Thomas Peter Lantos (February 1, 1928 – February 11, 2008) was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 1981 until his death, representing the northern two-thirds of San Mateo County and a portion of southwest San Francisco. Lantos had announced in early January 2008 that he would not run for reelection because of cancer of the esophagus, but died before finishing his term. Lantos was the only Holocaust survivor to h...
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Thomas Peter Lantos (February 1, 1928 – February 11, 2008) was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 1981 until his death, representing the northern two-thirds of San Mateo County and a portion of southwest San Francisco. Lantos had announced in early January 2008 that he would not run for reelection because of cancer of the esophagus, but died before finishing his term. Lantos was the only Holocaust survivor to have served in the United States Congress.
Born as Lantos Tamás Péter (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈlɒntoʃ ˈtɒmaːʃ ˈpeːtɛr]) to a Jewish family in Budapest, Hungary, Lantos was part of a resistance movement against the Nazis during the German occupation of Hungary. In his floor speeches, he sometimes referred to himself as one of the few living members of Congress who had fought against fascism.
He sought refuge in a safe house established by Raoul Wallenberg; in 1981 Lantos sponsored a bill making Wallenberg an Honorary Citizen of the United...
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