Everyone should read this true account of Eva Mozes Kor—how she and her twin survived deadly experiments in Auschwitz. Though this memoir is written for young adults, people of all ages will marvel at their story.
Separated from their parents, and place under Dr. Mengele’s program they are given some meager privileges. They are allowed for instance to wear their own clothes and given a respite from labor. Death is omnipresent. At all times, they can smell the ash from the gas chambers but Eva remembers a few acts of kindness. One of the guards shares some of her birthday cake.
One of the most harrowing moments is the time Mengele injects Eva with a deadly pathogen. Miraculously, she survives. She tricks the nurses into thinking her temperature is going down so that she can be reunited with her twin. The subterfuge saves her life. Had she stayed in the infirmary the poor nutrition and dearth of water would have killed her.
Dr. Mengele also experiments on Miriam, giving her something that causes her kidneys to eventually fail.
Remarkably, Eva creates an organization called C.A.N.D.L.E.S (Children of Auschwitz Nazi’s Deadly Lab Experiment Survivors) and forgives all Nazis, including Dr. Mengele.
by Chantal W.