WHEREAS, Michel Margosis, a highly admired member of the Springfield community who worked diligently to educate new generations about the horrors of the Holocaust, died on March 27, 2020; and

WHEREAS, born in Belgium, Michel Margosis was the child of two Russian-born Jews who had been deported to Siberia, then escaped to Brussels; and

WHEREAS, after the Nazi invasion of Belgium in 1940, Michel Margosis and his family fled to the south of France, where they were initially held in a detention camp; and

WHEREAS, after another daring escape, Michel Margosis and his family traveled to Marseilles seeking passage on a ship to the United States, then overland through the Pyrenees mountain range into Spain; and

WHEREAS, the family was separated in Spain and, as the youngest child, Michel Margosis was sent to an orphanage until 1943, when he was then sent unaccompanied on a ship to the United States at age 14; and

WHEREAS, after becoming a United States citizen, Michel Margosis decided to utilize his multilingual fluency and joined the United States Army in 1952, serving as a medical corpsman; upon his honorable discharge, he earned a master's degree in chemistry and worked with the United States Food and Drug Administration, specializing in antibiotics until his retirement in 1990; and

WHEREAS, Michel Margosis became a valued and respected member of the Northern Virginia community, including his long and valuable service on the Fairfax County Human Rights Commission and volunteer work with WETA and other local Public Broadcasting Service stations, as well as the Parkinson's Foundation; and

WHEREAS, Michel Margosis was especially active with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, using his firsthand experiences to provide unique insights and ensure that especially young people understood the tragic gravity of the Holocaust; and

WHEREAS, predeceased by his wife, Barbara, Michel Margosis will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by his children, Aaron and Leah, and their families, and by numerous other family members and friends; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of Michel Margosis; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Michel Margosis as an expression of the General Assembly's respect for his memory.