TOM LANTOS PASSES HUMANITY’S TORCH
Anthony Barsamian and Michael Ross

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Friday, February 22, 2008

Humanity lost one of its greatest voices this month. No one lived
up to the promise of the words "never again" better than Rep. Tom
Lantos. As the only Holocaust survivor to have served in Congress,
he dedicated his career to working on behalf of others.

Those who survive genocide live with complexities that few can
understand – post-traumatic stress, feelings of guilt for having
survived, a victim of man’s most diabolical incarnation, a witness
to history – to name a few.

On the one hand, a survivor must rectify his tragic past while on
another, he must make sense of a stunted future. With great strength
and determination, survivors and their families move forward and
rebuild their lives, for a second time.

To start a life anew is difficult enough. To do so as a
U.S. congressman is nothing short of miraculous. Only in America –
as Lantos would say.

For Holocaust survivors and their families, Lantos was a source
of pride.

For those who searched for a voice of justice, in him they found
their greatest friend.

Tom Lantos spoke out against genocide in Darfur, at one point being
arrested for protesting outside the Sudanese Embassy along with four
other Democratic lawmakers, including Bay State Reps. Jim McGovern
and John Olver.

One of his final acts was a resolution that would recognize the
slaughter of innocent Armenians for what it was – genocide. As chairman
of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Lantos refused to be part of
a campaign of denial and looked beyond the politics of convenience
by passing the resolution.

During a PBS interview last October, Lantos said, "This is one of those
events which has to be settled once and for all: 1.5 million utterly
innocent Armenian men, women and children were slaughtered. And the
Turkish government, until now, has intimidated the Congress of the
United States from taking this measure. I think it’s important, at a
time when genocides are going on in Darfur and elsewhere, not to be
an accomplice in sweeping an important genocide under the rug."

The resolution has yet to be acted upon by the entire House –
something, no doubt, Lantos, would want.

Lantos understood what it meant to stand up for his fellow man,
much in the same way someone helped him when he needed it. An
otherwise ordinary bureaucrat, Raoul Wallenberg, chose to become an
extraordinary person when, over the course of his diplomatic career,
he found a way to save 100,000 Hungarian Jews. Lantos was among them.

As people who have inherited a legacy from our families, we have an
obligation to recognize man’s inhumanity to man regardless of whether
it is convenient to do so. We have an obligation to properly recognize
an injustice by its name, regardless of the political discomfort or
cost. And, like Lantos, we have an obligation to live by the words
"never again" and to remind the world when those ominous words are
back in play.

In Tom Lantos’ passing we lost the sentinel on humanity’s gate. We
owe it to those he protected to speak the truth, no matter the cost.

Anthony Barsamian lives in Sherborn and is chair of Public Affairs
for the Armenian Assembly of America. Michael Ross is the son of
Holocaust survivor Stephan Ross and a Boston city councilor.