A resolution commemorating the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp during World War II.

III 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. RES. 542 Commemorating the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp during World War II. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 12, 2020 Mr. GARDNER (for himself, Ms. SINEMA, Ms. MCSALLY, Mr. BENNET, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. ROSEN, Mrs. BLACKBURN, and Mr. CRAMER) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations JUNE 3, 2020 Reported by Mr. RISCH, with an amendment and an amendment to the preamble JUNE 16, 2020 Considered, amended, and agreed to with an amended preamble RESOLUTION Commemorating the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp during World War II. Whereas the Dachau concentration camp, established in March 1933— (1) was the first concentration camp established by the German National Socialist, or ‘‘Nazi’’, government; (2) served as a model for all subsequent Nazi con- centration camps; (3) was a training center for the notoriously brutal SS concentration camp guards; and VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR542.ATS SR542 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 SRES 542 ATS (4) operated continuously until the end of World War II in 1945; Whereas the Dachau concentration camp housed Germans who were deemed political, racial, or social threats by the Nazi regime, including Communists, Social Democrats, Jews, Roma, members of the clergy, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and other religious and cultural minorities; Whereas, in addition to Germans, prisoners at the Dachau concentration camp included Poles, Hungarians, Aus- trians, Italians, Lithuanians, Czechs, Slovenes, Belgians, and other foreign nationals from countries occupied or in- vaded by Germany; Whereas the Nazis imprisoned more than 200,000 civilians in the Dachau concentration camp and the more than 100 subcamps of the Dachau concentration camp; Whereas the Nazis murdered tens of thousands of innocent civilians, and allowed countless others to die from dis- ease, starvation, malnutrition, and exhaustion, at the Da- chau concentration camp, one of many camps where the Nazis brutally killed millions of people, including 6,000,000 Jews during the Holocaust; Whereas the Nazis tortured, and conducted medical experi- ments that led to the death or permanent disabling of, hundreds of civilian prisoners at the Dachau concentra- tion camp, including by— (1) subjecting the prisoners to pressure extremes; (2) submersing the prisoners in freezing water; (3) forcing the prisoners to drink salt water; and (4) infecting the prisoners with malaria; Whereas the Nazis subjected civilian prisoners at the Dachau concentration camp to forced labor— VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR542.ATS SR542 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 SRES 542 ATS (1) first for the initial construction and expansion of the camp; and (2) later primarily for armaments production to sup- ply the German military; Whereas, following the advance of Allied Forces, the Nazi re- gime began the systematic transfer of prisoners from evacuated concentration camps to the Dachau concentra- tion camp for continued imprisonment, resulting in the deaths of thousands of weakened and malnourished pris- oners and leading to the discovery of the infamous ‘‘Da- chau death train’’, consisting of nearly 40 railroad cars containing the bodies of approximately 2,310 prisoners; Whereas, in December 1943, Dwight D. Eisenhower was ap- pointed as Supreme Commander of the Allied Expedi- tionary Forces and led the formal coordination of the Al- lied Forces, with the mission to liberate Europe; Whereas the main Dachau concentration camp was liberated on April 29, 1945; Whereas that liberation was led by— (1) the 45th Infantry ‘‘Thunderbird’’ Division of the Seventh Army of the United States (referred to in this preamble as the ‘‘45th Infantry Division’’), under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Felix Sparks, member of the Colorado Army National Guard and Commander of the Third Battalion of the 157th Infantry Regiment of the 45th Infantry Division; (2) the 42nd Infantry ‘‘Rainbow’’ Division of the Seventh Army of the United States (referred to in this preamble as the ‘‘42nd Infantry Division’’), under the leadership of Brigadier General Henning Linden; and VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR542.ATS SR542 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 SRES 542 ATS (3) the 20th Armored Division of the Seventh Army of the United States (referred to in this preamble as the ‘‘20th Armored Division’’); Whereas the 45th Infantry Division— (1) was composed of National Guard units from Col- orado, Oklahoma, Arizona, and New Mexico; and (2) deployed in June 1943 in support of the Allied Forces during World War II; Whereas the 42nd Infantry Division— (1) was composed of personnel from every State of the United States; and (2) deployed in December 1944 in support of the Al- lied Forces during World War II; Whereas the 20th Armored Division— (1) was activated at Fort Campbell and, until Octo- ber of 1944, trained soldiers and qualified those soldiers for overseas shipment as replacement soldiers for ar- mored units; and (2) deployed in February 1945 in support of the Al- lied Forces during World War II; Whereas, in the European theater of operation, the 45th In- fantry Division suffered— (1) 1,831 deaths in battle; and (2) 7,791 battle casualties; Whereas, in the European theater of operation, the 42nd In- fantry Division suffered— (1) 655 deaths in battle; and (2) 3,971 battle casualties; Whereas, in the European theater of operation, the 20th Ar- mored Division suffered— (1) 59 deaths in battle; and VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR542.ATS SR542 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 SRES 542 ATS (2) 186 battle casualties; Whereas, in 1985, the United States Army Center of Military History and the United States Holocaust Memorial Mu- seum honored the 45th Infantry Division, the 42nd In- fantry Division, and the 20th Armored Division with rec- ognition as ‘‘liberating units’’; and Whereas commemoration of the liberation of the Dachau con- centration camp will instill in all people of the United States a greater awareness of the unspeakable tragedies of the Holocaust: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate— 1 (1) commemorates April 29, 2020, as the 75th 2 anniversary of the liberation of the Dachau con- 3 centration camp during World War II; 4 (2) calls on all people of the United States to 5 remember the tens of thousands of innocent victims 6 murdered at the Dachau concentration camp as part 7 of the Holocaust, the 6,000,000 Jews killed through- 8 out the Holocaust, and all of the victims of the Nazi 9 reign of terror; and 10 (3) recognizes the valorous efforts of the 45th 11 Infantry Division, the 42nd Infantry Division, and 12 the 20th Armored Division of the Seventh Army of 13 the United States in the liberation of the thousands 14 of individuals imprisoned at the Dachau concentra- 15 tion camp. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\SR542.ATS SR542 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS