“Long after the sound and fury of the twentieth century have been relegated to the garbage heaps of history, the ideals and the memory of Raoul Wallenberg will live on. He will live on to teach future generations what I think is the single most important lesson of human history – that in order to survive, in order to create more livable conditions in this world, we must accept the responsibility of becoming our brother’s and our sister’s keepers. This is the meaning of Wallenberg’s legacy and this is the meaning of our struggle for human rights across the globe.” Tom Lantos.
Tom Lantos is quoted in the novel The Wallenberg Dossier.
“Tom Lantos will be long remembered for his profound moral convictions and his deep commitment to human rights. During his life he helped and inspired numerous individuals around the world. Many more will feel the rewards of his work for years to come.
Tom was born in Budapest, Hungary, where as a teenager he was sent to a forced labor camp by the German Nazi occupant military. After escaping the labor camp, he sought refuge with an aunt who lived in a safe house operated by Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who used his official status and visa-issuing powers to save thousands of Hungarian Jews. Tom quickly joined the anti-Nazi resistance. After the Russians liberated Budapest in 1945, Tom tried to locate his mother and family members but came to realize that they had all perished in the Holocaust.
In 1947, Tom came to the United States to study on a Hillel Foundation Scholarship. He earned his B.A. in 1949 and M.A. in economics in 1950 both from the University of Washington in Seattle. Three years later he received a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley. He subsequently served as a foreign policy commentator on television and as a senior advisor to several U.S. Senators.
Elected to office in 1980, Tom rose to become Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and one of the country’s leading champions of human rights. His commitment to this issue was forged from the loss of his family during the Holocaust.”
Tom Lantos Foundation
The Lantos Foundation was formed to preserve the incredible legacy of the late Congressman Tom Lantos. His extraordinary life story saw his transformation from a precocious child, to a Holocaust survivor, to an outspoken voice against communism and economics professor, and finally, to a leading voice in Congress. Those experiences gave Tom a vision that shaped generations through his work in education, human rights, and public service.
“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. I will never be able to express fully my profoundly felt gratitude to this great country.”