Committee News

Thursday, August 12, 2010

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Ros-Lehtinen Saddened by Heartrending Fire at Concentration Camp in Poland

(WASHINGTON) – U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, today commented on the news that an apparent electrical fire at the former Majdanek Nazi death camp in Poland destroyed a memorial to Holocaust victims who died there. Ros-Lehtinen also commented on separate reports of a recent deplorable wave of anti-Semitic vandalism in France, after a memorial to Jews deported by Nazis during the Holocaust was desecrated there on Monday. Statement by Ros-Lehtinen:

“I was deeply saddened to learn that a poignant memorial displaying 10,000 pairs of shoes once belonging to Jewish prisoners at the Majdanek concentration camp in Poland has been destroyed in a fire.

“This loss is made particularly distressing because it is so important to preserve memories of the Holocaust.

“While it appears that the fire at Majdanek was not intentional, the latest anti-Semitic attacks this week in France also remind us that the persistent scourge of anti-Semitism is still rearing its ugly head.

“Responsible nations must condemn in the strongest terms all acts of anti-Semitism, including the deplorable desecration just this week of a memorial in France dedicated to Jews deported by the Nazis during WWII.

“We must never forget of the terror perpetrated on the Jews during the Holocaust. And we must always be mindful that the same hate and prejudice that fueled the atrocities of the Holocaust still poison our world today.”

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