95-year-old Holocaust survivor vows to march against hate in Berkeley

Friday, August 25, 2017
BERKELEY, Calif. (KGO) -- With a controversial anti-Marxism rally set to happen at Berkeley's Civic Center Park on Sunday, Women's March of Contra Costa County is planning its own demonstration at Civic Park in Walnut Creek.

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"So people will come to the park at about 10 a.m., get into the formation and then about 11 a.m., a helicopter will fly overhead and get a great shot.

"I was a slave under the Nazis," said Ben Stern, a Holocaust survivor who had his arm tattooed and most of his family killed at Auschwitz.

VIDEO: Holocaust survivor discusses horrors of Nazi 'slavery' amid national turmoil
FULL INTERVIEW: Holocaust survivor to march in Berkeley protests, here's why

Stern, 95, plans to march in his hometown of Berkeley Sunday to fulfill a promise he made 70 years ago.

"I promised to the people who went to the gas chambers in Auschwitz that I'll speak up for them. I will remember them," he told us.

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Berkeley Police Chief Andrew Greenwood told us the approach of his department and the mutual aid forces that are coming in will be to keep things non-violent, if not completely calm.

Click here to learn more about Ben Stern's survival.

Click here for a look back at stories and videos from recent protests.
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