A Hungarian Holocaust survivor living in Washington, D.C., whose wealth is estimated at over $1 billion, is giving $15 million in scholarships to descendants of anyone who served in the U.S. military during the war years, the Miami Herald reported June 17.

Laszlo Tauber, who made his money as a surgeon and in the real estate business, will give one-third of the $15 million to George Washington University. The rest will go to Boston University and others to be named. Recipients of the scholarships will have to take one Holocaust-related course.

Most of the money will become available at Tauber's death, and will be awarded under certain guidelines. Tauber said the percentage of African Americans who receive the scholarships must be as large as the percentage who served during World War II - or an estimated 6 percent.

Tauber has already donated more than $25 million to medical and Holocaust-related causes. An additional $10 million honoring Raoul Wallenberg, who saved tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews, will go to organizations that memorialize the Holocaust and students in Denmark and Wallenberg's native Sweden.

Tauber says he hopes the gifts will inspire other Holocaust survivors, who are able to give, to do the same. Tauber came to the U.S. just after World War II, having barely escaped death at Auschwitz, to take a fellowship at George Washington University. He started his own hospital, built a surgical practice and became a real estate developer.

In his first year in the U.S., Tauber made $1,600, managed to save $250 and then gave it away to doctors at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, with a note attached.

"I am a Hungarian Jew who survived the Holocaust," he wrote. "As a token of appreciation, my first savings I would like you to give to a soldier of your choice."

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