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“TRIBUTE TO 18,745 AMERICANS” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1817-E1818 on Sept. 25, 1998.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO 18,745 AMERICANS
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HON. NITA M. LOWEY
of new york
in the house of representatives
Friday, September 25, 1998
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce a House Resolution which, for the first time, will recognize formally the 18,745 American civilians incarcerated by the Axis powers during World War II.
We all know what the world faced during the struggle between the evils of Hitler's Axis powers and the heroic citizen armies of the Allies. We know about the 50 million dead and millions of others maimed, wounded, and displaced. The history books are filled with their tragic and triumphant stories. However, there are still little known aspects of World War II that deserve our attention. The plight of civilian American internees deserves our attention. These American citizens were subject to barbaric prison conditions and endured torture, starvation, and disease simply for being American. As they lost their basic human rights, these courageous men and women were used as slave labor and 1,704 died due to the sub-human conditions they were forced to live under. Many were taken prisoner before the United States entered the war.
The horrors faced by America's civilian internees was brought to my attention by Michael Kolanik, Jr., a constituent of mine from Yonkers, NY. His father, Michael Kolanik, Sr., was an American citizen born in Pennsylvania in 1913 who returned to his ancestral homeland of Poland in 1931, with the full knowledge and consent of the U.S. State Department. In September of 1939, the Nazis termed Mr. Kolanik ``a stateless Pole, born in Pittsburgh'' and deported him to Nazi Germany as a slave laborer. While incarcerated, he faced a myriad of abuses starvation, backbreaking work, beatings, torture, and living conditions not fit for animals. Everyday was an incomprehensible struggle to stay alive with only the dream of making it home keeping him going. It wasn't until the U.S. 75th Infantry Division liberated the labor camp in 1945 that Mr. Kolanik regained his freedom and basic human rights. Upon his release, the horrific conditions he suffered through were obvious. Normally a strong 155-pound man, Mr. Kolanik had been reduced to 103 pounds. He regained his strength and health, joined the U.S. Merchant Marines, and returned to the United States.
However, his father's story, and many others might not have been heard if not for the tireless efforts of Michael Kolanik, Jr. His love for his father and his desire to bring to light the suffering these American citizens endured drove Michael, a Vietnam Veteran, to make sure Congress recognized those incarcerated by the Axis. The recognition his father, who died in 1992 would not live to see.
Approximately 3,000 civilian internees are still alive. The least we can do is finally honor these survivors and acknowledge their heroic and courageous sacrifices. That is what my resolution does.
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