IF YOU HEARD WHAT BEN HEARD

BEN SHARES THE STORY OF HIS GRANDFATHER, BILL GROSS, WHO WAS FROM A LARGE, CLOSE-KNIT FAMILY BEFORE THE WAR. WHILE THE FAMILY WAS INTEGRATED INTO THEIR TOWN AND FRIENDLY WITH THEIR NON-JEWISH NEIGHBORS, BILL EXPERIENCED ANTISEMITISM AS A CHILD IN SCHOOL. WHEN BILL’S FATHER WAS TAKEN INTO THE HUNGARIAN FORCED LABOR, BILL TOOK OVER THE FAMILY’S TAILORING BUSINESS. NOT LONG AFTER, THE FAMILY WAS FORCED INTO THE MUNKÀCS GHETTO, AND THEN THEY WERE SENT TO AUSCHWITZ. AT AUSCHWITZ, THEY WERE SEPARATED, AND BILL AND HIS BROTHERS WERE SENT TO WORK. BILL WAS IN FOUR CONCENTRATION CAMPS TOTAL, ULTIMATELY ENDING UP AT BUCHENWALD WHERE HE WAS MIRACULOUSLY REUNITED WITH HIS BROTHERS, ALEX AND SAM. TOWARDS THE END OF THE WAR, BILL MANAGED TO ESCAPE BUCHENWALD, AND WAS LIBERATED BY AMERICAN TROOPS. AFTER LIBERATION, BILL AND HIS BROTHERS WERE REUNITED MIRACULOUSLY WITH THEIR OTHER SIBLINGS - SEVEN OF THEM SURVIVED. AN UNCLE SPONSORED THEM TO COME TO THE U.S., AND BILL AND HIS SIBLINGS REBUILT THEIR LIVES AND A FAMILY THAT CONTINUES TO GROW AND REMAIN CLOSE TODAY.

IF YOU HEARD WHAT BEN HEARD, YOU WOULD NEVER FORGET.