Hardwired: On the Frontlines of Freedom

Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett, The Lantos Foundation

September 22, 2021 Hardwired Global Season 1 Episode 3
Hardwired: On the Frontlines of Freedom
Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett, The Lantos Foundation
Show Notes Chapter Markers

“They experienced in a very personal way what it meant to become a hunted animal within your own country. To have your fellow citizens, to have your friends, your fellow students turn against you.”

These are the words of Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett as she describes her parent's experience during the Holocaust. She continues on her father's legacy as President of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice to ensure that history does not repeat itself...to protect vulnerable communities around the world from the horror her parents and millions of other victims experienced during the Holocaust.

In this conversation with Tina Ramirez, Hardwired Global’s Founder and President, Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett describes her father’s experience in a Nazi concentration camp. She also describes how her parents were rescued by the “Moses from the North,” Raoul Wallenberg, and brought to safety during World War II. Katrina’s father was the only survivor of the Holocaust to serve in the United States Congress. Tina and Dr. Lantos Swett discuss the bipartisan work in the U.S. Congress that Congressman Lantos was able to achieve, and they lament the new form of anti-Semitism rising today. The conversation closes with Dr. Lantos Swett looking back on her service on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Watch the interview on Hardwired's YouTube channel here: bit.ly/LantosSwettInterview

Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett serves as President of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice, established in 2008 to continue the legacy of her father, the late Congressman Tom Lantos. Under her leadership, The Lantos Foundation has rapidly become a distinguished and respected voice on key human rights concerns.

Dr. Lantos Swett is the former Chair and Vice-Chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and teaches Human Rights and American Foreign Policy at Tufts University. She currently serves as Co-Chair of the Board of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK) and the Budapest based Tom Lantos Institute. Dr. Lantos Swett also serves on the Advisory Board of UN Watch, the annual Anne Frank Award and Lecture, and The Warren B. Rudman Center for Justice, Leadership, and Public Policy.
Lantos Swett earned a Political Science degree from Yale University at the age of 18, a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, and a PhD in History from The University of Southern Denmark.

Visit the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice podcast, The Keeper, at this link https://thekeeper.lantosfoundation.org/

Support the show
Hardwired for Human Rights
A Family Legacy of Holocaust Survivors
The Creation of the Lantos Foundation
“Moses from the North”: Raoul Wallenberg
The Lantos Foundation’s Work for Human Rights
Bipartisan Work in the US Congress to Protect Rights
Challenges to Upholding Rights in the US Congress: India, Turkey, and China
Rise of the New Antisemitism
Serving on USCIRF: 1,000 Lashes