At the Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors: Holtzman Urges Investigation to Examine ‘what Our Go

Congress was urged by former Rep. Elizabeth Holtzman today to authorize the establishment of a special commission with subpoena powers “to examine what our government did with Hitler’s henchmen here.”

Holtzman, who is presently District Attorney of Brooklyn, was referring to the Nazi war criminals hired by U.S. government agencies after World War II and helped by them to escape justice. The former member of Congress from New York delivered greetings and the opening address at today’s plenary session of the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors here, marking the 40th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.

The Gathering is attended by more than 15,000 Jewish Holocaust survivors and their children. Many of them were guests at a Congressional breakfast at the Capitol this morning where they met with more than a dozen Senators and Representatives from their home states and districts. The plenary session was followed by a series of panel discussions. One of the most important topics, to which most of the day was devoted, was the special role of the children of survivors and its many ramifications.

Holtzman, who called for “a relentless war against anti-Semitism” because “we must insist on the right of Jewish survival,” said that Klaus Barbie, the “butcher of Lyon” now awaiting trial in a French prison, is not the only Nazi murderer helped by the U.S. government. She said the government hired more than 20 Nazi war criminals after World War II with full knowledge of the charges against them.

Holtzman, who as a member of Congress spearheaded the drive to root out former Nazis living in the U.S. who obtained American citizenship by lying about their past activities, stressed that those Nazis still at large in the U.S. must be brought to justice. She said the U.S. must call on Canada and on the Latin American countries to act similarly with respect to Nazi war criminals within their borders. European countries also must be made to exert greater efforts in that direction, she said.

Other speakers at the plenary session expressed appreciation to the U.S. for having provided a haven and opportunities for Holocaust survivors. They praised the heroism not only of the defenders of the Warsaw Ghetto but of Jews who resisted the Nazis in many other parts of Europe.

Some of the panel discussion topics this afternoon were on the “Integration of the Children of Survivors into Society,” “Creative Responses to the Holocaust,” and “Anti-Semitism in America.”