Stephan Ross, Founder, The New England Holocaust Memorial, Boston, MA

The effort to build the New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston, MA began with Holocaust survivor Stephan Ross, who was imprisoned at the age of nine and whose parents, one brother and five sisters were murdered by the Nazis. Between 1940 and 1945 Mr. Ross survived 10 different concentration camps and was liberated from Dachau Camp by American troops at the age of 14. At the age of 16, he was brought to the United States in 1948 under the auspices of the U.S. Committee for Orphaned Children. He was illiterate having had minimal education prior to the Nazi occupation of Poland in 1939. Over the years, he managed to earn three college degrees and made a new life in the Boston area. Mr. Ross is a licensed psychologist and has worked for the City of Boston for over 40 years providing guidance and clinical services to inner-city under privileged youth and families. He eventually achieved the level of Senior Staff Psychologist.

With the encouragement of his colleagues, Mr. Ross was able to obtain the necessary community support to make his dream of remembering the millions of Holocaust victims a reality. The New England Holocaust Memorial features six luminous glass towers, each reaching 54 feet high, and each lit internally from top to bottom. Six million numbers are etched in the glass. These numbers represent the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust and are suggestive of the infamous tattoos the Nazis inflicted on many of the victims. Community service is an important part of Mr. Ross’ daily life. At 78 years of age, he still commits at least one day a week to the Street Worker Program in Boston, a network of neighborhood-based organizations that help at-risk youth and their families gain access to a wide array of health and social services.