Prayers and praises for an “American by choice”
By U.S. Congressman Sam Johnson
Washington,
Jan 17 -
A self-described “American by choice,” the only Holocaust survivor to serve in the United States Congress, Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) recently announced that he has cancer of the esophagus and will not seek re-election
Lantos, who doesn’t smoke, embodies a remarkable American you ought to know.
While Tom and I agree to disagree on a host of issues, Tom stands unrivaled in his dedication to protect the oppressed. He commands respect when it comes to exposing human rights abuses and he serves as a brilliant example of the bounty America offers. Tom summed it up best when he announced his diagnosis and retirement.
“It is only in the United States that a penniless survivor of the Holocaust and a fighter in the anti-Nazi underground could have received an education, raised a family, and had the privilege of serving the last three decades of his life as a Member of Congress.”
Born to Jewish parents in Budapest, Hungary in 1928, Tom was 16 when Nazi Germany occupied Hungary. While the Nazis sent countless Hungarian Jews away to never be seen again, Tom worked in a forced-labor camp. Tom escaped once, only to be caught and nearly beaten to death. With nothing to lose but his life, Tom escaped a second time.
This time Tom made his way back to Budapest. While separated from most of his relatives and fearing them all dead, Tom sought refuge in a Wallenberg safe house, one of the apartments protected and run by acclaimed Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg.
From the Wallenberg safe house, Tom set out on the sly to help other Jews and joined the anti-Nazi resistance. Tom often disguised himself as a Hungarian Christian because of his light hair and light eyes. As Tom sought food and medical supplies for Jews in need, Tom evaded capture by moving around Budapest wearing a military cadet's uniform.
After the Russians liberated Budapest, Tom began his studies in 1946 at the University of Budapest. After a long, intricate search for Annette, his high school sweetheart, Tom and Annette reconnected in Budapest after over a year apart.
In part because he knew English, Tom won a scholarship to study in America the next year. In 1950, Tom married Annette. They are the proud parents of two children who graciously gave them 17 grandchildren as a “gift” since most of Tom and Annette’s family died in the Holocaust.
Tom earned a doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley before becoming an economics professor at San Francisco State University.
Since coming to Congress, Tom has built a reputation as a true champion for Israel and a tireless crusader against international human rights abuses in China, Russian, Burma and Darfur.
In 1983 Lantos founded the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. In 2006, he was arrested at a Darfur protest.
As Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, he recently took Yahoo executives to task for handing over personal information of a Chinese activist to government officials. The account holder, a journalist, was sentenced to 10 years in prison. With sterling word choice, he hammered, “While technologically and financially you are giants, morally you are pygmies.”
In 2002, Tom helped author the congressional resolution for the Iraq war, adding “Had the United States and its allies confronted Hitler earlier, had we acted sooner to stymie his evil designs, the 51 million lives needlessly lost during that war could have been saved.” While Tom has since changed his view on Iraq, the California Democrat remains a staunch supporter of Israel.
Make no mistake, Tom Lantos is a fighter. He’ll fight cancer like he fought tyranny, death, and hate.
Please keep the entire Lantos family in your thoughts and prayers. He brought history, dignity and passion to America and the U.S. House of Representatives.
Godspeed, Tom Lantos.
# # #
Johnson represents portions of Dallas and Collin Counties.
