Holocaust survivors inspired Alan Gross to persevere
Gross, who was in Cuba to set up independent internet for the island's Jewish community, survived his five-year jail term by thinking about family members who survived the Holocaust.
Alan Gross was hired by the USAID organization to install an independent internet connection for Cuba's tiny Jewish community in 2009, but was arrested in December of that year, and later charged with crimes against the Cuban state for bringing satellite phones and computer equipment to members of the community without the permit required under Cuban law.
In a recent video interview with CBS's 60 minutes, Gross described the poor conditions under which he was held, and the hope that US authorities would secure his release. When asked if he thought US government would come to his rescue, he answered, saying, I absolutely did for the first two weeks. And then I said to myself, 'Where the hell are they? Where are they?' I didn't have any idea I'd be there for five years."
Speaking of the conditions of his imprisonment, Gross told 60 minutes Scott Pelley: "They said I'd never see the light of day. I had to do three things in order to survive, three things every day. I thought about my family that survived the Holocaust. I exercised religiously every day, and I found something every day to laugh at."
The 66-year old Maryland resident had previously travelled to the island nation on several occasions but was arrested on his fifth trip to the country. He was released in December of last year as part of larger warming of ties between the US and Cuba.
“It’s good to be home,” Gross said at a news conference in Washington D.C. upon his release last December, “It’s the best Hanukkah I’ll be celebrating in a long time,” he said with reports claiming he even enjoyed latkes and applesauce on the flight home.
