[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 155 (Friday, November 7, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2209-E2210]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


TRIBUTE TO GABOR VARSZEGI ON HIS BEING HONORED FOR ENDOWING THE J. AND 
             O. WINTER RESEARCH FUND FOR HOLOCAUST STUDIES

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, November 6, 1997

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to pay tribute to my dear 
friend, Hungarian businessman Gabor Varszegi, for his generous 
contribution of $100,000 to support a research fund at the Rosenthal 
Institute for Holocaust Studies at the City University of New York.
  Gabor's exemplary act of altruism will allow for the financial 
backing of many valuable Holocaust-related research projects. His 
donation will greatly assist the continuing efforts of the Rosenthal 
Institute and a myriad of worthy historical scholars in their 
collective crusade to make sure that the lessons of the Holocaust will 
be remembered eternally. In recognition of Gabor's devotion to this 
cause, he will be awarded the Graduate School's President's Medal at 
the City University on November 18, 1997. Mr. Speaker, I join the City 
University of New York in honoring Gabor Varszegi and paying tribute to 
him on this special occasion.
  Gabor Varszegi is an outstanding example of a highly successful post-
Communist businessman in Hungary. He first achieved great success as 
Hungary moved into the post-Communist era by establishing a 1-hour film 
processing business in Hungary, FOTEX, Ltd., one of the first 1-hour 
film processing companies in Eastern Europe. FOTEX has now expanded to 
include a wide variety of enterprises in a host of nations.
  Notwithstanding Mr. Varszegi's great entrepreneurial achievements, he 
has never forgotten his roots as the son of Holocaust survivors. His 
outstanding generosity and commitment to furthering important 
Holocaust-related research led to his establishment of the J. and O. 
Winter Research Fund at the Rosenthal Institute in 1991, which his 
recent gift will permanently endow. This valuable scholarly resource, 
named after Mr. Varszegi's late parents, has provided backing to a 
number of important undertakings which address not only the events of 
the Holocaust but its causes and its significance as well.
  Research done through the research fund includes studies on: Sites of 
Memory: Vienna, the Past in the Present, the Jewish People's History in 
Heves County, the Rescue of Jews Across the Hungarian-Romanian Border 
Between 1940-1944, Remembering the Martyrs of Hidegseg, Teaching About 
the Holocaust at the Secondary School Level, Remarks on the Rise of 
Political Anti-Semitism in Romania, and the Holocaust as Topic in 
Hungarian and Israeli Novels.
  As a result of Mr. Varszegi's generous gift, as well as the fine 
efforts of my dear friend Prof. Randolph L. Braham, the administrator 
of the J. & O. Winter Research Fund, and other outstanding faculty 
members at the Rosenthal Institute and the Graduate School and 
University Center at CUNY, this substantive work will continue for 
generations to come.
  Mr. Speaker, I invite my colleagues to join me in paying tribute to 
Gabor Varszegi for his devotion to the cause of Holocaust remembrance. 
His actions reflect a genuine understanding of the words of Patrick 
Henry: ``I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided and that is 
the lamp of experience. I know no way of judging of the future but by 
the past.'' Mr. Varszegi is providing the oil which lights this lamp 
that will illuminate the steps of all of us as we seek to build a world 
that is more just, more humane and more respectful of the human rights 
of all men and women. I invite my colleagues to join me in applauding 
him and his praiseworthy endeavors.

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