Congressional Record, November 4, 1942
Transcription
Congressional Record, November 4, 1942
The University of Toledo The University of Toledo Digital Repository War Information Center Pamphlets University Archives July 2016 Congressional Record, November 4, 1942 Follow this and additional works at: http://utdr.utoledo.edu/ur-87-68 Recommended Citation "Congressional Record, November 4, 1942" (2016). War Information Center Pamphlets. Book 186. http://utdr.utoledo.edu/ur-87-68/186 This Pamphlet is brought to you for free and open access by the University Archives at The University of Toledo Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in War Information Center Pamphlets by an authorized administrator of The University of Toledo Digital Repository. For more information, please see the repository's About page. (Not printed at Government expense) United States of A m e r i c a NOV 4 1942 Congressional Htcord PROCEEDINGS A N D DEBATES OF T H E 77'^ CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION Massacre of the C^ech People SPEECH HON. KARL STEFAN OF NEBRASKA I N T H E HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Thursday, June 11,1942 Mr. S T E F A N . M r . C h a i r m a n , your newspapers this m o r n i n g told y o u of the m a s s a c r e of L i d i c e . Yesterday we h a d w i t h u s a n u m b e r of A m e r i c a n s w h o h a v e been i n t e r n e d i n Europe. T h e i r stories c o n f i r m o u r fears regarding t h e d e t e r m i n a t i o n of t h e N a z i s to e n s l a v e fre6 p e o ple. T h e i r stories c o n f i r m t h e reports o f t h e b l o o d y c a m p a i g n of t h e l a t e R e i n h a r d H e y d r i c h — t h e terrorist w h o h a s b e e n r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e m u r d e r s of h u n dreds of Czechs a n d m a n y Germans. A l t h o u g h H e y d r i c h is d e a d t h e p r o g r a m of m u r d e r o f C z e c h p e o p l e h a s b r o k e n out a g a i n w i t h even greater d i a b ^ i c a l fury. T h e A s s o c i a t e d Press story f r o m L o n d o n r e a c h i n g u s t o d a y t e l l i n g of W e d n e s d a y ' s m a s s a c r e of t h e C z e c h s i n L i d i c e i s a horrible confirmation of the terror p r o g r a m w h i c h s being c o n t i n u e d against these people. T h e s t o r y is a l e a f t o r n out o f t h e D a r k A g e s . L i d i c e was a v i l l a g e o f n e a r l y 500 h a r d - w o r k i n g . G o d f e a r i n g , p a t r i o t i c people. It w a s l o c a t e d a b o u t 40 m i l e s west of P r a g u e . The V~cz£ tells u s i,Iic ahno-st unbelievable s t o r y of h o w a l l o f t h e m e n of t h a t v i l lage were executed; h o w t h e w o m e n were r e m o v e d to gome u n k n o w n locality; a n d h o w t h e c h i l d r e n were r e m o v e d t o s o m e place. T h e village was entirely d e stroyed. T h i s horrible act confirms our belief t h a t t h e Nazis h a v e c o n c e n t r a t e d on a deliberate a n d premeditated p r o g r a m t o w i p e o u t e n t i r e l y a l l of t h e C z e c h intelligence; all C z e c h culture, a n d especially to destroy those great inspirations a n d aspirations for w h i c h the Czech peop l e h a v e f o u g h t f o r h u n d r e d s of y e a r s . T o P r e s i d e n t B e n e s ; to M i n i s t e r M a s a r y k , a n d t h o s e C z e c h officials w h o a r e c l i n g i n g strongly to keep together t h e exiled C z e c h G o v e r n m e n t comes the task to i n f o r m t h e C h r i s t i a n w o r l d of w h a t is h a p p e n i n g t o t h e i r p e o p l e . W e know t h a t t h e C z e c h people will continue to follow t h e i n s p i r a t i o n of their leaders to keep i l l u m i n a t e d the spirit of freedom i n spite of the fact t h a t t o d a y they live i n 479332—22558 fear a n d i n slavery u n d e r t h e yoke of oppressors. M r . C h a i r m a n , the dead Heydrich beg a n h i s c a r e e r b y t a k i n g a s h i s first v i c t i m s his o w n fellow c o u n t r y m e n , w h o loved liberty more t h a n they loved H i t l e r . H e y d r i c h headed the terror campaign against all t h e people i n G e r m a n y w h o opposed h i m . H e was sent to c o n tinue his c a m p a i g n i n other oppressed countries, ending his bloody activities i n Prague. T h e murders committed there at h i s c o m m a n d have horrified t h e e n tire Christian world. His successor, Delauge, already has a bloody record. H e is t h e t e r r o r i s t w h o h e l p e d t o a s s a s s i n a t e N a z i leaders i n G e r m a n y w h o h a d fallen out w i t h H i t l e r i n t h e b l o o d p u r g e o f 1934. M r . C h a i r m a n , t h e C z e c h people will n e v e r give u p t h e i r fight f o r f r e e d o m . T h e s e bloody p r o g r a m s will never s u c c e e d . T h e list of n a m e s o f C z e c h s w h o h a v e g i v e n u p t h e i r lives i n t h e c a u s e o f l i b e r t y is a v e r y l a r g e o n e . T h e h i s t o r y of C z e c h s w h o h a v e f o u g h t f o r l i b e r t y a l l over t h e w o r l d w i l l n e v e r be f o r gotten. T h e Czech spirit a n d the C z e c h d e t e r m i n a t i o n f o r l i b e r t y c a n n e v e r be k i l l e d by t h e h a n g m e n or the firing squads. I n s t e a d of m a k i n g t h e m s e l v e s stronger i n occupied countries by killing a n d killing, the Nazis are merely instilling a stronger determination into their v i c t i m s t r fight o n u n t i l f r e e d o m c o m e s back to t h e m again. I a m sure t h a t I speak for millions of A m e r i c a n people w h e n I say t h a t t h e h e a r t s o f m i l l i o n s of A m e r i c a n p e o p l e are bleeding today, a n d that they send w o r d of d e e p s y m p a t h y a c r o s s t h e seas t o t h e i r C z e c h allies i n t h i s h o u r of t h e i r great suffering. I a m sure millions of A m e r i c a n people w a n t these brave C z e c h p e o p l e to k n o w t h a t t h e i r A m e r i c a n allies are d e t e r m i n e d t h a t t h e i r sufferings w i l l be a v e n g e d a n d t h a t t h e f r e e d o m f o r w h i c h t h e y so b r a v e l y fight w i l l be r e t u r n e d to t h e m . M r . C h a i r m a n , i t is c e r t a i n n o w t h a t the N a z i s have selected t h e C z e c h race for complete e x t e r m i n a t i o n . T h e reco r d s we n o w h a v e i n d i c a t e t h a t t h e C z e c h s h a v e b e e n selected f o r f a m i l y e x termination. A horrible campaign which h a s n o t yet come to o u r a t t e n t i o n f r o m other countries o c c u p i e d by these o p p r e s sors. I give y o u h e r e a c o n f i r m a t i o n o f that campaign. D u r i n g t h e first week o f e x e c u t i o n s , 21 families were m u r d e r e d by t h e Gestapo. Families i n Lidice; town destroyed; males executed. Nine families i n Prague. E i g h t families i n B r n o . T w o families i n R o k y c a n y . T w o families i n eastern Bohemia. T h e r e were three families of f o u r members each in Rokycany; Vaclav Stehlik, h i s wife R u r e n a , a n d their two s o n s V a c l a v , 27, a n d F r a n t i s e k , 17 y e a r s o l d . E x e c u t e d o n W e d n e s d a y , M a y 27. In B r n o , Josef K o l a r i k , teacher; his wife, J o s e f a ; t h e i r s o n , G e o r g e , a p h y s i cian; a n d their daughter-in-law, J a r o s l a v a , b o t h 26 y e a r s o l d . E x e c u t e d o n S a t u r d a y , M a y 30. In Prague, J o s e f M i k u l a ; h i s wife, T e r e s i e ; t h e i r s o n , Josef, 35; a n d d a u g h ter, B l a z e n a . F o u r families of three members e a c h : T h - e e i n B r n o , one i n L i t o m y s l . F o u r t e e n f a m i l i e s of 2 m e m b e r s e a c h , among them husband a n d wife, 10; m o t h e r a n d s o n , 1; f a t h e r a n d s o n , 2 ; f a t h e r a n d d a u g h t e r , 1. U p t o J u n e 4, 177 n a m e s w e r e a n n o u n c e d , a m o n g t h e m 32 w o m e n . P r o m i n e n t intellectuals executed: Di-. V l a d i s l a v V a n c u r a , a w e l l - k n o w n C z e c h writer, at Prague. D r . V i c t o r Pelber, professor of the Czechoslovak I n s t i t u t e of T e c h n o l o g y , w i t h h i s s o n J u l i u s , 34 y e a r s o l d . J u d r . B o h u m i r Hanosek, counselor of the Czechoslovak M i n i s t r y of A g r i c u l ture. Ing. K a r e l L u d v i k a n d D r . Josef T r c k a , directors of the cooperativa, a p u r c h a s i n g u n i t of t h e E c o n o m i c A s s o c i a t i o n . R n d r . J a r o s l a v S t o r k a n , p r o f e s s o r of zoologie a t t h e C h a r l e s U n i v e r s i t y a t Prague. J a n Mazanec, counselor of the M i n i s t r y of Agriculture at Prague. D r . L a d i s l a v R a s i n , s o n o f t h e first C z e c h o s l o v a k M i n i s t e r of F i n a n c e s a n d a m e m b e r of P a r l i a m e n t . D r . B o h u m i l B a x a , professor of t h e law faculty of M a s a r y k University at B r n o . D r . J a r o m i r S a m a l , professor of the College of Agriculture a n d Forestry E n g i neering. What Heydrich did in Prague M a n y of m y colleagues h a v e a s k e d f o r information regarding the H e y d r i c h a c tivities i n Prague. I n order to reply to 2 s o m e of t h e s e q u e s t i o n s I I n c l u d e h e r e w i t h m y brief r e m a r k s a brief s u m m a r y from E . V. Erdly's report on Prague B r a v e s the H a n g m a n : Heydrich has introduced a new system of penal Justice which sanctions every injustice In advance and sets up a new k i n d of martial law, the so-called civil martial law (Zivilstandrecht). He has brought under civil martial law offenses which only the day before s t i l l fell w i t h i n the sphere of the ordinary civil police and which—even in Nazi Germany and even i n wartime were punished by fines or moderate sentences of Imprisonment. To punish these offenses, w h i c h incidentally, were not legally defined (the measures prel i m i n a r i l y set out i n Heydrich's decree were very vague and so were the grounds tor death sentences passed), Heydrich created a new k i n d of court formerly u n k n o w n i n the Czech protectorate. The civil summary court is something new. It has never been stated what are the qualifications of the Judges presiding i n these courts, whether they give their verdicts alone or if there is a bench of Judges; it Is not stated whether the accused is allowed legal aid for his defense, whether he is i n formed of the charge before the t r i a l — a l l this is left unsaid. It is merely decreed that the names of the Judges, of the accused and the most important witnesses for the prosecution, the action of which the prisoner is accused (and i n accordance with paragraph 2 this can be paraphrased i n a very vague fashion) , as well as the date of the verdict, should be laid down i n writing. Such are i n the m a i n the conditions for the recording of a police protocol i n a civilized state where a mere traffic offense or disturbance of the peace is concerned. It is, however, characteristic of the relationship of the Germans to the peoples of their new Europe that almost the same regulations were issued for the summary courts which had to deal w i t h natives i n the former German colonies i n Africa during the first World War. O n the other hand, Heydrich's decree defines precisely the type of Judgment that must be passed by the civil summary court. Apart from the death sentences and acquittal, which are the normal findings of such courts, there are two other types of punishment: the complete or partial confiscation of property, even i n a case i n which the accused is not condemned to death, and further—and this is even more characteristic of the new type of German Justice—It provides for the complete handing over of the case to the secret state police, 1. e., to an authority which is not subject to any legal regulations and Is not subordinate to any k i n d of control on the part of any other authority or person, w i t h the single exception of Adolf Hitler. I n other words, accused persons against whom even this infamous type of civil summary court, which itself satisfies a bare m i n i m u m of the necessary legal conditions for such a tribunal, cannot find sutHcient evidence on which to base a verdict, are handed over to an authority which is able without regard for any formalities whatsoever to imprison them for life or k i l l them out of hand. A further legal monstrosity is the stipulat i o n that there is no appeal against the verdicts of the civil summary court. Even m i l i tary courts martial In wartime m u : t present their decisions to the superior military commander for his confirmation. Heydrich's civil court, situated a thousand miles away from the nearest theater of war, can decide on life and death without being subject to any control. Heydrich's summary courts i n Prague and Brno began to function on the morning of September 28. Nothing is known about the composition or the procedure of these socalled law courts, and the few Czechs who had experience of them as the accused and were acquitted by them have been careful 479332—22558 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD not to tell anybody about their experience. As the summary courts sit in the buildings of the local Gestapo headquarters and they are not bound to follow the normal regulations of criminal-law procedure, it is not difficult to conclude that there is no question here of law courts i n the western sense of the word, nor yet of any legal Justice at all; rather are they a mere legalized form of the brutal summary Justice of the Gestapo. This conclusion is also strengthened by the number of the accused on whom sentence is passed daily. In 20 days of session [up to October 31] the two summary courts "dealt" w i t h 1,396 cases and passed 312 death sentences. That means 70 verdicts, on an average, daily, w i t h 15 to 16 death sentences and no acquittals. There were, however, days [September 30, October 1, 2, 3] when 315, 271, 131, and 141 verdicts were pronounced. It is self-evident that there could be no question here of any civilized legal procedure. Defense was not permitted. The accused perhaps did not even know that their being brought before a couple of S. S. officials i n black uniform was a regular trial and not one of the usual questionings. One may reconstruct the course of the " h e a r i n g " from the evidence of those who have undergone the hell of the Gestapo proceedings as follows: The accused were brought into the courtroom i n groups. The Gestapo officials sat at a long table. One of them read the names of the accused, each of whom had to state his presence w i t h a loud "Here." That was enough to establish the identity of each i n dividual accused. Then the statement on the basis of which the accused had been arrested was read by the Gestapo agent. The accused was asked whether the statement was correct, and had to say either yes or no. In the first case his guilt was confirmed beyond doubt. If he dared to say no, or tried to offer any explanation, an account of the hearing concerning h i m , or any other prisoner accused together with h i m , was read. Should there be no such account to hand, the Gestapo agent who had dealt w i t h the case was asked whether the accusation was correct. His answer was always i n the affirmative, for the accusation was, of course, n o t h i n g but a verbal repetition of his own report to the Gestapo station. By this the accusat i o n was proved and the giving of the evidence closed. There may have been individual cases when the accused were confronted w i t h one another so that they should incriminate each other. In agreement w i t h the practice of the Gestapo, fictitious statements of persons deceased or executed shortly before were brought forward as i n c r i m i n a t i n g material. The German magistracy has always a greater f a i t h i n an official document t h a n i n the protest of the suspect, and a report made by a police officer—and even more a so-called account of the hearing by two police officials—Is an official document. Thus, the fate of the accused was generally sealed. Scarcely 3 i n 200 accused people were acquitted—not a suigle one of the socalled political and military c r i m i n a l s — b u t they were, almost without exception, market women, f r u i t sellers, aged men; viz., people who had committed a trlfiing offense against orders about prices or registration and whom one could not, even w i t h the worst i l l w i l l , condemn, or those who normally would have been charged a fine of a couple of pence, if that, or those who were brought before the court as a result of the bad temper of a market policeman, on account of the gossip of malicious neighbors, or i n consequence of the Jealousy of competitors. The official German reports from the very beginning revealed serious contradictions as to the proceedings of the summary courts established by Heydrich's decree. Summary courts have usually been set up to deal w i t h emergency situations as quickly as possible. German official circles asserted that a con- spiracy had been discovered which recently endeavored to separate the Czecho Protectorate from the Eeich, B u t how could the Generals Bel^' and Vojta, who have been for more t h a n 18 months in a Gestapo prison, threaten the security of the German Reich? How could it be threatened by the Communist Deputy Otto Synek, who was arrested actually on September 1, 1939, the day on which the German war w i t h Poland began? Or by the Brno University Professor Vladimir Groh, who was arrested 9 months before on February 6, 1941? How could the Prague mayor. Dr. Klapka, commit treason himself, and how could he convict Prime Minister EliaS of subversive activity when he had been i n prison since J u l y 9, 1940, 1. e., for 14 months? These facts were generally known to the Czech public and the Prague paper Ceske Slovo was chosen by Heydrich to deal w i t h the unspoken questions asked by them. "The uninformed public may well ask why people are now being sentenced who have previously been under arrest for long periods," wrote the paper on October 19 "The reply to this," i t continued, '^is that irrefuta-^ ble evidence of their offense has^Vnly now been secured." The verdict might be pronounced Immediately after the bogus giving of evidence. There is every reason to assume that the decision of the summary court Judges, whom Heydrich brought w i t h h i m from the Reich, had been made before the trial began. In accordance w i t h the German mentality, those Judges made a sadistic difference between the methods of execution, which were announced together with the verdicts. In their opinion, i t is more honorable to be shot than to be hanged. Therefore, they sentenced to be shot, as a rule, such victims whose alleged crime had to do with any political or military activity, while the peasants, workers, and trades people, and especially those of Jewish extraction, were to be hanged. (The Jews are always described expressly, in addition to their names, as Jews, or halfJews, according to the Nuremburg racial laws.) After the death sentence was pronounced the condemned had only a few minutes more to live. The Gestapo are not sentimental, and the New Order of National Socialism is very far indeed from seeing a h u m a n being i n an enemy, especially an enemy sentenced to immediate death. The verdicts were carried out at once by the Gestapo hangmen, and it is not known, so far, whether the condemned had any opportunity of writing a few words of farewell to their relatives. In no single case was there any hope of a personal farewell. The relations did not know where the prisoners were. Moreover, nobody is a l lowed to enter a Gestapo b u i l d i n g unless he has received a written summons or is taken there as a prisoner himself. The executions were carried out i n the court b u i l d i n g itself. The condemned men awaiting their t u r n could hear the firing and see the gallows. The sentence of death by shooting is not carried out under the Nazis by a party of 4 to 12 men, but 2 S. S. men shoot the condemned in a corner. The hanging, too, is cariied out by S. S. men. This infamous task falls to young boys, none of whom can rise to a higher rank u n t i l i n his conduct paper a certain number of legal murder are entered (executions, k i l l i n g fugitives, causing death through energetic examination, etc.). Besides the verdict of death, there were more t h a n three times as many verdicts of being handed over to the Gestapo. This is also a new expression i n the G e r m a n legalistic phraseology. The people of the Czech Protectorate—the parents, children, and wives of the executed and of those condemned to the Gestapo's treatment—learned the names, though not CONGRESSIONAL RECORD all the names, first through the broadcast o l the Prague radio and on the following morning from the daily papers. The Gestapo i n troduced an especially cruel method i n a n nouncing the sentences; they gave only a certain number of names at a time, while the rest of the victims were referred to i n a round figure, as if the activities of a slaughterhouse were being recorded. Only 2 or 3 days later the papers reported semiofficially the names of more victims, together with a demagogic, biased, and malicious account of the actions for which the executed had been convicted. This is a Gestapo way of expressing contempt for a despicable race—and they regard the Czechs and also all the Slavs merely as such. Heydrich's summary courts showed their scorn of the whole Czech population further, and thus increased the feeling of Insecurity. They would not publish a l l the executions on the day they took place. Sometimes the courts sat both i n the m o r n ing and afternoon, but only the decisions of one of the two sessions were published. Sometimes th» reports of the court i n Prague only were made known, another day only those of thy courr. n i Brno. Only several weeks late could an approximately complete list of the executions be drawn up. On Sunday, September 28, the feast of St. Weuceslas, the courts began to publish the first verdicts; every night the voice of the announcer of the Prague radio was heard giving as i t were inconspicuously, i n the middle of the war commentary and home and foreign news, the daily ration for the horrorstricken Czech public of the death sentences of the arrested patriots and the much-higher number of those given over to the handling of the Gestapo. The newspapers had to print the reports on the following morning i n the same way, incon.'ipicuously, among other news items. "By the decision of the Reich Protector i n Bohemia and Moravia," so the announcement 479332—22558 began, "were sentenced at the summary courts i n Prague and i n Brno for high treason and sabotrge; for preparing to commit high treason, for economic sabotage and u n a u thorized possession of weapons; tor preparing to commit high treason, tor sabotage and i l legal possession of weapons; for contemplated economic sabotcge; for listening i n to foreign broadcasts; (and, on October 26) for giving support to saboteurs who entered the Protectorate by parachute, X , Y, and Z, as well as 15 other persons, to death by shooting. A, B, and C, as well as 5 Jews, to death by hanging. The sentence was carried out today. F u r ther, the courts ordered to be handed over to the Gestapo, 256, 131, 43, 55, other accused." On the first day the voice of the Czech a n nouncer quivered. He was obviously upset. The next evening the man was replaced by another announcer whose stronger, unshaken voice held out Indifferently through the weeks of blood, and did not tremble even when, on November 28, he announced the three hundred and ninety-fourth execution. Mr. M c C O R M A C K . Mr. Chairman, I m o v e to s t r i k e out t h e l a s t tvi^o w o r d s . M r . C h a i r m a n , following the r e m a r k s of o u r d i s t i n g u i s h e d f r i e n d f r o m Neb r a s k a [ M r . S T E F A N ] , I d e s i r e to m a k e a brief a n n o u n c e m e n t t h a t o n S a t u r d a y n e x t t h e r e w i l l c o m e to t h e c i t y of W a s h i n g t o n , as I h a v e b e e n i n f o r m e d , 1 4 h e r o e s of t h e U n i t e d N a t i o n s , w h o h a v e already appeared in New Y o r k , Boston, a n d o t h e r cities, a n d w h o w i l l a p p e a r i n 2 0 o t h e r cities of o u r c o u n t r y . T h e s e y o u n g m e n are i n t r e p i d h e r o e s of t h i s war, v?ho h a v e m a d e r e c o r d s of heroism fightlnc for t h e i r c o u n t r y a n d f i g h t i n g for t h e f o r c e s of d e c e n c y i n t h i s conflict. F i v e of these y o u n g m e n are A m e r c a n heroes O n S a t u r d a y next they 3 will visit W a s h i n g t o n . I k n o w the people of W a s h i n g t o n w i l l give t h e m t h e s p l e n d i d r e c e p t i o n t h a t they r i c h l y deserve a n d consistent w i t h the wonderful receptions they have already received f r o m t h e p e o p l e of t h e g r e a t c i t y of N e w Y o r k a n d f r o m t h e p e o p l e of m y o w n g r e a t c i t y of B o s t o n . O n S a t u r d a y a f t e r n o o n at 1 2 : 3 0 those h e r o e s w i l l c o m e to t h e S p e a k e r ' s office to be o u r guests, a n d I i n v i t e a l l M e m bers of t h e H o u s e w h o a r e i n W a s h i n g t o n o n S a t u r d a y n e x t t o be p r e s e n t f r o m 1 2 : 1 5 to 1 2 : 3 0 p. m . to m e e t t h e s e h e r o e s . I n t h e e v e n i n g t h e r e w i l l be a l a r g e citizens' r a l l y h e l d at the W a t e r g a t e n e a r Lincoln Memorial. I a m i n f o r m e d by the S e r g e a n t at A r m s t h a t a special sect i o n of t h e seats f o r t h e r a l l y a t the Watergate has been reserved foi M e m b e r s of t h e H o u s e a n d e a c h M e m b e r w i l l r e c e i v e two t i c k e t s . Those who desire t i c k e t s to t h a t v a s t m e e t i n g a t w h i c h these y o u n g m.en w i l l s p e a k c a n o b t a i n t h o s e t i c k e t s f r o m ^he S e r g e a n t a t A r m s . This announcement, I think, appropria t e l y f o l l o w s t h e s t i r r i n g r e m a r k s of o u r colleague f r o m N e b r a s k a [Mr. STEFAN], w h o p r e c e d e d m e , a n d I k n o w we a l l j o i n w i t h h i m i n e x t e n d i n g tc the conquered p e o p l e s of a l l n a t i o n s of t h e w o r l d o u r h e a r t f e l t s y m p a t h y d u r i n g t h e p e r i o d of t e m p o r a r y conquest. Also, the fact t h a t o u r g r e a t c o u n t r y a f t e r v i c t o r y c o m e s to t h e c a u s e of t h e U n i t e d N a t i o n s , s t a n d s for a future decent world, a n d for b r i n g i n g b a c k to t h e p e o p l e t e m p o r a r i l y c o n q u e r e d t h o s e f r e e d o m s t h a t t h e y so r i c h l y deserve.