[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 51 (Monday, March 25, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E347]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              COMMEMORATING THE LIFE OF WALTER LOEBENBERG

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. CHARLIE CRIST

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 25, 2019

  Mr. CRIST. Madam Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues to join 
me in commemorating the life of Walter Loebenberg, a community leader, 
advocate for the less fortunate, philanthropist and founder of the 
Florida Holocaust Museum.
  As a young man, Mr. Loebenberg was forced by the Nazis to flee his 
native country of Germany for the United States. Mr. Loebenberg 
returned a few years later, where he honorably served the United States 
during the Battle of the Bulge. His service was so distinguished he was 
personally awarded a Bronze Star by General Dwight D. Eisenhower.
  After the war, Mr. Loebenberg returned to the United States and moved 
to Florida where he managed local hospitals, became a philanthropist, 
and fought to improve the lives of the blind, the hungry, and those who 
could not fight for themselves. He dedicated his life to improving the 
world, one act at a time.
  In 1992, Mr. Loebenberg founded a Holocaust Museum at the Jewish 
Community Center of Pinellas County in Madeira Beach. This rapidly 
expanded into the Florida Holocaust Museum, opening in downtown St. 
Petersburg to great fanfare in 1998.
  Mr. Loebenberg understood the importance of building a lasting 
tribute to the horrors and lives lost in the Holocaust--so that history 
might never repeat itself. His work, and his museum, will stand the 
test of time, as a testament, and a warning to all of us, and all who 
come after us. For the people of Pinellas County, the state of Florida, 
the U.S. House of Representatives, and a grateful nation, we honor the 
life of Walter Loebenberg.

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