Congressman Tom Lantos (D-CA), the only Holocaust survivor to ever serve in Congress, has died at age 80. Lantos had announced his retirement in early January, due to a diagnosis of esophageal cancer.

Born in Hungary, Lantos spent his teen years in the anti-Nazi resistance after escaping from a labor camp, then emigrated to the United States in 1947. He was elected to Congress in a close win over a Republican incumbent in 1980, and after the 2006 Democratic victories he became the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He was originally in favor of the Iraq War, but later turned strongly against it.