She served as the unpaid Executive Director of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, which Congressman Lantos co-founded. Its mission is partly "to promote, defend, and advocate internationally recognized human rights". And the message of Tom: Maximize your stay on earth, and be a blessing.. Those experiences permeated the memorial, which began and ended with blessings from Schneier, Lantos longtime friend and fellow survivor, who founded the Appeal of Conscience Foundation, which promotes religious freedoms. [2] [3] [4] She is also an American educator and the former chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom from 2012 to 2013, and then in 2014 to 2015. His wife, Annette Lantos (born Tilleman), was a first cousin, once removed, of actresses Magda Gabor, Zsa Zsa Gabor, and Eva Gabor. 1928 Tom Lantos was born on February 1, 1928 in Budapest, Hungary as Lantos Tamas Peter. ALL MATERIAL: COPYRIGHT CALIFORNIA EUROPEAN CULTURAL INITIATIVE/MEMORY PROJECT USCIRFs mandate requires it to collect facts and offer independent policy recommendations to the president, the secretary of state, and Congress on religious freedom issuesputting commissioners in close contact with policymakers. She read Bible stories to her daughters but showed deference to her husband's wishes. This produced tangible results: Katrina and her sister Annette took it upon themselves to rebuild the family and had a combined 17 children. Episode 2 captures the incredible journey of faith of Holocaust Survivor Annette Tillemann Lantos. (1928-2008) LANTOS, TOM (1928-2008), Democratic congressman from California, the lone Holocaust survivor to serve in the US Congress. If one hypothesizes that the woman's story is fictitious from A to Z, that in no way diminishes the avalanche of human rights violations. J.C.D. [30], "Nurse Nayirah" later turned out to be the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the United States. and, much moreimportantly, with a great wife, has produced four adorable grand children. His friend, Rabbi Arthur Schneier of New York, recalled singing Hebrew psalms with Lantos days before he died. Four years later, Tom Lantos became the first and only Holocaust survivor to win a seat in Congress. Speaker: Annette Tilleman Lantos January 1, 1997 What Do I Believe? Ideas That Animate My Religious Life Annette Tilleman Lantos Read more Events People Works of Art Organizations Occasions Locations 2015 Sunstone Education Foundation He is the only survivor of the Nazis' Holocaust to serve in the US Congress. Tzipi Livni, Israels foreign minister, also delivered a eulogy. [41], On August 27, 2006, at the Israeli Foreign Ministry building in Israel, Lantos said he would block a foreign aid package promised by President George W. Bush to Lebanon unless and until Beirut agreed to the deployment of international troops on the border with Syria and Lebanon takes control of its borders with Syria to prevent arms smuggling to Hezbollah guerrillas. It would have been so much easier to just die," said Annette Lantos Tillemann-Dick, at a press conference today to thank the good Samaritans who put out the flames devouring his body. The couple reconnected after the war, married in 1950, and settled in California. Mrs. Annette Lantos shares some of her story of that terrible night and how she survived to become one of our countrys great advocates for human rights all around the world.ANNETTE LANTOS BIOTOM LANTOS LIFE STORY - AS TOLD BY ANNETTE LANTOS. Annette Lantos, the wife of the late Congressman Tom Lantos, worked full-time in her husband's office throughout his nearly three decades in the U.S. House of Representatives. Annette married Thomas Peter Lantos on month day 1950, at age 19 at marriage place. Only 13 at the time, she knew that she and her mother needed to immediately leave their home and go into hiding. More information on Tom Lantos can be found here. "[30], The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation sent investigators to Kuwait who went through the hospital and counted the incubators and they found that "except for one or two that may have been misplaced" all of the incubators were still in the hospital. [5] [59] On August 8, 2009, she gave sworn testimony about Lantos and others during a witness deposition before the Ohio Elections Commission in the Schmidt v. Krikorian case, in which she alleged that he had engaged in "[N]ot only bribe[ry], but also disclosing highest level protected U.S. intelligence and weapons technology information both to Israel and to Turkey. [28], On other aspects of American foreign policy, Lantos spoke out against waste, fraud and abuse in the multi-billion dollar U.S. reconstruction program in Iraq, and warned that the U.S. could lose Afghanistan to the Taliban if the Bush administration failed to take decisive action to halt the current decline in political stability there. I eloped with the Godspell productionmanager, Timber Dick, in March of 1978. Since Timber's death, almost six years ago, oneof our daughters, Charity Sunshine (fourth baby), has undergone twobi-lateral lung transplants. She also served on the United States Commission on International . In a ceremony at the White House, Bush stated "We miss his vigorous defense of human rights and his powerful witness for the cause of human freedom. She later raised the matter with President Jimmy Carter. And in my eyes, the Star of David that was just formed from a yellow Star of David on the torn clothing of a victim into a shining blue Star of David emblazoned on an American Air Force jet and flown by an Israeli fighter pilot, that shining star is Tom Lantos., She finished with the Hebrew blessing, May his memory be blessed.. The first Lantos Human Rights Prize, named in the congressman's memory, was presented to the 14th Dalai Lama in 2009. All Photographs courtesy of Babette Rittmeyer, Lantos Foundation for Human Rights & Justice. However, Lantos, then 17, returned home only to discover that his mother and other family members had all been murdered by the Germans, along with 440,000 other Hungarian Jews, during the preceding 10 months of their occupation. account of the 36 years that have elapsed since graduation39since our production of Godspell. Meanwhile, Tom Lantos joined an underground movement when the Nazis took Hungary. The respective answers came at his memorial service last week: Apparently not much, and not at all. The entire memorial service was a gentle back and forth of Jewish and Mormon perspectives on remembering Lantos, who was cremated. Annette Lantos noted during the memorial ceremony that differences of faith with her husband informed even his final days, in the finality of death Lantos embraced and the eternal life that her church preaches. Her parents explained it wasnt a new year, but the little girl insisted otherwise. Lantos was an immediate and consistent critic of the troop surge advocated by President Bush. Atop a bookcase sit separate photos of her father shaking hands with Bill Clinton and Barack Obamanear a photo of her smiling parents with Condoleezza Rice. But her father and numerous relatives were murdered in the Nazi death camps. At the same hearing, Lantos drew comparisons between some of the current U.S. activities in Iraq to U.S. support two decades earlier of Islamic militants in Afghanistan: America should not be in the business of arming, training and funding both sides of a religious civil war in Iraq. Only 13 at the time, she knew that she and her mother needed to immediately leave their home and go into hiding. But like all vacations, she said, using his words, there must be an end to it. Her late husband Tom Lantos (February 1, 1928 - February 11, 2008) was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 1981 until his death and a powerful champion of human rights around the world. She has also been instrumental in fighting for animal rights and assisted her husband in co-founding the Congressional Friends of Animals Caucus. Whats the message? Lantos was born in Budapest, Hungary. February 11, 2008 / 9:46 AM / AP. We all go through that one-way street that leads to the grave, there is no immunity from the grave, we all have to meet our maker sooner or later. His spouse is Annette Tillemann ( m. 1950) . [24], Lantos was an advocate on behalf of the environment, receiving consistently high ratings from the League of Conservation Voters and other environmental organizations for his legislative record. Please be aware that some presenters and historical figures included in this content may have troubling histories of prejudice, criminal activity, violence, and abusesexual or otherwise. 343 North Third West Katrina Lantos Swett's sister, Annette Lantos Tillemann-Dick, graduated from Yale in 1978 and is the mother of six Yale grads ("A modern-day record," Biden claimed at that 2015 class day). The familys political connections have aided the foundations growth, but Swetts persistent work has swiftly turned the organization into a respected human rights institution. Lantos served as the chairman of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Lantos, a Democrat, was first elected in 1981 . She also spoke directly with President Jimmy Carter about Wallenberg's case. Ambassador for International Religious Freedom (2018-2021) & Coc-Chair of the IRF Summit, Lantos Foundation, 6 Dixon Ave, Suite 100, Concord, NH 03301. On January 2, 2008, after having been diagnosed with esophageal cancer, Lantos announced he would not run for a 15th term in the House, but planned to complete his final term, and thanked Congress: 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. We have to move on., And so he did. Thanks somuch for your ongoing effort to keep us updated on your lives and those ofour Div School classmates and friends. Instead, the younger Annette suggested, he admired his wifes beliefs but did not embrace them: He had faith in the sustaining power of her faith in spirituality, she said. Yvonne Katrina Swett (ne Lantos; born October 8, 1955) is the President of the Lantos Foundation. Timber and I spent 30 exhilarating years married on earth and in 2008 shiftedto the eternal marriage mode. Ambassador to Hungary, Ambassador Sam Brownback - Special Advisor for International Religious FreedomFormer U.S. I think her father would be very proud.. Dr. Lantos Swett also serves on the Advisory Board of UN Watch, the annual Anne Frank Award and Lecture, and The Warren B. Rudman Center for Justice, Leadership, and Public Policy. You remember that, Annette being a step ahead of our persecutors? Schneier asked Lantos widow. Ji Wolf (1952. janur 5., Jindichv Hradec , Csehszlovkia ) a Charta 77 alrja , volt politikai fogoly, antikommunista, meseknyv szerz, valamint radiklis ellenzje s kritikusa a "Charta nemessgnek", amely vlemnye szerint Vclav Havel s szmos ms, a volt cseh elnkhz kzeli szemly.. Wolfot elszr 1978. februr 16-n tartztattk le, miutn a . Her independence at times ran afoul of other Democratic-appointed commissioners who wanted to mitigate criticism of the Obama administration and move USCIRF from nonpartisan to bipartisanincluding Republican and Democratic staffs. On the C-SPAN Networks: Annette Lantos is a Spouse with four videos in the C-SPAN Video Library; the first appearance was a 1995 Ceremony.The year with the highest average number . We were the same.. Lantos Swett earned a Political Science degree from Yale University at the age of 18, a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, and a PhD in History from The University of Southern Denmark. Boorda, the Chief of Naval Operations, had taken his own life after his right to wear Combat V decorations had been questioned. magyar zsid szrmazs amerikai demokrata prti politikus, 1981-tl hallig az amerikai kpviselhz tagja, ahol Kalifornia 12. szm vlasztkerlett kpviselte, a hz egyedli holokauszt-tlljeknt. All content 2023 The Keeper: A Human Rights Podcast. ADDRESS He keeps me flying straight.. I do believe in different forms of life. Annette Lantos. Lantos, who served as Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee in his last term, announced in early January 2008 that he would not run for re-election because of cancer of the esophagus. C-SPAN, an acronym for Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, is an American cable television network that offers coverage of federal government proceedings and other public affairs programming via its three television channels (C-SPAN, C-SPAN2 and C-SPAN3), one radio station and a group of. Annette Lantos, the widow of Rep. Tom Lantos, is a Holocaust survivor who worked with her late husband as the unpaid director of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. She said the Iraq War and the rise of LGBT activism have caused some to back away from global human rights issuesespecially religious freedom. Lantos was referring to Schrder's ties to energy business in Russia, and remarked that this appellation would offend prostitutes. I did not have a different vision from Katrina, and she didnt have a different vision from me. Lantos defeated Royer by 5,700 votes. Read more : https://world.wng.org/2017/04/her_father_s_daughter, Tagged: Katrina Lantos Swett, Religious Freedom, Holocaust, Interview, Lantos Foundation Statement - Russia Jehovah's Witness Ruling, Lantos Foundation Chair Calls on Hungary to Defend Academic Freedom, Lantos Foundation, 6 Dixon Ave, Suite 100, Concord, NH 03301. Did the Administration learn nothing from our country's actions in Afghanistan two decades ago, when by supporting Islamist militants against the Soviet Union, we helped pave the way for the rise of the Taliban? Tom and Annette have two daughters - Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett and Annette Lantos Tillemann-Dick - and 18 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. We like to think we punch above our weight, Swett said before taking me on a tour of her orderly office. Melanie Klein et Anna Freud. [15][16] Annette (formerly Agnes) Lantos is a niece of Jolie Gabor, whose brother Sebastian was Mrs. Lantos's father, making Magda, Zsa Zsa, and Eva Gabor, Jolie's daughters, first cousins to Annette Lantos. He also remembered visiting with Lantos several years ago at the Budapest synagogue where Lantos had his bar mitzvah. He then emigrated to the U.S., and studied economics at the University of Washington in Seattle, where he earned a B.A. He had 2 children Katrina Swett, Annette Tillemann-Dick. 2023 jewish telegraphic agency all rights reserved. Tom Lantos (Lantos Pter Tams, Budapest, 1928. februr 1. Richard Belzer was a Jewish comedian. On a bitter cold Christmas eve in 1944, a little Jewish girl, 13 years old but with her diminutive size and Shirley Temple curls looked closer to 8, kissed her mother goodbye and alone began to make h. - Listen to Episode 4 : Annette Lantos by The Keeper instantly on your tablet, phone or browser - no downloads needed. Anita and Peter Deyneka, Jr. Papers, SC-048. "The bulk of the Jews of Budapest were utterly assimilated," Lantos said. [27] In more recent times, he supported democracy in Burma and pressed for sanctions on Iran for supporting terrorism. Annette M. Tillemann-Dick, M.A.R. 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