Us Holocaust Museum

U.S. HOLOCAUST MUSEUM: 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WANNSEE CONFER- ENCE OVERSIGHT HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE COMMITTEE ON INTERIOR AND INSULAR AFFAIRS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED SECOND CONGRESS SECOND SESSION ON U.S. HOLOCAUST MUSEUM: 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WANNSEE CONFERENCE HEARING HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC FEBRUARY 5, 1992 Serial No. 102-21 Printed for the use of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 55-1991-- WASHINGTON : 1992 For sale bNh c U.S. (hicrnmcnt Printing )f ice Superinmclidcnt oIfDIIocuilni,. ('o1i 1ni'.\iiniI Sas Ollicc. \,',,,htlon. DC 204(2 ISBN 0-16-U38532-6 H44 1-5, COMMITTEE ON INTERIOR AND INSULAR AFFAIRS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES GEORGE MILLER, California, Chairman PHILIP R. SHARP, Indiana DON YOUNG, Alaska, EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts Ranking Republican Member AUSTIN J. MURPHY, Pennsylvania ROBERT J. LAGOMARSINO, California NICK JOE RAHALL II, West Virginia RON MARLENEE, Montana BRUCE F. VENTO, Minnesota JAMES V. HANSEN, Utah PAT WILLIAMS, Montana BARBARA F. VUCANOVICH, Nevada BEVERLY B. BYRON, Maryland BEN BLAZ, Guam RON DE LUGO, Virgin Islands JOHN J. RHODES III, Arizoni SAM GEJDENSON, Connecticut ELTON GALLEGLY, California PETER H. KOSTMAYER, Pennsylvania ROBERT F. SMITH, Oregon RICHARD H. LEHMAN, Cvlifornia - CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming BILL RICHARDSON, New Mexico JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR., Tennessee GEORGE (BUDDY) DARDEN, Georgia RICHARD T. SCHULZE, Pennsylvania MEL LEVINE, Californiv JOEL HEFLEY, Colorado WAYNE OWENS, Utah CHARLES H. TAYLOR, North Carolina JOHN LEWIS, Georgia JOHN T. DOOLITTLE, California BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, Colorado WAYNE ALLARD, Colorado PETER A. DEFAZIO, Oregon RICHARD H. BAKER, Louisiana ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American Samoa TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York JIM JONTZ, Indiana PETER HOAGLAND, New England HARRY JOHNSTON, Florida LARRY LAROCCO, Idaho NEIL ABERCROMBIE, Hawaii CALVIN M. DOOLEY, California ANTONIO COLORADO, Puerto Rico DANIEL P. BEARD, Staff Director RICHARD MELTZER, General Counsel DAN VAL KISH, Republican Staff Director SUBCOMMIrrEE ON ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT PETER H. KOSTMAYER, Pennsylvania, Chairman PHILIP R. SHARP, Indiana JOHN J. RHODES III, Arizona EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts BEN GARRIDO BLAZ, Guam SAM GEJDENSON, Connecticut CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York JOEL HEFLEY, Colorado AUSTIN J. MURPHY, Pennsylvania CHARLES H. TAYLOR, North Carolina BILL RICHARDSON, New Mexico JOHN T. DOOLITTLE, California GEORGE (BUDDY) DARDEN, Georgia WAYNE ALLARD, Colorado JIM JONTZ, Indiana DON YOUNG, Alaska RICHARD H. LEHMAN, California WAYNE OWENS, Utah GEORGE MILLER, California DAVID WEIss, Staff Director EMILY GRAY, Clerk CHRISTOPHER B. KEARNEY, Minority Counsel on Energy and the Environment CONTENTS Page Hearing held: F ebruary 5, 1992 ....................................................................................................... 1 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1992 Statements: Panel consisting of: Edith Millman, Holocaust survivor .............................................................. 3 Bjorn J. Gruenwald, Holocaust survivor ...................................................... 14 Panel from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council consisting of: Sara J. Bloomfield, executive director .......................................................... 23 Sybil M ilton, resident historian ..................................................................... 46 Alvin Rosenfeld, research consultant ........................................................... 52 Panel consisting of: Ruth Laibson, executive director, Interfaith Council on the Holocaust 63 Reinhard Wiemer, 2nd Secretary, Cultural Department, German Em- b assy ................................................................................................................ 69 Panel consisting of: Richard Breitman, historian, American University ................. 88 Gerald Feldman, historian, University of California at Berkeley .......... 97 Charles W. Sydnor, Jr., historian, Central Virginia Educational Tele- com m unications Corporation ...................................................................... 102 (1II) U.S. HOLOCAUST MUSEUM: 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WANNSEE CONFERENCE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1992 U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, COMMITTEE ON INTERIOR AND INSULAR AFFAIRS, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met at 1:30 p.m. in room 1324 of the Long- worth House Office Building, the Hon. Peter H. Kostmayer (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Mr. KOSTMAYER. The subcommittee will come to order. On January 20, 1942, in a villa in Wannsee, a quiet suburb of Berlin, a conference of senior government officials of Nazi Germa- ny was held to discuss the implementation of the state-sponsored systematic murder of an estimated 11 million European Jews. The Nazis called it "the final solution to the Jewish question." We call it the Holocaust. Although the plan to murder the Jews of Europe had been previously decided and was, in fact, already underway on a vast scale, it was apparently necessary to hold what we might call a cabinet-level meeting to make sure that all the various de- partments of the government understood their role in this gigantic and unprecedented undertaking. The historical significance of the Wannsee Confei ence, as it came to be known, is not one of public drama and display. Quite the con- trary, despite the grim subject, the minutes of the meeting show a typical interagency group discussing resettlement, natural decline, and final solution, as euphemisms for deportation, death from forced labor and starvation, and genocide itself. The Wannsee participants were -men of experience, education, and culture. Eight held Ph.Ds. In 90 minutes over cognac and a warm fire, they outlined the implementation of the murder of millions of people. Because of their efficiency, the world is a different place. Our understanding of the nature of man has been irrevoca- bly altered by the Holocaust. But what the Wannsee Conference demonstrates most clearly and most chillingly is the potential of government for evil. It shows how men and women, both in and out of government, can shape and approve or acquiesce to the kind of agenda forged at Wannsee 50 years ago. What happened at Wannsee calls out for the atten- tion of every citizen in a democracy to what appears to be the rou.- tine business of government and for the involvement of every citizen 's moral sense in the choices that are made in the voting booth and on the floors of our legislatures. (1) - The 15 Wannsee officials bear responsibility for genocide. But so do the thousands of civil servants and other functionaries who im- plemented their orders. And so do the millions of Germans and other Europeans who discovered their neighbors gone in the morn- ing, who heard the trains packed with Jews moving-through their stations and who smelled the smoke of the crematoria. Even our own country cannot escape blame. While America fought Hitler and fascism and paid for its bravery and idealism with the lives of thousands of its sons and daughters far away from the battlefield, the judgment of history is harsh. How many victims might have been saved had we protested more forcefully or opened our doors more widely? Some think such unspeakable deeds can never be repeated. The -partnership of indifference and intolerance are, of course, still here. In Germany, some have a desire to face the truth about Nazism. Some don't. A recent poll revealed that 42 percent of Ger- mans believe the Nazis had their good side, 36 percent believe Jews have too much influence in the world, 32 percent believe Jews are partly responsible if they are hated and persecuted, and 64 percent do not feel free that they can express their true opinions of Jews. And even in the freest and most democratic country of them all, our own, David Duke stirs the fires of human hatred. This subcommittee, with jurisdiction over the U.S. Holocaust Me- morial Council, holds this hearing commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Wannsee Conference to remind ourselves of the re- sponsibilities of this institution and this country in recalling those dark days and the world's abandonment not only of the Jews, but of the handicapped, Gypsies, homosexuals, communists, trade unionists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and others who for one reason or another offended the Nazis. As an American, as a non-Jew, and as a Congressman, I recall with special shame the failure then of a Congress with very few Jews to do more. On February 19, 1939, Senator Robert Wagner of New York and Representative Edith Rogers of Massachusetts intro- duced a bill in the Congress to allow 10,000 Jewish refugees chil- dren under age 14, from Europe, into the United States in 1939 and 1940. The Daughters of the American Revolution and the American Legion testified against the bill, which failed to get enough votes to get out of the subcommittee. Here is what one of the witnesses said. "Mr. Chairman, I am the daughter of generations of patriots. My forefathers helped to found this Republic. These refugees have a heritage of hate. They could never become loyal Americans." Three months later, on May 27, 1939, the SS St. Louis, a ship carrying nearly 1,000 European Jews, lingered in Havana harbor until being turned away. A few days later, after wandering aim- lessly, the SS St. Louis anchored 4 miles from Miami. The next day, on June 6, the ship was turned away by the U.S. immigration

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