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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of this Body are honored to recognize
3 significant milestones in the lives of the people of this
4 State; and
 
5     WHEREAS, It has come to our attention that Mr. Harry Berger
6 of Lincolnwood is celebrating the 90th anniversary of his
7 birth; and
 
8     WHEREAS, Harry Berger was born on March 26, 1916, in
9 Hungary; during World War II, he and his family were forcibly
10 removed from their homes and taken by the Nazis to live in a
11 crowded Jewish ghetto; not long after, he and other men his age
12 were taken by German and Hungarian soldiers to work as slave
13 laborers for the balance of the war; and
 
14     WHEREAS, After he was liberated by American soldiers, he
15 was unable to return to his home because it was then under
16 Russian control; he obtained a temporary visa to live and work
17 in Brussels, Belgium; it was there that he met Helen Berger, a
18 survivor of Auschwitz, with whom he will celebrate 58 years of
19 marriage on February 28, 2006; and
 
20     WHEREAS, Mr. and Mrs. Berger, along with their two and a
21 half year old son, Robert, migrated to the United States in
22 1952, settling in the Albany Park neighborhood in Chicago; they
23 became naturalized citizens in 1957; they had a daughter,
24 Margaret, in 1954, and realized the American dream, purchasing
25 their own home in the Rogers Park neighborhood, where they
26 lived until 1992; and
 
27     WHEREAS, Mr. Berger worked as a tailor at Broadlane
28 Clothiers in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago from the time
29 he arrived in the United States until the store closed in
30 approximately 1980; he then worked for Lytton's and then Mark

 

 

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1 Shale on Michigan Avenue, where he was awarded Employee of the
2 Year honors before retiring in 1995; and
 
3     WHEREAS, In addition to having worked hard to provide for
4 his family, Mr. Berger made time and worked tirelessly for many
5 good causes in the service of others; he served on the
6 Synagogue Board and Men's Club Board of Congregation Eras
7 Israel in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago and served
8 two terms as President of the Men's Club and two terms as
9 President of the Congregation; more amazing is that he served
10 as President of the Congregation when he was in his
11 mid-eighties; and
 
12     WHEREAS, He was also a Board Member and two term President
13 of the Zionist Organization of Chicago (ZOC), the Chicago
14 chapter of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA); in 1996,
15 the ZOC honored Mr. and Mrs. Berger with the State of Israel
16 Award for their long-time commitment and service to the
17 organization and to the State of Israel; and
 
18     WHEREAS, Mr. Berger has also helped raise hundreds of
19 thousands of dollars for the State of Israel; in 2001, he and
20 his wife were honored at an Israel Bond Luncheon that raised
21 over one half million dollars in Israel bonds; he has supported
22 many other Jewish charities including the JUF; and
 
23     WHEREAS, One of his great pleasures in life has been
24 sports; as a young boy in Hungary, he loved to play soccer; in
25 his new home, he came to understand and love baseball,
26 football, and basketball; he loves the White Sox, Cubs, Bears,
27 and Bulls and would often attend games on Sundays, his one day
28 off of work; his joy was immeasurable when his beloved White
29 Sox finally won the World Series last fall; therefore, be it
 
30     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
31 NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that

 

 

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1 we congratulate Mr. Harry Berger on the occasion of his 90th
2 birthday, and we extend to him our sincere best wishes for the
3 future; and be it further
 
4     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
5 presented to Mr. Berger as an expression of our respect and
6 esteem.