Tom Lantos
- 80 years old
- Born Dec 30, 1927
- Died Feb 11, 2008
- United States
About
Tom Lantos
Rep. Tom Lantos, 80, a California Democrat whose experience during the Holocaust shaped his concern for human rights and his staunch view in favor of U.S. military intervention abroad, died early this morning. He had esophageal cancer and died at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda.
Lantos, born in Budapest to Hungarian Jews, served 14 terms in the House of Representatives. He is the only Holocaust survivor elected to Congress. His district included southwest San Francisco and much of San Mateo County, where he was known for supporting the socially liberal agenda of his constituents. Last year, he announced he would not seek reelection because of his cancer treatment.
Lantos was a powerful figure on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, where he had been the senior Democratic member since 2001 and its chairman since 2007.
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Memory of a Very Special Human Being
Sue Ortiz (Feb 19, 2008)
I was fortunate to meet Mr. Lantos in person in his office in Washington DC in September of 2006 with a delegation from the American Cancer Society. He was charming, caring and sincere....all that I would have exepcted of him!
I believe he is watching over his wife and family and all of us from a place free from suffering. As a cancer survivor myself I am glad he did not suffer a long illness and that we have him watching over us in death as he looked out for all of us in life. A truly amazing man!
My Memory
DOBROSLAV PARAGA (Feb 19, 2008)
I had the chance to meet personally with the great humanist and advocate of the American-Israeli alliance, Tom Lantos. As a defender of the rights of man, Mr. Lantos helped the large number of dissidents and hunted people in Eastern Europe under the communist dictatorship. Several times Congressman Lantos got up in my defense before the communist regime in Yugoslavia and the authoritarian regime in Croatia, which suppressed basic human and civil rights such as freedom of speech and political association, freedom of the press and parliamentary activity.
I also deeply appreciate the way Congressman Lantos took under his protection my friend Ernest Brajder, a Zagreb Jew, whom the secret service arrested, together with me, and then fabricated his suicide, saying he jumped out of a fourth-floor window.
Lantos, a Holocaust survivor, strongly supported the freedom of small nations and of individuals, a truly noble mission. Shalom and God bless you; goodbye, great man, Thomas Peter Lantos!
My Memory
jonathan (Feb 18, 2008)