This Act would posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal to Rabbi Michoel Ber Weissmandl in recognition of his acts of valor during World War II. The bill lists findings about Weissmandl’s life and work: he was born in Hungary in 1903, studied and led in Nitra, helped organize a "Working Group" to raise funds and negotiate to delay deportations, used contacts to obtain visas, helped document and translate the "Auschwitz Protocols," urged actions to disrupt deportations, aided Kindertransport rescues, and founded a Yeshiva in Mount Kisco, New York, after the war. The Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore would arrange the presentation. The Secretary of the Treasury would strike the gold medal. The medal may be accepted by the Weissmandl Committee and, after presentation, would be given to Samuel Dovid Weissmandl or, if he is not present, to Rabbi Menachem Meir Weissmandl.
If enacted, this Act recognizes Rabbi Weissmandl’s wartime and postwar actions by creating and presenting a gold medal in his honor. The medal’s physical design and production would be handled by the Secretary of the Treasury. The Weissmandl Committee may accept the medal on his behalf. Duplicate bronze medals may be struck and sold under Treasury rules.
The Act authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike the gold medal and to sell duplicate bronze medals at a price sufficient to cover the cost of the bronze medals and the cost of the gold medal, including labor, materials, dies, machinery use, and overhead. No publicly available information on total federal costs or specific price estimates is provided in the bill text.
Supporters say the medal honors Weissmandl’s documented efforts to save Jews during the Holocaust and his later work building a yeshiva and supporting communities of Talmudic scholars. The bill’s findings highlight his role in forming the Working Group, negotiating to delay deportations, translating and publicizing the Auschwitz Protocols, arranging visas, aiding Kindertransport rescues, and establishing a Yeshiva in the United States.
No publicly available information.