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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Rep. Lantos, Holocaust survivor, dies


Lantos
 (The Spokesman-Review)
Will Oremus Palo Alto (Calif.) Daily News

PALO ALTO, Calif. – U.S. Rep. Tom Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor to serve in Congress, died Monday morning of complications from cancer. He was 80.

The 14-term Democrat from San Mateo, Calif., was surrounded by his wife, Annette, two daughters and many of his 18 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren at Bethesda Naval Medical Center in suburban Maryland, his spokeswoman said. Lantos revealed in January that he had been diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus.

Eloquent, with a wealth of stories from his world travels and a passion for human rights, Lantos became an institution on the Peninsula and in Washington. His 27-year congressional career had recently reached new heights with his January 2007 appointment as chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

News of his death brought condolences from around the country Monday morning. President Bush called Lantos “a living reminder that we must never turn a blind eye to the suffering of the innocent at the hands of evil men.”

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Lantos “led a life marked by passion, bravery and relentless dedication to promoting human rights and tolerance.”

Born to Jewish parents in Budapest in 1928, Lantos was sent to a forced labor camp after the Nazis invaded Hungary in 1944. Much of his family died during the occupation, but Lantos escaped to a safe house run by the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg.

He came to the United States in 1947, married childhood sweetheart Annette Tillemann and became an economics professor.

In 1980, Lantos narrowly defeated one-term Republican incumbent Bill Royer to represent California’s 12th congressional district, which takes in much of San Mateo County and a southwestern slice of San Francisco.

One of his first acts in Congress was to sponsor legislation honoring Wallenberg, and he became known over the years for speaking out on human rights issues around the globe.

Though he voted to authorize the war in Iraq, he evolved into a forceful critic of the Bush administration’s policy there, including the 2007 troop surge.