The only Holocaust survivor in Congress has died.
I had managed to miss his announcement last month that he was ill and would finish out his term but not run again. Sadly he was one of the Democrats on his committee who actively helped Bush push the Iraq War, although in his particular case I can almost give him a pass on this. Somebody who went through the Holocaust can perhaps be forgiven for being succeptible to an assurance that we were obliged to act against a "tyrant who killed his own people" for their ethnicity.
And it should be noted he was one of a group (of Democrats) who committed civil disobedience in front of the embassy of Sudan a few years ago, in protest of their own war of aggression against an ethnic group.
The NYT obit, as it is now:
Rep. Tom Lantos of California, the only Holocaust survivor to serve in Congress, has died, his spokeswoman said Monday.
Lynne Weill said that Lantos, 80, passed away at the Bethesda Naval Medical Center in suburban Maryland.
Lantos, a Democrat who chaired the House Foreign Affairs Committee, disclosed last month that he had been diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus.
He said at the time that he would serve out his 14th term but would not seek re-election in his Northern California district, which takes in the southwest portion of San Francisco and suburbs to the south including Lantos' home of San Mateo.
The timing of the diagnosis was a particular blow because Lantos had assumed his committee chairmanship just a year earlier, when Democrats retook control of Congress. He said then that in a sense his whole life had been a preparation for the job -- and it was.
Lantos, who referred to himself as ''an American by choice,'' was born to Jewish parents in Budapest, Hungary, and was 16 when Adolf Hitler occupied Hungary in 1944. He survived by escaping twice from a forced labor camp and coming under the protection of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who used his official status and visa-issuing powers to save thousands of Hungarian Jews.
Our condolences to his family, friends, staff and those who loved him. I doubt that the seat is in any danger (San Francisco/San Mateo CA? Not likely) but get to work on the matter as soon as the funeral is completed.
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Jackie Speier will fill Lantos' seat
A replacement for Tom Lantos was already being considered when he fell ill. Jackie Speier, a widely respected local Democratic figure since the late 70’s had all but announced that she would challenge Lantos for his seat in the June primary.
Lantos was angry that anyone would dare to run against him but locally he was vulnerable, having spent little time in the district in his latter years and alienated many with what was seen as an unseemly enthusiasm for the Iraq invasion and excessive devotion to AIPAC policies. Lantos was respected for his personal accomplishments and his championing of human rights and civil liberties, but his manner did not encourage a sense of personal connection and local pols had Speier as a 2:1 favorite to unseat him.
Speier was among the first to reach out when he was diagnosed with cancer and they patched up their differences. Lantos made a public announcement last month that he wanted her to succeed him and that’s what is expected to happen, with all others who had expressed interest having since withdrawn. She has her own extraordinary heroic and compelling life story; I’ll post a followup in a few days.
Tom Lantos was widely respected in spite of any differences for his personal integrity, strength of character and honesty. The only feelings here now are those of mourning for the loss of a good man, and condolences for his wife and family.
Wasn't Lantos an atheist?
Like, Congress's only one?
[x] Any (D) in the general. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.
First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win. -- Mahatma Gandhi
Lantos' religion
Tom Lantos was born a Jew in Budapest and survived the Holocaust that claimed nearly his whole family by hiding and fighting with the underground resistance. He has described himself as a secular Jew. His wife Annette was also raised Jewish, was a childhood friend of Tom's and also survived the Nazis when she and her mother escaped together to, I think, London. After WWII Lantos went looking for anyone he might have known and reconnected with Annette, they fell in love and married. Later in life she converted to Mormonism, and there has been some speculation that Tom secretly converted but I've never heard any confirmation of that.
The only open atheist in Congress - or in the Administration or SCOTUS for that matter - is Democrat Pete Stark from my current home district, CA-13.
Thanks for the background bringiton
To tell the truth I don't think I'd ever heard of Lantos before today (other than in passing) but I'm a sucker for historic stories.
Glad to hear that indeed there is a succession in the works. Sounds like Speier will be an excellent choice and an improvement as far as progressive and anti-war representation is concerned.