About 13 years ago, you ran a story about me (“Uncle won Nobel Prize for Atom Bomb work Erdenheim engineer, author, Holocaust escapee, 87,” by Lou Mancinelli), which I very much appreciated. 

I thought you might be interested in a follow-up. The below tells about my current thinking and concerns, which I suspect reflect those of a large part of the citizenry.

I came to this country at the tender age of 15, one step ahead of Hitler, who was taking over my country, Hungary.

I was astounded at what I found here. There were friends who accepted me and helped me become one of them. I got outstanding schooling, then employment, eventually becoming vice president of a major corporation. My background, religion, ethnicity, were not questioned. All that counted was: could I do the job?

I served in the military alongside men and women of diverse backgrounds, occupations, interests, and found that they all accepted me for who I was. While serving in the Army, I became a citizen, free to vote for anyone I chose. 

I was delighted that we had a free press; newspapers free to publish whatever they decided to print and no government to superimpose its views. 

I learned that people could be sent to jail only after a trial, one in which they were represented by a lawyer.

Having once registered, I could vote without anyone looking over my shoulder or telling me how to vote.

I was free to talk. I could approve of my senator or not. I could speak unfavorably of my governor or praise him. I could criticize the president or register my approval. I could do this verbally or in writing without any retribution. 

It was a bit like what paradise must be like and it lasted for me some 85 years. Now all that has changed, and it is a different country. And I mourn for that the way I mourned when Hungary was taken over by Hitler. I fear for what comes next.

Peter R. Lantos

Age 100

Lafayette Hill