Dr. Laszlo Tauber spent life, fortune helping others

Dr. Laszlo Tauber, 87, a Hungarian-born surgeon who risked his life treating sick and wounded fellow Jews during the Holocaust and later built a thriving surgical practice, as well as making a fortune in the Washington, D.C., real-estate market, has died.

Dr. Tauber, who became the first practicing physician to be named on Forbes magazine's annual list of the 400 richest Americans, died of congestive heart failure last Sunday at his home in Potomac, Md.

Dr. Tauber, who arrived in the United States with little more than $700 after the war, later used a small loan to begin buying and developing properties for office, retail, government and apartment buildings in Washington and elsewhere.

He went on to become the federal government's largest private landlord, with more than 4 million square feet leased to various agencies. A few years ago, estimates of his wealth exceeded $1 billion.

For Dr. Tauber, real estate meant independence to practice general medicine and surgery as he wished. In addition, he established his own hospital in 1965, the now-closed Jefferson Memorial Hospital in Alexandria, Va., where he served as medical director and as chairman of the department of surgery.

"Medicine is still my life," he told The Washington Post a decade ago. "I spend 5 percent of my time on real estate and 95 percent on medicine. That's the most important to me."

Giving was also important to Dr. Tauber, who donated tens of millions of dollars to medical research, education and Holocaust-related causes. He also was known for serving patients regardless of their ability to pay.

During his first year in the United States after World War II, when his annual income was $1,600 and he and his wife were living in a decrepit apartment, Dr. Tauber gave away the $250 he had managed to save.

"I am a Hungarian Jew who survived the Holocaust," he wrote in a note to officials at Walter Reed Army Hospital, where many wounded war veterans were still recovering. "As a token of appreciation, my first savings I would like you to give to a soldier of your choice."

Before 1999, Dr. Tauber had donated more than $25 million to medical and Holocaust-related causes. That year he gave $15 million for scholarships to descendants of anyone who served in the U.S. military during World War II.

He also donated another $10 million — in honor of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Hungarian Jews — to organizations that memorialize the Holocaust and to students in Denmark and Sweden.

Dr. Tauber's first marriage ended in divorce. He is survived by his wife, Diane; a son, Alfred Tauber of Boston; a daughter, Ingrid Tauber of San Francisco; a stepdaughter, Rachael Tauber also of San Francisco; and four grandchildren.