Memories of Holocaust sting but endure

[Forkboy]

Some held back tears, others let them fall, as Stephan B. Ross, founder of Boston's Holocaust memorial, recounted the torture and humiliation he suffered in Nazi death camps over five years.

As difficult as the story was to hear for many of the 400 participants in the Holocaust remembrance at Faneuil Hall yesterday afternoon, organizers said his journey, along with those of other survivors, needs to be remembered.
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But it was the forceful, personal story of Ross that elicited the most seat-shifting among listeners.

Stephan Ross and his family were rounded up from their homeland in Poland and separated in 1940 when he was 8 years old. Ross would be transferred to about 10 prison camps, including Auschwitz, where he was subjected to slavery, abused by pedophile guards, and witnessed cannibalism.

"It was hard for me to go on living, and I prayed for God to stop punishing me," he said. He finally pointed to a small American flag hanging from the lectern at Faneuil Hall, which he said an American soldier handed him to dry his tears during his camp's liberation in April 1945. "I cherished this flag for 63 years. It is my greatest treasure," he said. "May the tragedy of the Holocaust be a lesson to mankind to speak out against racism."

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/05/05/memories_of_holocaust_sting_but_endure/