Text of IL HR 74 (2025)

HR0074LRB104 11846 LAW 21936 r 1HOUSE RESOLUTION 2 WHEREAS, The Holocaust was the systematic, state-sponsored 3persecution and murder of six million European Jews by the 4Nazi German regime and its allies and collaborators between 51933 and 1945; and 6 WHEREAS, In addition to perpetrating the Holocaust, Nazi 7Germany also persecuted and murdered millions of other victims 8using similar forms of state-sponsored terror; and 9 WHEREAS, Antisemitism, the hatred of or prejudice against 10Jews, was at the foundation of the Holocaust and was a core 11tenet of Nazi ideology; and 12 WHEREAS, The persecution of Jews in Germany and 13German-controlled areas evolved between 1933 and 1945, 14becoming increasingly radical and culminating in the mass 15murder of six million Jewish people; and 16 WHEREAS, During World War II, Nazi Germany and its allies 17and collaborators killed nearly two out of every three 18European Jews using deadly living conditions, brutal 19mistreatment, mass shootings and gassings, and specially 20designed killing centers; and HR0074- 2 -LRB104 11846 LAW 21936 r 1 WHEREAS, Prior to the formal development of a campaign of 2mass murder, Jews in Germany and German-controlled and aligned 3territories faced persecution in various forms, including 4public identification and exclusion, legal discrimination 5through antisemitic laws, organized violence, physical 6displacement, internment, theft, and forced labor; and 7 WHEREAS, Beginning in 1939, Nazi officials created ghettos 8in cities and towns where Jewish people were isolated, forced 9to live, and coerced to perform forced labor; thousands of 10Jewish people living in ghettos died as a result of 11starvation, rampant disease due to unsanitary conditions, 12extreme temperatures, and exhaustion from forced labor; and 13 WHEREAS, In 1941, Nazi leaders began the last stage of the 14Holocaust, a mass murder campaign involving mass shootings as 15well as gassings at specially designed killing centers that 16became known as extermination camps or death camps; the 17majority of Jews who had been forced to live in ghettos were 18murdered in mass shootings or after being forcibly relocated 19to extermination centers; and 20 WHEREAS, The Holocaust ended in 1945 when the major Allied 21Powers, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United 22States, defeated Nazi Germany and its allies, moving across 23Europe and liberating survivors from concentration camps; and HR0074- 3 -LRB104 11846 LAW 21936 r 1 WHEREAS, In 2005, the United Nations adopted Resolution 260/7, designating January 27 as International Holocaust 3Remembrance Day to mark the anniversary of the liberation of 4the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp and extermination 5center and to honor the six million Jewish victims of the 6Holocaust and the millions of other victims of Nazism; and 7 WHEREAS, The year 2025 marks 80 years since the end of 8World War II and the Holocaust, and the United Nations 9Outreach Programme chose "Holocaust remembrance and education 10for dignity and human rights" as its guiding theme for this 11year; and 12 WHEREAS, The Holocaust shows what happens when hatred, 13dehumanization, and apathy are allowed to destroy individual 14dignity and human rights; and 15 WHEREAS, Holocaust remembrance safeguards the memories of 16survivors and their testament of life before the Holocaust of 17vibrant communities, traditions, hopes, dreams, and loved ones 18who did not survive while recognizing the humanity and dignity 19of the Jewish people and others who the Nazis and their 20collaborators sought to destroy; and 21 WHEREAS, Holocaust remembrance is a bulwark against the HR0074- 4 -LRB104 11846 LAW 21936 r 1denigration of humanity and a clarion call for action to 2ensure respect for dignity and human rights; and 3 WHEREAS, Holocaust remembrance is a victory against the 4Nazis and their collaborators and against all who would try to 5continue their legacy through spreading hatred and Holocaust 6distortion and denial into the 21st century; and 7 WHEREAS, In the spirit of remembrance and education, 8Illinois became the first state in the United States to 9require that public elementary schools and high schools 10include Holocaust history and other cases of genocide in 11school curriculum; therefore, be it 12 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE 13HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that 14we honor the memory of the Jewish people who were victims of 15the Holocaust and recognize the bravery of survivors who have 16shared their stories with the world; and be it further 17 RESOLVED, That we honor the memory of the millions of 18additional people, including prisoners of war, ethnic Poles, 19Romani people, Serbian civilians, people with disabilities, 20political opponents and dissenters, people labeled as asocial, 21Jehovah's Witnesses, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, 22and Black Germans, who were persecuted and murdered by the HR0074- 5 -LRB104 11846 LAW 21936 r 1Nazi state and their collaborators; and be it further 2 RESOLVED, That we express gratitude for the soldiers, 3resistance fighters, and all those who helped defeat the Nazi 4regime and end the Holocaust; and be it further 5 RESOLVED, That we express gratitude for the American 6soldiers who fought around the world during World War II, 7including the over 980,000 men and women from Illinois who 8served in the U.S. Armed Forces and the approximately 22,000 9who gave their lives in pursuit of liberty; and be it further 10 RESOLVED, That we express gratitude for the American 11forces that liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp on 12April 11, 1945, and who would go on that month to liberate 13concentration camps at Dachau, Dora-Mittelbau, and Flossenburg 14before liberating Mauthausen in early May 1945; and be it 15further 16 RESOLVED, That we urge all Illinoisans to commit to 17learning about the Holocaust in order to ensure that such 18atrocities are never perpetrated again; and be it further 19 RESOLVED, That we urge all Illinoisans to enhance their 20efforts to combat antisemitism, bigotry, intolerance, and 21racism.