the Museum’s policies regarding materials in the Museum’s care. (2) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum should make the gold medal received under paragraph (1) available for display elsewhere, in accordance with the Museum’s policies regarding materials in the Museum’s care, at other appropriate locations, including those associated with commemoration of the Holocaust and other relevant entities such as the POLIN Museum of the History of the Polish Jews, that may make such a request. 4. Duplicate medals The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 at a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 5. Status of medals (a) National medals The medal struck pursuant to this Act is a national medal for purposes of chapter 51 (b) Numismatic items For purposes of sections 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 6. Authority to use fund amounts; proceeds of sale (a) Authority To use fund amounts There is authorized to be charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be necessary to pay for the costs of the medals struck pursuant to this Act. (b) Proceeds of sale The amounts received from the sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 3 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.

Summary: Heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill provides for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal posthumously to commemorate the participants in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising who led an armed resistance against Nazi occupiers.