Formatting necessary for an accurate reading of this text may be shown by tags (e.g., <DELETED> or <BOLD>) or may be missing from this TXT display. For complete and accurate display of this text, see the PDF.
[Pages S65-S66]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS
______
REMEMBERING OTTO DELIKAT
Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, today, with a heavy heart, I
wish to pay tribute to Otto Delikat, a remarkable role model, survivor,
and family man. Mr. Delikat passed away on December 23, 2018 at the age
of 96.
[[Page S66]]
His life was similar to many of the Jewish faith during that era, an
ordinary man with extraordinary spirit and indefatigable will to
survive. He will be remembered for his outstanding commitment to his
communities and readiness to share his experiences in order to promote
freedom and democracy.
Mr. Delikat was born in Vienna, Austria, where he grew up with his
father, stepmother, brother, and two sisters. As a young man, he worked
on a farm in Germany, where his family's religion was not known. When
World War II began, he returned to Vienna. With his father already in a
labor camp, a 17-year-old Mr. Delikat volunteered to go to the same
camp. He and about a dozen others from the labor camp were sent to work
in a brick factory.
One of the men working with him in the labor camp escaped, which
resulted in the rest of their group getting locked up in prison for a
year. When the prison sentence ended, Mr. Delikat and the other Jewish
prisoners were handed over to the Gestapo and sent to concentration
camps.
Mr. Delikat spent just under a year in the Flossenburg concentration
camp. Then, in October 1942, he and the other 16 people left with him
were transported to Auschwitz. He was imprisoned there for around a
year, working some of this time as part of a labor squad tasked with
going through the luggage people took with them when they arrived on
transports. After the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto, he and about
3,000 other prisoners went to clean up the wreckage. Despite falling
ill from the typhoid epidemic that killed over half of the inmates
during their first winter in Warsaw, Mr. Delikat survived.
Eventually, the SS evacuated the prisoners in 1944, not even half of
whom survived the several days' long march when their attempts to run
toward water led to machinegun fire. Those who made it to the cattle
cars, including Mr. Delikat, then went to Dachau. Mr. Delikat was soon
relocated to another concentration camp in southern Germany, where he
met a civilian who helped him pass letters to and from Vienna. Thanks
to the kindness of this civilian, he learned his father was still
alive.
After liberation, Mr. Delikat spent several months working for the
American counterintelligence corps tracking down members of the SS in
hiding in order to bring them to justice. During his time in the
displaced persons camp, he met and married his wife, and they had their
first child. The family moved to America, thanks to support from his
wife's aunt, where Mr. Delikat quickly found work and they welcomed
their second child.
When asked about how he survived, Mr. Delikat emphasized he ``always
looked for tomorrow.'' He did not think about the days that would
follow, but instead focused on the hope he would make it through the
current day and wake up the next. He also said his experiences
throughout the Holocaust led him to become active in Jewish
communities, including 50 years at the Oceanside Jewish Center. He
served as chairman of the temple's House committee, was named their man
of the year in 1994, joined the men's club, and served on the Holocaust
committee.
Mr. Delikat considered it of the utmost importance to share his
experiences with others. He recognized his story and the stories of
fellow survivors would be lost if not told. He liked to talk about what
he went through at every available opportunity, emphasizing the
positive ideals of our Nation by underlining the importance of living
in a free and equal society.
My wife Cynthia and I extend our deepest sympathies to Otto's family
during this difficult time, particularly to his two children, Janet and
Michael, four grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. May their
many wonderful memories of Otto provide them solace and comfort in the
days ahead.
____________________