[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 26 (Thursday, February 17, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E258]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        HONORING DAVID GREENBAUM

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 17, 2011

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to recognize my constituent 
David Greenbaum as he celebrates his 100th birthday.
  Like many Jews who escaped Europe on the eve of the Holocaust, Mr. 
Greenbaum can attribute his survival to a combination of keen 
perception, perseverance, luck, and the compassion of strangers.
  His extraordinary journey began in Starachowice, Poland in 1939 as 
Hitler invaded Poland. At the time, Mr. Greenbaum was 28 years old and 
living with his mother and three younger siblings. His father had 
passed away two years earlier. With German planes overhead bombing 
nearby towns, the Greenbaum family left their home and took refuge in 
the nearby countryside on a farm of a family friend. As German soldiers 
approached, Mr. Greenbaum left his family and headed north-east with a 
deserter from the Polish Army.
  The two were shortly joined by others seeking to avoid German 
capture. The group walked without rest on unfamiliar roads to unknown 
destinations. Mr. Greenbaum walked for 1,100 miles, arriving in 
Vilnius, Lithuania. Granted shelter for the night by a local tailor, 
Mr. Greenbaum had a chance meeting with his brother Zack, who had 
joined the Polish Army. The two then parted, with David Greenbaum 
planning to continue on to Kaunas (then the capital of Lithuania) in 
order to ultimately join their sister, Diana, in Washington, D.C.
  David Greenbaum may not have survived the Nazi invasion were it not 
for the assistance of the Jewish social service organization. While in 
Kaunas, Mr. Greenbaum was informed by the organization that all Jewish 
refugees were to be jailed. With its help, he obtained a visa to the 
U.S. Visa in hand, he begged in the streets for money in order to 
accumulate the $225 he needed to travel by train to Moscow and then 
Vladivostok, Russia, a port on the Pacific Ocean. By feigning injury, 
Mr. Greenbaum evaded the scrutiny of undercover agents patrolling the 
train. Once he reached his destination, Mr. Greenbaum purchased a 
ticket to Japan with money again provided by a Jewish social service 
organization. On December 13, 1940, Mr. Greenbaum boarded The 
Cleveland, a ship sent to Japan by President Roosevelt, for a trans-
Pacific journey to San Francisco.
  One year after his journey began, Mr. Greenbaum arrived in 
Washington, D.C., where he quickly sought to integrate himself into his 
new surroundings. After completing English lessons, Mr. Greenbaum began 
work at Berman's, a clothier located in the Pentagon. Mr. Greenbaum 
learned the trade and became known as an outstanding tailor. In fact, 
Mr. Greenbaum was chosen to be the personal tailor of Vice President 
Hubert Humphrey.
  Mr. Greenbaum will be celebrating his 100th birthday on February 18, 
2011. With Pearl, his wife of 63 years, he shares the joy of two 
children, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
  Mr. Speaker, I am honored to celebrate David Greenbaum's 100th 
birthday and wish him a year of health and happiness.

                          ____________________