Kids & Family

Legislators Unite WWII Soldier With Concentration Camp Survivor

Alan Moskin was 18 years old when his unit, the 71st Infantry Division in General George Patton's Third Army, liberated the Nazi concentration camp in Gunskirchen, Austria in May of 1945. 

Rosa Schwartz Farkas, the grandmother of Rockland County Legislator Aron Wieder, was among the 15,000 Jews freed from the forced labor camp. 

Weider and Legislator John Murphy brought the two together Wednesday prior to a meeting of the Rockland County Legislature. 

“If not for bravery of Mr. Moskin and his fellow soldiers, my grandmother, along with the 15,000 Jewish prisoners would have been killed in the gas chambers and been turned in to ashes by the barbaric Nazi regime," Wieder said. "If not for Alan, my entire family and I would not be alive today.  I thank Mr. Moskin for liberating my dearest grandmother and her family members.  He is a true American Hero.”   

"Absent the will, fearlessness and patriotism of American soldiers like Mr. Moskin, the world could be a different place today," Murphy said. “To witness these two people, each having survived the brutality of the war, meeting after 70 years, a lifetime for many, is a surreal and a very emotional experience.” 

Murphy and Wieder recently met Moskin at a veteran's event and discovered his connection to Farkas, who lives in Brooklyn.  


Find out what's happening in Pearl Riverwith free, real-time updates from Patch.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here