Tina Smith: “I rise to speak about justice. Today, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, in coordination with the Targum Shlishi Foundation…”

“I rise to speak about justice. Today, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, in coordination with the Targum Shlishi Foundation, is conducting Operation: Last Chance, a final effort to bring the most guilty Nazis to justice before they die. The perpetrators of the Holocaust must not be allowed to cheat their deserved fate. The uniqueness of the Holocaust crime lies not wholly in its number of victims, though that number was horrifyingly large. Its singularity is also the reality of a modern government's methodically executed plan to annihilate an entire race, an effort that is now one of the greatest crimes against humanity the world has ever seen. Even in a century where so much blood was shed--in China, Russia, Africa, and the Middle East--the Holocaust stands alone. For the victims of the Holocaust were chosen not based on any threat to the state, real or imaginary. Indeed, some victims had served with distinction in the German Army during the First World War, and many had then given their lives for their country. They were chosen instead simply for who they were, one of the most ancient peoples to grace this Earth, and one which has never before come so perilously close to utter oblivion. Historians have argued for years about why and how the Holocaust occurred. But for the survivors, and even more for victims, that question is entirely secondary. There is only the reality of the crime and the ongoing quest for justice.”