KISS bassist Gene Simmons shared a heartfelt Memorial Day moment on X. He met a 100-year-old World War II veteran, Sgt. Urban, who was part of the unit that helped free Simmons’ mother from a Nazi concentration camp.
The meeting happened during the Memorial Day Veterans Day Parade in Washington DC. Simmons expressed pride in riding on a float with Sgt. Urban, highlighting the veteran’s role in rescuing his mother when she was just 14 years old.
This emotional encounter shows Simmons’ deep personal connection to World War II history. His mother, Flora Klein, survived multiple concentration camps during the Holocaust, including Mauthausen, Ravensbrück, and the Venusberg subcamp of Flossenbürg.
Flora survived partly because she had hairdressing skills and kept her ability to speak German a secret during her imprisonment. She was the only member of her family to survive the Holocaust and passed away in 2018. She also endured the trauma of watching her own mother being taken to a gas chamber.
Simmons has said that his mother’s experiences strongly influenced his life, including his decision to avoid drugs and alcohol, wanting to honor the pain she had already suffered.
Meeting Sgt. Urban was a powerful full-circle moment for Simmons, connecting him to a soldier who helped give his mother a chance at a new life in America.
https://x.com/genesimmons/status/1927072839292592451
