IV
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. CON. RES. 162
Expressing the sense of the Congress that the Auschwitz-Birkenau state
museum in Poland should release seven paintings by Auschwitz survivor
Dina Babbitt made while she was imprisoned there, and that the govern-
ments of the United States and Poland should facilitate the return
of Dina Babbitt’s artwork to her.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 22, 1999
Ms. BERKLEY (for herself, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. ACKERMAN, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr.
BERMAN, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr.
CARDIN, Mr. CROWLEY, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. DEUTSCH,
Mr. ENGEL, Mr. FILNER, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr.
FROST, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr.
HINCHEY, Mr. HOEFFEL, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. HOLT, Mr. INSLEE, Mrs.
JONES of Ohio, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. LEVIN, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. LUCAS of
Kentucky, Mr. LUTHER, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Mr. MATSUI, Mrs.
MCCARTHY of New York, Ms. MCCARTHY of Missouri, Mr. MCDERMOTT,
Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. MOORE, Mr. NAD-
LER, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr. PALLONE, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. POM-
EROY, Ms. RIVERS, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. RUSH, Mr.
SANDLIN, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SHOWS, Mr. SISISKY, Ms. SLAUGHTER,
Ms. STABENOW, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. UDALL
of New Mexico, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. WEINER, Mr. WEYGAND, Mr.
WEXLER, Ms. WOOLSEY, AND Mr. WU) submitted the following concur-
rent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Re-
lations
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Congress that the Auschwitz-
Birkenau state museum in Poland should release seven
paintings by Auschwitz survivor Dina Babbitt made while
•HCON 162 IH
she was imprisoned there, and that the governments
of the United States and Poland should facilitate the
return of Dina Babbitt’s artwork to her.
Whereas 
Dina 
Babbitt 
(formerly 
known 
as 
Dinah
Gottliebova), a United States citizen now 76 years old,
has requested the return of watercolor portraits she
painted while suffering a year and a half long internment
at the Auschwitz death camp;
Whereas Dina Babbitt was ordered to paint the portraits by
the infamous war criminal Dr. Josef Mengele;
Whereas Dina Babbitt’s life, and her mother’s life, were
spared only because she painted portraits of doomed in-
mates of Auschwitz-Birkenau, under orders from Dr.
Josef Mengele;
Whereas Dina Babbitt is unquestionably the rightful owner
of the artwork, since it was produced by her own talented
hands as she survived the unspeakable conditions that
prevailed at the Auschwitz death camp;
Whereas only 22 of the 3,800 Czech Jews scheduled for
death at Auschwitz in March of 1944 survived the Ausch-
witz ordeal, and among those who were murdered were
relatives of Dina Babbitt;
Whereas to continue to deny Dina Babbitt the property that
is rightfully hers adds to the pain and suffering she has
experienced because of the Auschwitz ordeal;
Whereas the artwork is not available to public view at the
Auschwitz-Birkenau state museum and therefore this
unique and important body of work is essentially lost to
history; and
•HCON 162 IH
Whereas this continued injustice can be righted through co-
operation between agencies of the United States and Po-
land: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That the Congress—
(1) recognizes the moral right of Dina Babbitt
to obtain the artwork she created, and recognizes
her courage in the face of the evils perpetrated by
the Nazi command of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death
camp, including the atrocities committed by Dr.
Josef Mengele;
(2) urges the President to make all efforts nec-
essary to retrieve the seven watercolor portraits
Dina Babbitt painted, while suffering a year and a
half long internment at the Auschwitz death camp,
and return them to her;
(3) urges the State Department to make imme-
diate diplomatic efforts to facilitate the transfer of
the seven original watercolors painted by Dina Bab-
bitt from the Auschwitz-Birkenau state museum to
Dina Babbitt, the rightful owner;
(4) urges the Government of Poland to imme-
diately enable facilitate the return of the artwork
painted by Dina Babbitt from the Auschwitz-
Birkenau state museum to Dina Babbitt; and
•HCON 162 IH
(5) urges the officials of the Auschwitz-
Birkenau state museum to transfer the seven origi-
nal paintings to Dina Babbitt as expeditiously as
possible.
Æ