I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1299 
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. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 1, 2023 
Mr. KEATING (for himself, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Ms. KAPTUR, and Mr. 
TURNER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Heroes of the Warsaw 
Ghetto Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) The Jewish people have long formed an in-
tegral part of the culture and history of Europe and 
of Poland. 
(2) Europeans Jews contribute to the rich di-
versity of society and culture across Europe. 
(3) For centuries, prior to World War II, Po-
land 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. 
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(8) In early 1943, German and SS units in-
tended to deport the remaining Jewish population of 
the ghetto to forced labor camps, but many Jews re-
sisted 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 in-
tent of liquidating the ghetto and deporting its re-
maining inhabitants. 
(10) Aided in part by arms from the Polish un-
derground and relying on clandestinely organized 
Jewish self-defense groups, the ghetto heroically re-
sisted 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, fight-
ing to the last. 
(12) After weeks of resistance, the Germans 
systematically destroyed the ghetto, burning build-
ings 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 sup-
pressed the uprising and deported the ghetto’s sur-
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viving inhabitants to concentration camps and killing 
centers. 
(14) The heroes of the Warsaw ghetto who 
bravely defended themselves in the face of unimagi-
nable 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 elimi-
nation 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 
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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, pro-
viding cultural, education and civic centers where 
people can learn about the life and record of individ-
uals or groups of people from the past. 
(21) Museums dedicated to the historical mem-
ory of Jewish people or the struggle for survival of 
the Jewish people during the Holocaust play a crit-
ical role in preserving the memory of Jewish people. 
(22) The construction of further museums, in-
cluding 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 edu-
cational hub for all people to learn about the rich 
history of Jewish people who were targeted and he-
roically fought back against the Nazis in their at-
tempt to erase the memory of Jewish life in Europe. 
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(25) The POLIN Museum in Warsaw should be 
celebrated for the important role it plays in the pres-
ervation of the memory of Jewish life as it docu-
ments 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 mem-
ory of the Jewish people. 
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 
(a) PRESENTATIONS AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 
the House of Representatives and the President pro tem-
pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 
for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of the Con-
gress, 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’’) shall strike the gold medal with suitable em-
blems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the 
Secretary. 
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(c) UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MU-
SEUM.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Following the award of the 
gold medal under subsection (a), the gold medal 
shall be given to the United States Holocaust Memo-
rial Museum, where it shall be available for display 
and research in accordance with the Museum’s poli-
cies regarding materials in the Museum’s care. 
(2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 
Congress that the United States Holocaust Memo-
rial 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 commemo-
ration 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. 
SEC. 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. 
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SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 
(a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medal struck pursuant 
to this Act is a national medal for purposes of chapter 
51 of title 31, United States Code. 
(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. 
SEC. 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 nec-
essary 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. 
Æ 
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