Dear friends,
On June 27, I will celebrate my 90th birthday. As that day approaches, I find myself considering with wonder and gratitude my nine decades of life and all that I have experienced. As a young girl in Hungary, forced to flee from the Nazis, I often thought that I would not live to see my 20th birthday, let alone my 90th. Thanks to the heroic efforts of the humanitarian hero Raoul Wallenberg, both I and my beloved husband Tom received a precious second chance at life. From the ashes of the Holocaust, we – like many of our fellow survivors – built a wonderful life in America. Today, I am a proud mother and grandmother, and I am a great-grandmother to 24 beautiful children. The family Tom and I created is, for me, the greatest triumph over the darkness and evil I witnessed in my early years.
Tom and Annette as teenagers in Budapest
As you well know, Tom and I always believed that our miraculous second chance at life came with a sacred obligation to follow Wallenberg’s example and to do whatever was in our power to fight injustice and protect the vulnerable, as he had. This belief defined our lives and shaped Tom’s passionate human rights work during his nearly 30 years in Congress.
Today, as I prepare to pass a milestone birthday, I take great comfort in knowing that this vital work will continue, even once I am reunited with Tom. His life’s work has become our family’s legacy, and it gives me tremendous peace and satisfaction to know that the Lantos Foundation will carry this legacy forward – particularly at a time when basic human rights and democracy face tremendous threats.
We see it in the erosion of the rule of law in places like Russia and Hong Kong. We see it in the continued persecution of religious minorities across the globe and the alarming rise in antisemitism. We see it in the digital dictatorships that deprive their citizens of their right to information and contact with the world beyond their borders.
As Tom famously said, “The veneer of civilization is paper thin. We are its guardians, and we can never rest.”
Tom and Annette with their rescue dog Gigi. Over their shoulder is Raoul Wallenberg, the hero who rescued them during the Holocaust
The Lantos Foundation, I can assure you, is not resting. It is pressing forward boldly with work that would undoubtedly make Tom proud, including:
Supporting efforts to introduce and pass state-level Holocaust education and genocide prevention legislation
Advocating to strengthen the United States’ foreign policy response to antisemitism, including antisemitism cloaked in anti-Zionism
Providing grants to support the work of filmmakers, artists and activists on the frontlines to educate, inform and inspire action
Partnering with leading human rights organizations to call upon the United States government to hold human rights abusers to account through powerful mechanisms such as Magnitsky sanctions
Raising the alarm about the urgent threat posed by digital dictatorships and the pressing need to open the internet to everyone, everywhere.
Annette with Condoleezza Rice in Budapest
With your continued support, Tom’s legacy will be secure, and the Lantos Foundation will never rest in its mission to safeguard human rights and justice around the world.
With deepest affection and gratitude,