IV
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. CON. RES. 118
Urging the return of portraits painted by Dina Babbitt during her internment
at Auschwitz that are now in the possession of the Auschwitz-Birkenau
State Museum.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 1, 2001
Ms. BERKLEY (for herself, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. FROST, Ms. DELAURO,
Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. ACKERMAN, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. CANTOR, Mr.
PALLONE, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. TOWNS, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mrs.
NAPOLITANO, Mr. WEINER, Mr. MOORE, Mr. WEXLER, Ms. BALDWIN,
Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. CARDIN, Mr.
HOLDEN, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. BERMAN, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York,
Ms. MCCARTHY of Missouri, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. KIRK, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr.
LEVIN, Mr. GONZALEZ, Ms. NORTON, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. NADLER, Mrs.
MINK of Hawaii, Mr. KUCINICH, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mr. HONDA, Mr. HIN-
CHEY, Mr. HOEFFEL, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. HASTINGS of
Florida, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr.
ABERCROMBIE, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. HOLT, Mr. FILNER, Ms. SOLIS, Mr.
MATHESON, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. MATSUI, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. GIBBONS,
Mr. FOLEY, Mr. FRANK, and Mr. MCGOVERN) submitted the following
concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Inter-
national Relations
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Urging the return of portraits painted by Dina Babbitt dur-
ing her internment at Auschwitz that are now in the
possession of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.
Whereas 
Dina 
Babbitt 
(formerly 
known 
as 
Dinah
Gottliebova), a United States citizen now in her late 70’s,
has requested the return of watercolor portraits she
•HCON 118 IH
painted while suffering a year-and-a-half-long internment
at the Auschwitz death camp during World War II;
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 these paintings are currently in the possession of
the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum;
Whereas Dina Babbitt is unquestionably the rightful owner
of the artwork, since the paintings were produced by her
own talented hands as she endured the unspeakable con-
ditions that existed at the Auschwitz death camp;
Whereas only 22 of the approximately 3,800 Czech Jews
scheduled for death at Auschwitz in March 1944 sur-
vived, and among those who were murdered were rel-
atives 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 her experiences at Auschwitz;
Whereas the artwork is not available for the public to view
at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and therefore
this unique and important body of work is essentially lost
to history; and
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—
•HCON 118 IH
(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; and
(2) urges—
(A) 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;
(B) the Secretary of State to make imme-
diate diplomatic efforts to facilitate the transfer
of the seven original watercolors painted by
Dina Babbitt from the Auschwitz-Birkenau
State Museum to Dina Babbitt, their rightful
owner;
(D) the Government of Poland to imme-
diately facilitate the return to Dina Babbitt of
the artwork painted by her that is now in the
possession of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State
Museum; and
(E) the officials of the Auschwitz-Birkenau
State Museum to transfer the seven original
•HCON 118 IH
paintings to Dina Babbitt as expeditiously as
possible.
Æ