Leon Bass (January 23, 1925 – March 28, 2015) was an educator from

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. He is noted as an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

soldier in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

who witnessed the Buchenwald concentration camp.

Life

Bass was born and grew up in

, one of six children (Henry Jr., Claude, Harvey, Marcellus, and sister, Willie Belle). His father, Henry Bass, was a Pullman porter, and his mother, Nancy Weston Bass was a housewife who had both emigrated to West Philadelphia from Bennettsville, South Carolina.

World War II Service

He volunteered for the US Army during World War II, trained in

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

and Florida, and served in the 183rd Engineer Combat Battalion, a segregated unit. As a black soldier, he experienced the oppression and humiliation of being a second class citizen in his own Army. His unit was involved in the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive (military), offensive military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted fr ...

. In April 1945, 183rd Engineer Combat Battalion was designated to be attached to the 1126th Engineer Combat Group. On April 11, 1945, Bass, then a Sergeant, and another member of the 183rd, Sgt. William A. Scott III, arrived at the headquarters of the 1126th in a forward liaison capacity. The next day, they convoyed with members of the 1126th to the town of Eisenach, approximately 100 kilometers from the Buchenwald camp, which had been discovered by allied troops the previous day. After arriving at Eisenach, Bass and others were detailed to Buchenwald to assist in relief, and were among the first American soldiers to be seen by survivors of the camp. Bass later referred to the people he saw that day as "the walking dead".

Teaching

After the war, Bass graduated from

West Chester University of Pennsylvania West Chester University (also known as West Chester, WCU, or WCUPA, and officially as West Chester University of Pennsylvania) is a public research university in and around West Chester, Pennsylvania. The university is accredited by the Middle ...

and then studied at

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

where he received a Doctorate. He became a teacher at the Benjamin Franklin High School in Philadelphia, eventually becoming its principal, a position he served in until 1981. He later taught history at

George School George School is a private Quaker (Society of Friends) boarding and day high school located on a rural campus in Middletown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania ( Newtown postal address). It was founded at its present site in 1893, and has grown ...

, a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

boarding school in Newtown, Pennsylvania. He was a speaker on the subject of

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

and

The Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

, and had lectured extensively on the subject, bringing his unique perspective as a witness of many forms of oppression. He was a participant in the International Liberators Conference, held in Washington DC in 1981. In 1994 he was the keynote speaker at the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust, and in 1996 he was awarded the Pearlman Award for Humanitarian Advancement from Jewish Women International. He appeared in the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

-nominated Documentary "Liberators: Fighting on Two Fronts in World War II". An oral history interview with Bass is in the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies at Yale University, and was also adapted into a podcast episode for "Those Who Were There: Voices from the Holocaust." He died at the age of 90 in 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bass, Leon 1925 births 2015 deaths Educators from Philadelphia United States Army personnel of World War II West Chester University alumni Temple University alumni United States Army soldiers