Congress Honors Nuremberg Prosecutor Benjamin Ferencz on Yom HaShoah

Leaders of the U.S. House and Senate awarded a posthumous Congressional Gold Medal to Benjamin Ferencz on Tuesday at the U.S. Capitol, marking Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. Ferencz, who died in 2023, served as the lead prosecutor in the Einsatzgruppen trial, one of the Nuremberg proceedings.

The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest civilian honor awarded by Congress, and lawmakers used the ceremony to highlight both Ferencz’s role in prosecuting Nazi crimes and the continued relevance of Holocaust memory amid growing antisemitism.

At age 27, Ferencz became the youngest prosecutor at Nuremberg. In the Einsatzgruppen trial, 24 Nazi officials were indicted and 22 were tried and convicted for their role in the murder of more than one million people, including Jews and other victims on the Eastern Front. His work later helped shape the foundations of international justice, guided by his lifelong principle of “law, not war.”

The ceremony at the Capitol included lawmakers from both parties, representatives of the Trump administration, a military honor presence, and approximately 30 Holocaust survivors. Ferencz’s daughter accepted the medal on behalf of the family, while Sarah Bloomfield, director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, read a letter from his son, Donald Ferencz.

“My dad came to the United States as part of those huddled masses yearning to be free, and his life exemplified that it’s not so much where you come from as where you’re going that counts,” Bloomfield read. “Though he never saw the gold medal itself, he knew that it had been officially authorized, for which he was profoundly grateful.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson said the recognition of Ferencz was “long been due,” describing his work as part of “the largest murder trial in human history.”

“The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest civilian honor that Congress can bestow upon anyone,” Johnson said. “Today we’re proud to confer that great honor on Benjamin Ferencz for his life of servant leadership and his courage in the face of evil.”

Lawmakers also used the ceremony to warn about the resurgence of antisemitism in the United States and globally. Johnson said that denying and distorting the Holocaust is again being tolerated, including in public discourse.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said combating antisemitism must remain a shared national priority. “The effort to combat antisemitism and Holocaust denial cannot be a Democratic issue or a Republican issue. It is an American issue,” he said. “We must all commit to crushing antisemitism, burying it in the ground and making sure that it never rises again.”

The medal was authorized through bipartisan legislation introduced in 2022, led by lawmakers including Reps. Joe Wilson and Lois Frankel and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.

Frankel said Ferencz’s legacy continues to carry relevance beyond his role at Nuremberg. “Ben Ferencz was living proof that even in the face of humanity’s greatest horrors, one person can choose justice over vengeance and law over violence,” she said. “From the courtroom at Nuremberg to his lifelong fight for human rights, he helped build the very foundation of international justice. At a time when hatred and antisemitism are on the rise, his legacy is not just history. It is a call to action.”