[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 30 (Thursday, March 9, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E337]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO HARRY BERGER

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 9, 2006

  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, in honor of the 90th birthday of Harry 
Berger, I am proud to share with my colleagues a tribute to this great 
American, lovingly written by his son Robert I. Berger. Clearly Mr. 
Berger is deserving of this recognition by the United States House of 
Representatives.
  Harry Berger was born on March 26, 1916 in Hungary. During World War 
II, he and his family were forcibly removed from their homes and taken 
by the Nazis to live in a crowded Jewish ghetto. Not long after, my 
father, along with other men his age, were taken by German and 
Hungarian soldiers to work as slave laborers for the balance of the 
war. After my father was liberated by American soldiers, and unable to 
return to his home because it was then under Russian control, he 
obtained a temporary visa to live and work in Brussels, Belgium. It was 
there that my father met my mother, Helen Berger, a survivor of 
Auschwitz, with whom he will celebrate 58 years of marriage on February 
28, 2006.
  My parents, together with me age 2\1/2\, arrived in the United States 
on January 6, 1952, and settled in the Albany Park neighborhood of 
Chicago. My sister Margaret was born in Chicago in 1954. My parents and 
I became naturalized citizens in 1957. In 1964, my parents achieved the 
American dream and purchased their own home in the Rogers Park 
neighborhood of Chicago where they lived until 1992 when they moved to 
Lincolnwood, Illinois.
  My father worked as a tailor at Broadlane Clothiers in the Uptown 
neighborhood of Chicago from the time he arrived in the United States 
until the store closed in approximately 1980. My father then worked for 
Lytton's and then Mark Shale on Michigan Avenue, where he was awarded 
Employee of the Year honors before retiring in 1995.
  In addition to having worked hard to provide for his family, my 
father made time and worked tirelessly for many good causes in the 
service of others. My father served on the Synagogue Board and Men's 
Club Board of Congregation Ezras Israel in the Rogers Park neighborhood 
of Chicago and served two terms as President of the Men's Club and two 
terms as President of the Congregation. More amazing is that my father 
served as President of the Congregation when he was in his mid-
eighties.
  My father was also a Board Member and two term President of the 
Zionist Organization of Chicago (ZOC), the Chicago chapter of the 
Zionist Organization of America (ZOA). The ZOA is one of the oldest and 
largest Israel advocacy organizations in the United States. Founded in 
1897, to support the establishment of a Jewish state, past presidents 
of the ZOA include Justice Louis D. Brandeis. In 1996, the ZOC honored 
my father and mother with the State of Israel Award for their long-time 
commitment and service to the organization and to the State of Israel.
  My father has also helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for 
the State of Israel. In 2001, my father and mother were honored at an 
Israel Bond Luncheon that raised over one half million dollars in 
Israel bonds. My father has supported many other Jewish charities 
including the JUF.
  My father has lived in the United States for the past 54 years and 
has loved all of the ideals for which this country was founded. He has 
been an exemplary citizen, never taking for granted the freedom and 
opportunity that this country afforded him and his family. He has voted 
in every election, he has always kept informed of the issues facing 
America, and he has worked for candidates for various elective office. 
My father has lived the American dream. He came to this country a 
Holocaust survivor and refugee with a wife and young son and barely a 
penny to his name. He worked hard, bought a home, paid off the 
mortgage, raised two children, provided for his family, and has and 
continues to live a decent and productive life.
  One of my father's great pleasures is sports. As a young boy in 
Hungary he loved to play soccer. In his new home, he came to understand 
and love baseball, football and basketball. He loves the White Sox, 
Cubs, Bears and Bulls, and would often take me to games on Sundays, his 
one day off of work. My father's joy was immeasurable when his beloved 
White Sox finally won the World Series this past Fall.
  My father's 90 years, 54 of them in the United States, is an example 
of what Tom Brokaw called ``The Greatest Generation.'' He provided for 
his family and found time and energy to help others. His life is to be 
celebrated and honored.

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