Wilmington veteran to be honored for liberating concentration camp

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Seventy years ago a Wilmington man helped liberate a Nazi concentration camp.

Wednesday the North Carolina General Assembly will honor veteran George Rose for his service and story, as the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Dachau Concentration Camp passes.

It’s an unbelievable part of history.

“It’s tough to believe how anybody can be that inhuman to other human beings,” Rose said.

It’s that inhumanity.

“Bodies that looked like rag dolls just thrown one on top of the other,” Rose said.

It’s that horror at the Dachau Concentration Camp.

“I saw the gas chambers,” Rose said.

That kept Rose from telling his story for 30 years.

“It’s something that you describe, and I saw it, but it’s hard to believe,” Rose said.

That disbelief is the same reason Rose says his story needs to be heard. It was Rose’s fight that ultimately liberated that camp.

“We saw I guess it was the last guard running away, and the dummy turned around and fired at me, so I fired back at him,” Rose said. “He dropped, and we kept going.”

They kept going to help the victims.

“It was very quiet, and when we finally got inside you could hear, ‘American, Americana Americana.'”

Those moments were all confusing to him, because at the time Rose was only 18.

“It was horrible,” Rose said. “It really, really was.”

A horrible day Rose thought he would never see again.

“But then we have ISIS,” Rose said.

As the 70th anniversary of the liberation passes, the General Assembly has chosen to honor Rose’s story.

“It kind of makes me feel important,” Rose said.

A proud moment for his wife Irene, because she’s glad that piece of history is being told.

“It’s got to be out there, so it won’t happen again,” Irene said.

A man telling his story to try to stop history from repeating itself.

“From 18 to 20, I saw a lot,” Rose said.

The presentation is scheduled for 2 p.m. Wednesday in Raleigh.