Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of SR0431
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Full Text of SR0431  93rd General Assembly

SR0431 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY


 


 
SR0431 LRB093 20736 HSS 46626 r

1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Senate of the State of Illinois
3 learned with regret of the death of Elaine "Leah" Welbel of
4 Skokie on Friday, January 2, 2004; and
 
5     WHEREAS, Elaine Mortkovitch was born in Vranoy,
6 Czechoslovakia; her father was a construction worker and
7 preceded her in death when she was eight; her mother was left
8 with eight children to raise; and
 
9     WHEREAS, In 1942, Mrs. Welbel and the other Jewish girls in
10 her town were sent by train to Auschwitz under the guise of
11 being sent to work in a factory; she was given the identifying
12 tattoo "4701" on her upper left forearm, a mark that years
13 later she refused to have removed; and
 
14     WHEREAS, Mrs. Welbel endured an unusually long internment
15 at Auschwitz, surviving for 33 months; when Auschwitz was
16 liberated in 1945, she was sent to a displaced persons camp in
17 Italy, where she met her future husband, Eliezer Welbel, who
18 had survived 27 months in Auschwitz; they married in 1946 and
19 the next year secretly moved to Palestine, where Mrs. Welbel's
20 three oldest siblings had moved before the war; and
 
21     WHEREAS, Mr. and Mrs. Welbel emigrated to the United States
22 after living eight years in Israel; they moved to Chicago in
23 1959, where they opened a coin laundry at 3352 North Marshfield
24 Street; they retired in 1980; and
 
25     WHEREAS, Mrs. Welbel didn't speak publicly about her time
26 in Auschwitz until 1993, after she read a story that tried to
27 discount the history of the Holocaust; she was a sought-after
28 public speaker with a tremendous connection with the students
29 that she spoke to; she worked hard to make sure that the world
30 will never forget the tragedy of the Holocaust; and
 

 

 

SR0431 - 2 - LRB093 20736 HSS 46626 r

1     WHEREAS, The passing of Elaine "Leah" Welbel has been
2 deeply felt by many, especially her husband, Eliezer; her sons,
3 Michael and David; her five grandchildren; and her
4 great-grandchild; therefore, be it
 
5     RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL
6 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
7 Elaine "Leah" Welbel, a woman of outstanding vitality and
8 heart, and a hero; and be it further
 
9     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
10 presented to the family of Mrs. Welbel as an expression of our
11 deepest sympathy for their loss.