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Philadelphia WWII Vet Recalls Liberation Of German Concentration Camp

By Kim Glovas

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Today is the anniversary of the liberation of the Buchenwald Concentration Camp in Germany. A Bucks county man who was there that day shares his story.

Leon Bass was a 20-year-old black soldier from Philadelphia when he was told to hop on a truck with two other men. He asked his lieutenant:

"Where are we going? He looked at me, and said 'we're going to a concentration camp.' Now, I was really perplexed and puzzled because I didn't know a thing about concentration camps. In all the training they had given me, no one had ever mentioned concentration camps. But on this day in April in 1945, I was to have the shock of my life."

Hear more of Kim's interview with Mr. Bass in the podcast below:

Podcast

Bass says he saw Jews, Catholics, Gypsies, Gays and trade unionists, all who had been labelled "not good enough" by the Nazis. Bass says this resonated with him because at that time the US was segregated and he was not good enough back home. He has written a book titled "Good Enough" about his experiences.

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