WASHINGTON (AP) - The estate of a Holocaust refugee who fled to the United States from Germany has given the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum $17.2 million, the museum's largest gift ever.

Continue reading

The gift announced Tuesday by the estate of Eric F. Ross of Palm Beach, Fla., and West Orange, N.J., will build the museum's endowment fund. The museum says it aims to raise $200 million more over the next eight years.

Ross, who died in 2010, and his late wife Lore, previously donated more than $12 million to the museum. In total, they have given more than $30 million.

After fleeing Nazi Germany in 1938, Ross returned to Europe in 1942 with the U.S. Army. He went on to found Alpha Chemical and Plastics in New Jersey and Mercer Plastics Co. in Florida.