Associated Press, 04/27/03

BOSTON -- Sol Feingold remembers the emaciated inmates staring at him from behind the electric fence at Dachau.

"They hadn't seen a friendly face in years, they didn't know who we were," recalled the 89-year-old veteran from Chelsea, whose U.S. Army 42nd Rainbow Division freed inmates from the notorious camp. "When they realized we were there to unlock them and get them out of there, they started shouting, yelling. They were so, so happy."

Holocaust survivors and Jewish groups gathered Sunday to dedicate a Boston Liberators' Monument near the New England Holocaust Memorial in honor of veterans like Feingold who liberated the Nazi death camps at the end of World War II.

The monument includes an American flag and three memorial plaques. They record a young teenager's words after he was rescued from Dachau, President Dwight Eisenhower's reactions after visiting a former concentration camp, and a tribute from a local survivors association.

Stephan Ross, whose words are part of the memorial, was 14 when he was freed from Dachau 58 years ago.

"This is a special day in my life," he said with a trembling voice as he thanked his liberators. "I was an eye witness to the mightiest military force, as well as the sensitivity and compassion of American soldiers on the day of my liberation from the death camp, Dachau."

On a memorial plaque, Ross's words describe how an American soldier shared his food with the starving boy on a tank ride to Munich after leaving the camp, and gave him a small American flag.

At the dedication ceremony, Ross took out that yellowed flag with 48 stars from a purple velvet bag and remembered how his prayers were answered that April day by American and Allied troops.

"Our gratitude and recognition is beyond words and monuments," he said.

Feingold said he felt honored to be recognized by people he had helped free.

"I remember those people, they were starving, almost dying, could barely move," he said. "You never forget those images and you never forget those people. It's a good feeling today."