SJ0033 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SJ0033 LRB102 18915 LAW 27643 r

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of Frieda "Fritzie" (Weiss) Fritzshall, who passed away on June 19, 2021; and

WHEREAS, Fritzie Fritzshall was born in Klucarky, Czechoslovakia on August 21, 1929; when the Nazis invaded her country in 1944, her family was forced into a ghetto before being deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, and the Nazis murdered her mother, two younger brothers, and other family members; she endured torture at Auschwitz and a related forced labor camp for one year; after escaping during a death march, she was finally freed by the Soviet Army in 1945; and

WHEREAS, Fritzie Fritzshall immigrated to the United States after the war, where she was reunited with her father; she married Norman Fritzshall, a World War II veteran who had been a prisoner of war in the Pacific theater, and he preceded her in death in 2003; she worked as a hairdresser; and

WHEREAS, Fritzie Fritzshall was a longtime advocate for preserving the stories and legacy of Holocaust survivors; she served as president of the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, the third largest Holocaust museum in the world; and

WHEREAS, Fritzie Fritzshall spent her life fighting against hatred and prejudice and encouraging people to become upstanders rather than bystanders; she was relentless in combatting hatred by sharing her story as a survivor of the Holocaust and her insights on anti-Semitism and the refugee crisis; and

WHEREAS, Fritzie Fritzshall was the wife of the late Norman; the mother of Steven (Hinda Meadow) Fritzshall; the grandmother of Scott and Andy Fritzshall; the sister of two late brothers; the daughter of the late Herman and Sarah; and the aunt, cousin, and friend of many; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING HEREIN, that we mourn the passing of Frieda "Fritzie" (Weiss) Fritzshall and honor her service to the people of Illinois; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Fritzie Fritzshall as an expression of our deepest sympathy and in gratitude for her work and her lifetime of public service.