Ben Stern is a Holocaust survivor who endured nine concentration camps and two death marches, only to face the Nazis again 30 years later when the National Socialist Party of America planned its infamous march in Skokie, Illinois. Today, the 95-year-old Stern has an unusual roommate: the granddaughter of unrepentant German Nazis.
The award-winning documentary film, “Near Normal Man,” a first-person account of the Skokie Nazi incident, will be shown along with the conversation, and Stern will share his unique insights on survival, hate and healing.
Ben Stern, a Polish Jew, survived many horrors at the hands of the Nazis in the Warsaw Ghetto. He emerged alive, only to face the Nazis again 30 years later – this time in Skokie, Illinois. Ben decided he wouldn’t let them march in his adopted hometown and confronts his rabbi, who wants to sidestep the issue. Ben waged a fiercely public battle against the Nazis, ACLU and Jewish leadership, mobilizing 600 Jews and Christians to counter-demonstrate – which eventually prompted the Nazis to cancel their march and never return to Skokie.