Gene Simmons, from American rock legends KISS, has opened up to The Big Issue about his mother’s experience in Nazi Germany. In a frank, wide-ranging interview in this week’s Big Issue, the infamous rocker also discusses what he would do if he became Earth’s dictator – and he doesn’t pull any punches.

I’ve tried to talk about it but she just won’t do it“My mother was 14 when she was in the concentration camp in Nazi Germany,” says Simmons in this week’s Letter To My Younger Self. “My father left us when I was about six. She, bless her – and she continues to be a force – she never spoke about it. I did my own research and found out just now terrible it was. I’ve tried to talk about it but she just won’t do it.

“She saw her mother walk into the gas chambers. Her whole family was destroyed. My mother [pictured below] was the only one left alive. And she was 14. I’ve been to the Holocaust museum in Israel. The Nazis kept detailed records of every name and I saw my mother’s name at 14, listed as one of the passengers on the train.”

Reflecting upon his teenage dreams, Simmons confesses to some delusions of grandeur – and reveals his zero-tolerant plans for when he rules the world.

“My younger self wouldn’t be surprised by my success,” he says. “Can I be honest? When I was 16 I imagined myself as president. But when I learned what the job involved… you really don’t get much power for yourself. So I guess what I really meant was, I wanted to be the benevolent dictator of Earth.

“If I was the benevolent dictator I would cure the ills of humanity but in a very violent way. I would put paedophiles to death. Especially the priests. And if you’re a drug addict, you have six months to get clean and if you don’t, you get sent to a gulag. You see, I’m making the world a better place, but it’s violent. I’m not like Neville Chamberlain. That guy was a fucking moron. You cannot reason with evil people.”