Holocaust survivor tells students his story of terror at the hands of the Nazis
Stephen Nasser shared his story of survival from the Holocaust at a recent assembly at Colony High School.
As Hungarian-Jews, Nasser and his family in 1943 were taken from their home in Budapest, by Nazis.
Nasser was only 12 years old.
For years after that Nasser was separated from his mother, watched his aunt and infant baby cousin be massacred in front of him, was tortured and held his brother's body as he died in his arms.
As Hungarian-Jews, Nasser and his family in 1943 were taken from their home in Budapest, by Nazis.
Nasser was only 12 years old.
For years after that Nasser was separated from his mother, watched his aunt and infant baby cousin be massacred in front of him, was tortured and held his brother's body as he died in his arms.
"It was a very tragic situation and who knows what other tragic experiences there were," said Nasser, now 80.
Nasser now travels the world sharing his story from World War II when the Nazis, under the control of Adolf Hitler, killed about 6 million Jews, through an autobiography of his experiences. "My Brother's Voice."
He kept a diary during the time he spent in concentration camps, but it was lost.
Nasser later wrote a book that tells in detail what happened and what he witnessed while at the camps of Auschwitz, Poland, and Muhldorf, Germany in 1944-1945.
The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution by the Nazi regime and its collaborators, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's website.
The Nazis believed that Germans were racially superior and that the Jews, deemed "inferior," were an alien threat to the so-called German racial community, according to the USHMM's website.
Nasser on Feb. 21 delivered his message of tragedy and perseverance to the students and faculty of Colony High.
"I remember when I found my brother (Andris), he was hugging me and thanking me and he said, "I knew you would find me before I would die,' and I said, 'You're not dying, I'm rescuing you,"'.
But Nasser's brother died in his arms that day, on March 30, 1945, one month before the camp was liberated.
When the United States troops got to Muhldorf where Nasser was, he was found unconscious under a pile of dead bodies in a boxcar.
He was then taken to an American hospital in Seeshaupt, Germany.
From there he ran away to Hungary to find his mother, whom he hadn't seen since he was in Auschwitz.
Luckily Nasser did find his aunt and uncle, but there was still no sign of his mother.
"I later found out in 1947 my mother was dead," Nasser said.
Even though Nasser had a girlfriend, without a brother, mother or father by his side, at 17 years old he left Hungary to live in Canada.
"I did not want to stay in Hungary. There was Communism, and I wanted freedom and I told my girlfriend and said if we were to have children it wasn't going to be in Communism, and she agreed," Nasser said. "There was also just to many sad memories."
By 2003 Nasser's 223-page autobiography was published.
He's spoken to more than 150,000 people at schools, churches, cruise ships, universities, libraries, and even at financial investment firms to "talk about perseverance and to keep an good outlook."
In 2008 Nasser was honored by the Las Vegas City Council for his humanitarian efforts and it designated Aug. 6 as Stephen Nasser Day.
"I told the kids when they go home they should put their arms around their loved ones and tell them 'I love you,"' said Nasser.
"I think that would (make) them glow and would give the parents a good feeling. And their second hug, that's from (me) because I don't have any family members to hug."
Nasser now travels the world sharing his story from World War II when the Nazis, under the control of Adolf Hitler, killed about 6 million Jews, through an autobiography of his experiences. "My Brother's Voice."
He kept a diary during the time he spent in concentration camps, but it was lost.
Nasser later wrote a book that tells in detail what happened and what he witnessed while at the camps of Auschwitz, Poland, and Muhldorf, Germany in 1944-1945.
The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution by the Nazi regime and its collaborators, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's website.
The Nazis believed that Germans were racially superior and that the Jews, deemed "inferior," were an alien threat to the so-called German racial community, according to the USHMM's website.
Nasser on Feb. 21 delivered his message of tragedy and perseverance to the students and faculty of Colony High.
"I remember when I found my brother (Andris), he was hugging me and thanking me and he said, "I knew you would find me before I would die,' and I said, 'You're not dying, I'm rescuing you,"'.
But Nasser's brother died in his arms that day, on March 30, 1945, one month before the camp was liberated.
When the United States troops got to Muhldorf where Nasser was, he was found unconscious under a pile of dead bodies in a boxcar.
He was then taken to an American hospital in Seeshaupt, Germany.
From there he ran away to Hungary to find his mother, whom he hadn't seen since he was in Auschwitz.
Luckily Nasser did find his aunt and uncle, but there was still no sign of his mother.
"I later found out in 1947 my mother was dead," Nasser said.
Even though Nasser had a girlfriend, without a brother, mother or father by his side, at 17 years old he left Hungary to live in Canada.
"I did not want to stay in Hungary. There was Communism, and I wanted freedom and I told my girlfriend and said if we were to have children it wasn't going to be in Communism, and she agreed," Nasser said. "There was also just to many sad memories."
By 2003 Nasser's 223-page autobiography was published.
He's spoken to more than 150,000 people at schools, churches, cruise ships, universities, libraries, and even at financial investment firms to "talk about perseverance and to keep an good outlook."
In 2008 Nasser was honored by the Las Vegas City Council for his humanitarian efforts and it designated Aug. 6 as Stephen Nasser Day.
"I told the kids when they go home they should put their arms around their loved ones and tell them 'I love you,"' said Nasser.
"I think that would (make) them glow and would give the parents a good feeling. And their second hug, that's from (me) because I don't have any family members to hug."
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