New bill seeks to honor Americans who saved Jews during the Holocaust

WASHINGTON - A group of House members introduced a new bill on Tuesday, seeking to award a collective Congressional Gold Medal to Americans who were active in aiding and rescuing Jews and other refugees during the Holocaust, “often in the face of US opposition to their resettlement.”

Rep. Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) introduced the legislation together with his colleagues Judy Chu (California-28), Steve Cohen (Tennessee-9), Kim Schrier (Washington-8), and Jamie Raskin (Maryland-8) in honor of Yom HaShoah — Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The bill received endorsements from the American Jewish Committee (AJC), Pave the Way Foundation, and The Institute for the Study of Rescue and Altruism in the Holocaust.

Who would the bill honor?

If signed into law, several prominent figures will be honored, including Eleanor Roosevelt, former First Lady of the United States; Henry Morgenthau, Jr., former US Secretary of the Treasury; Harold Ickes, former US Secretary of the Interior; and Congressman Thomas D’Alesandro, Jr., of Maryland, the father of Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi.

In a statement, Gottheimer explained that amid rising antisemitism, “it’s critically important that we never forget the victims of the Holocaust killed by the Nazis, and that we honor the American heroes who put so much at risk to aid and rescue Jews and many other refugees.”

“These incredible individuals leave behind legacies that continue to teach us of our responsibility to confront bigotry, hatred, and intolerance wherever it rears its ugly head,” Gottheimer said. “On Yom HaShoah, I’m proud to help lead legislation to award Congressional Gold Medals to these American heroes who saved thousands of lives during the Holocaust.”

Gottheimer’s office noted that across the federal government, “officials denied repeated requests to welcome and resettle Jews and other refugees fleeing Nazi Germany and its territories to the United States.”

“In 1939, Congress rejected proposals to offer asylum to 20,000 Jewish children,” the Congressman’s office noted. “That same year, the US State Department and President Franklin Roosevelt refused asylum to Jewish refugees aboard the S.S. St. Louis, forcing them to return to Europe where 254 of them were killed in the Holocaust. Despite the official stance of the U.S. government, American rescue and relief organizations were responsible between 1933 and 1945 for saving many thousands of Jews and other refugees from being forced into concentration camps and facing likely death.”