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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany carried out the |
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systematic persecution and mass murder of close to six million Jews |
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as well as millions of other people from targeted groups; and |
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WHEREAS, Touting virulent theories of German racial purity |
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and superiority, the Nazi Party enacted a series of programs that |
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deprived Jewish civilians of their rights and property; this |
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campaign of terror ultimately escalated into genocide on a scale |
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never before witnessed, and as Germany executed its conquest of |
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Europe, some two-thirds of all Jews on the continent perished at the |
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hands of the Nazis; in some countries, such as Poland, the Jewish |
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death toll surpassed 90 percent; and |
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WHEREAS, The year 2019 marks the 86th anniversary of the |
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beginning of the genocide of European Jews; the Holocaust |
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represents one of history's darkest and bleakest periods, and |
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though it serves as a point of shame for humankind, the events that |
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occurred and the lessons we may draw from them must never be |
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forgotten; and |
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WHEREAS, Holocaust Remembrance Day, also known as "Yom |
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Hashoah," is observed each year on the anniversary of the start of |
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the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, an act of Jewish resistance that took |
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place in German-occupied Poland in 1943; an estimated 7,000 Jews |
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lost their lives in the revolt, which was staged to oppose the |
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deportation of Jews to Nazi labor and death camps, and it went on to |
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inspire other revolts in camps and ghettos throughout Eastern |
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Europe; and |
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WHEREAS, Many of those who witnessed the horrors of the |
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Holocaust as survivors or concentration camp liberators, as well as |
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their descendants, have made their homes in our state; it is |
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critically important for all Texans to remember the events of the |
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Holocaust so that we may remain fully vigilant against contemporary |
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manifestations of hatred and prejudice; and |
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WHEREAS, With the threat of genocide and ethnic cleansing |
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still present in many war-torn regions of the world, this tragic |
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chapter offers warnings that remain strikingly relevant; as |
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survivors of the Holocaust diminish in number, links must be forged |
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to educate future generations so that they may lead the world to a |
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more tolerant and peaceful future; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 86th Texas |
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Legislature hereby recognize May 2, 2019, as Holocaust Remembrance |
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Day. |