[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 71 (Thursday, June 9, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 9, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
 TRIBUTE TO CANDLE-LIGHTERS AT THE NATIONAL CIVIC COMMEMORATION OF THE 
                      DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE CEREMONY

                                 ______


                            HON. DICK SWETT

                            of new hampshire

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 9, 1994

  Mr. SWETT. Mr. Speaker, just a few weeks ago in the rotunda of the 
U.S. Capitol, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council organized the annual 
National Civic Commemoration to remember the victims of the Holocaust. 
The ceremony was held in connection with the annual Days of Remembrance 
and is a key part of that yearly observance in memory of the 6 million 
victims of Nazi Germany.
  This year the commemoration was dedicated to the Hungarian Jewish 
community decimated in the Holocaust, because March 19 of this year 
marks the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Holocaust in 
Hungary--the time in 1944 when the deportation of Jews began there. 
Shortly after German troops began the occupation of Hungary, Adolf 
Eichmann arrived in Budapest personally to supervise the imposition of 
the final solution in Hungary. Under Eichmann's vicious leadership, the 
number of Jews in Hungary dropped from approximately 750,000 before 
1944 to just 139,000 some 10 months later when Budapest was liberated 
by the Soviet Army in January 1945.
  The tragic events that took place in Hungary half a century ago, 
events which were solemnly and sadly recalled this year in the great 
rotunda here in our Nation's Capitol Building, have a special 
significance for me, Mr. Speaker. As my colleagues, my wife is the 
daughter of our distinguished colleague, Tom Lantos of California, the 
only survivor of the Holocaust elected to Congress, and of Annette 
Lantos, also a survivor of the Holocaust in Hungary. If my wife and six 
children had lived in Hungary in 1944, they would have been declared 
racially unfit to live. They would likely have been among those forced 
into cattle cars by Nazi soldiers or Hungarian Arrow Cross troops and 
sent to Auschwitz, as Tom Lantos' mother was. Or they might have been 
lined up on the banks of the Danube River, and shot in the back and 
pushed into the river, as Annette Lantos' father was.
  Mr. Speaker, as a part of the National Civic Commemoration this year 
and in previous ceremonies, six candles are lit, two individuals 
jointly light each candle--a symbolic gesture performed in memory of 
the 6 million who died during the Holocaust.
  I would like to recognize the 12 individuals who were honored this 
year, Mr. Speaker, and I invite my colleagues to join me in paying 
tribute to these individuals. These 12 are:
  Dr. Laszlo N. Tauber, who was liberated from the Budapest Ghetto and 
who is now a prominent Washington, DC, physician and philanthropist; 
and Orwin Talbott, representing the 90th Infantry Division, liberators 
of Flossenburg concentration camp, Washington, DC.
  Aniko Lorber, a Hungarian child survivor, now of Los Angeles, CA; and 
Arthur Chaitt, representing the 1st Infantry Division, liberators of 
Falkenau concentration camp, of Philadelphia PA.
  Eugene Gluck, a Hungarian survivor of Auschwitz, now of Forest Hills, 
NY; and Bill Bay, representing the 4th Infantry Division, liberators of 
a Dachau subcamp, of Washington DC.
  Judith Leiber, liberated from the Budapest ghetto, and now a noted 
accessories designer in New York City; and Frank Varelli, representing 
the 82d Airborne Division, liberators of Woebbelin concentration camp, 
of Washington, DC.
  Thomas Margittai, a survivor of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and 
now a prominent restaurateur in New York City; and William A. Duna, a 
Hungarian-American Rom and member of the United States Holocaust 
Memorial Council, of Minneapolis, MN.
  Leopold Page, saved by Oskar Schindler and now of Los Angeles, CA; 
and Jan Nowak, a member of the Polish underground, now of Annanadale, 
VA.
  The 12 candle-lighters were assisted by Theresa Godla, a 13-year-old 
American Rom of Hungarian Gypsy heritage. She carried a rose in memory 
of the Rom and Sinti victims of the Holocaust.
  Mr. Speaker, it is a singular distinction to be selected to 
participate in the candle-lighting ceremony at the National Civic 
Commemoration of the Days of Remembrance. I invite my colleagues to 
join me in honoring these distinguished individuals, representing both 
the victims and their liberators of one of the most horrible chapters 
in human history--a chapter that we must commit ourselves shall never 
again take place.

                          ____________________