Statement by the Vice President on the Passing of Samuel Pisar

Jill and I were very saddened to hear of the passing of Samuel Pisar, a courageous and remarkable man, and the step-father of our dear friend, Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken. The entire Biden family extend our deepest sympathies to Samuel’s family, including including his wife Judith, his daughters Leah, Alexandra, and Helaina, and Tony and his wife Evan.

Samuel overcame a childhood lost to the horrors of the Holocaust, and a young adulthood in the poverty of postwar Europe, to become an advisor to President John F. Kennedy and a friend to French Presidents Francois Mitterrand and Valery Giscard d’Estaing.

His success as a lawyer and statesman were only surpassed by the courage he showed in speaking of his Holocaust experience. He confronted not only the brutality of his experience but the person he had to become to survive.

His memoir, “Of Blood and Hope”, should be required reading. It stands as a strong reminder for every generation of our ongoing obligation to never forget, a lesson I have imparted to my children and grandchildren by taking them to Dachau and Auschwitz.

Samuel’s spirit of public service and his dedication to community live on in his children. We have seen it up close in Tony’s service to our nation, and his friendship to our family. And for that, we are truly grateful. Samuel was a good man.