[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8720]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        RECOGNIZING ESTHER BEGAM

  (Mr. PAULSEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PAULSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Esther Begam, a 
Holocaust survivor who recently received her high school diploma from 
Wayzata High School at the age of 88.
  In 1942, Nazis invaded Poland and forced 11-year-old Esther and her 
family into a labor camp. Esther tragically lost her mother and her 
brother in Auschwitz, as well as her older sister in another labor 
camp.
  After the war, she married another survivor and moved to Minnesota to 
start a family. In 2010, she was invited to share her story with the 
Wayzata High School history class, where she was asked what her biggest 
regret was, and Esther said she wished she had received her high school 
diploma.
  So after hearing her story, the school was able to arrange a 
graduation ceremony. Last month, Esther was presented with a diploma in 
front of her children, her grandchildren, and her great-grandchildren, 
receiving a standing ovation that was 71 years overdue.
  Mr. Speaker, I congratulate Esther Begam on her accomplishment after 
overcoming an incredibly difficult life challenge. She is truly an 
inspiration.

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