Israel Hayom is reporting that an extraordinary moment of historical significance and personal gratitude unfolded Monday evening in Washington when Gene Simmons, the 75-year-old frontman of legendary rock band KISS, encountered Harold “Hal” Urban, a 100-year-old World War II veteran who participated in liberating the concentration camp where Simmons’ mother was imprisoned as a teenager.
Their meeting during the American Memorial Day parade marked the first time the two men had met, despite their lives being forever connected by the events of May 1945. Urban, still wearing his original military jacket from the liberation, represented one of the American heroes who helped end the Holocaust’s systematic murder of European Jewry.
When Simmons approached Urban during the parade, the rock star’s usual theatrical persona gave way to raw emotion. Without his characteristic KISS makeup, Simmons clasped Urban’s hand and delivered words that encapsulated decades of unspoken gratitude, “If there weren’t brave people like you – I wouldn’t be here, and neither would my mother. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Urban’s memories of liberating Mauthausen remain vivid and traumatic even at age 100. He described the overwhelming stench of burning human remains, emaciated prisoners stumbling in confusion and terror, and the psychological trauma that proved more devastating than conventional combat. His unit buried approximately 500 corpses within 24 hours of the camp’s liberation – a grim testament to the Nazi regime’s systematic extermination efforts.
While Urban cannot definitively recall meeting Flora Klein, Simmons’ mother, during those chaotic liberation days, both were present at Mauthausen when American forces arrived. Klein was just 14 years old, one of thousands of Jewish prisoners whose survival depended entirely on the Allied advance reaching them before the Nazi machinery of death could complete its work.
Read more at Israel Hayom.
Simmons shared the post below, writing, “Proud 100 year old WWII (!!!) veteran, Sgt Urban, was actually one of our troops who liberated my, then 14 yr old Mother from Mathousen Concentration Camp in Nazi Germany. God Bless Our Vets!”
"Prophets Of Addiction is a modern day Hanoi Rocks meets The 69 Eyes with plenty of Pop hooks and Whisky drenched vocals." - Metal Sludge.
Listen at https://smarturl.it/prophetsofaddiction
The post KISS’ GENE SIMMONS Meets 100 Year Old Veteran Who Liberated His Mother From Nazi Camp – “God Bless Our Vets!”; Video appeared first on BraveWords - Where Music Lives.
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Their meeting during the American Memorial Day parade marked the first time the two men had met, despite their lives being forever connected by the events of May 1945. Urban, still wearing his original military jacket from the liberation, represented one of the American heroes who helped end the Holocaust’s systematic murder of European Jewry.
When Simmons approached Urban during the parade, the rock star’s usual theatrical persona gave way to raw emotion. Without his characteristic KISS makeup, Simmons clasped Urban’s hand and delivered words that encapsulated decades of unspoken gratitude, “If there weren’t brave people like you – I wouldn’t be here, and neither would my mother. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Urban’s memories of liberating Mauthausen remain vivid and traumatic even at age 100. He described the overwhelming stench of burning human remains, emaciated prisoners stumbling in confusion and terror, and the psychological trauma that proved more devastating than conventional combat. His unit buried approximately 500 corpses within 24 hours of the camp’s liberation – a grim testament to the Nazi regime’s systematic extermination efforts.
While Urban cannot definitively recall meeting Flora Klein, Simmons’ mother, during those chaotic liberation days, both were present at Mauthausen when American forces arrived. Klein was just 14 years old, one of thousands of Jewish prisoners whose survival depended entirely on the Allied advance reaching them before the Nazi machinery of death could complete its work.
Read more at Israel Hayom.
Simmons shared the post below, writing, “Proud 100 year old WWII (!!!) veteran, Sgt Urban, was actually one of our troops who liberated my, then 14 yr old Mother from Mathousen Concentration Camp in Nazi Germany. God Bless Our Vets!”
"Prophets Of Addiction is a modern day Hanoi Rocks meets The 69 Eyes with plenty of Pop hooks and Whisky drenched vocals." - Metal Sludge.
Listen at https://smarturl.it/prophetsofaddiction
The post KISS’ GENE SIMMONS Meets 100 Year Old Veteran Who Liberated His Mother From Nazi Camp – “God Bless Our Vets!”; Video appeared first on BraveWords - Where Music Lives.
Continue reading...