[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 82 (Thursday, June 6, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1009]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            TRIBUTE TO CAPT. LASZLO OCSKAY, A RIGHTEOUS MAN

                                 ______


                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 5, 1996

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, a few months ago, I received a letter from 
Dan Danieli. He is a writer who had recently completed a report 
regarding the life of Capt. Laszlo Ocskay. The investigative nature of 
Mr. Danieli's work has conclusively verified the importance of Captain 
Ocskay's role in saving the lives of thousands of Jews during the 
Holocaust. I rise today to recognize the incredible life of Captain 
Ocskay and his heroic efforts.
  Capt. Laszlo Ocskay performed an extraordinary humanitarian service 
for persecuted people during World War II that resulted in saving the 
lives of approximately 2,000 men, women, and children, mostly Jews, 
during the most vicious and murderous rampage of the Nazi in Budapest, 
Hungary.
  Despite numerous injuries that technically made him unfit for duty in 
the Hungarian Army, Captain Ocskay voluntarily reactivated himself. He 
rejoined the war efforts with the goal of using his position as the 
commander of the Forced Labor Service Unit to save the lives of those 
who suffered in forced labor.
  Testimonials obtained from numerous survivors of the Forced Labor 
Service Unit speak of his tireless efforts to improve their situation. 
He obtained food, medicine, and supplies for the Forced Labor Unit, 
which helped to boost the morale of the unit during the most 
catastrophic period from October 1944 to January 1945.
  Captain Ocskay provided the manpower from within the Forced Labor 
Service Unit to operate the International Red Cross ``Section T'' 
rescue unit which, in coordination with Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish 
diplomat who saved tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews in the last days 
of World War II, performed heroic rescues and supplied food and 
medicine to children's homes and orphanages. He put his private home in 
the Benczur-Street at the disposal of the Section-T unit, hid a group 
of Jews in that house and on occasion provided Raoul Wallenberg a base 
of operation from which to perform his daring deeds. Wallenberg himself 
found refuge in the house during the very last days of the Russian 
siege of Budapest and left from there for his last fateful meeting with 
the Russians, from which he never returned.

  The post-war Communist political terror in Hungary made it impossible 
for any organized Hungarian effort to honor and recognize Ocskay's 
tremendous life-saving deeds. His aristocratic family background, the 
fact that he served in the Hungarian Army and his being an employee of 
an American corporation--Socony-Vacuum--made him subject to recurring 
harassment by the Hungarian Communists. He left for Austria and was 
harassed even there by the Soviets. As a result, no attempt was made in 
Hungary to honor or even to acknowledge Ocksay's heroic deeds of 
rescue.
  After the war, Captain Ocskay chose the United States of America as 
his sanctuary. There he lived a simple life with his son George, 
daughter-in-law Ilona and granddaughter Elisabeth. He died in March 
1966 and was buried in Kingston, NY.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to this righteous gentile 
who found sanctuary in our country, but no official recognition. I ask 
my colleagues to join me in recognizing this extraordinary humanitarian 
who through his heroism, bravery and courage served as a symbol of 
light in a time of darkness and evil.

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