Surviving the Angel of Death: The True Story of a Mengele Twin in Auschwitz

by Eva Mozes Kor, Lisa Buccieri

Overview

Eva Mozes Kor was just ten years old when she arrived in Auschwitz. While her parents and two older sisters were taken to the gas chambers, she and her twin, Miriam, were herded into the care of the man known as the Angel of Death, Dr. Josef Mengele. Subjected to sadistic medical experiments, she was forced to fight daily for her and her twin's survival. In this incredible true story written for young adults, readers learn of a child's endurance and survival in the face of truly extraordinary evil. The book also includes an epilogue on Eva's recovery from this experience and her remarkable decision to publicly forgive the Nazis. Through her museum and her lectures, she has dedicated her life to giving testimony on the Holocaust, providing a message of hope for people who have suffered, and working for causes of human rights and peace.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781933718576
Publisher:	Tanglewood
Publication date:	03/13/2012
Edition description:	First Trade Paper Edition
Pages:	175
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	830L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Eva Mozes Kor is a resident of Terre Haute, IN. She is a recognized speaker, both nationally and internationally, on topics related to the Holocaust and social justice. Eva created the CANDLES organization in 1985 to locate other Mengele twins and found 122 twins throughout the world. She then opened the CANDLES Holocaust Museum in 1995 to educate the public about the historic event she survived. A community leader, champion of human rights, and tireless educator, Eva has been covered in numerous media outlets and is the subject of a documentary, Eva A-7063.

Lisa Rojany Buccieri has written over 100 children’s books, including several award-winning and bestselling titles. She is also a publishing executive and editor with over 20 years of experience in the industry. Lisa lives with her family in Los Angeles.

What People are Saying About This

Tutu Archbishop Desmond

"Eva Mozes Kor has written a very moving and vivid account of an extraordinary and horrific experience. It is an important document showing the strength of the human spirit and the capacity to forgive.
She should be commended for having the courage to write about her traumatic childhood, leading to the forgiveness that freed her from hatred and brought her peace. May it inspire others to emulate her."

Editorial Reviews

"This book is an essential purchase for libraries with a Holocaust collection, but it would also be a valuable addition to any library with young impressionable readers." — VOYA

From the Publisher

Gr 6 Up—Kor relates memories of life in the village of Portz, Transylvania (Romania), where she was raised on a large farm, "never aware of the anti-Semitism [that pervaded the country] until 1940, when the Hungarian army came." Six-year-old Eva and her identical twin, Miriam, the only Jewish children in their small mixed-grade classroom, suddenly found themselves taunted and beaten by once-friendly classmates. At 10 years of age, the twins and their family were forced to live among seven thousand other Jews in a fenced-in field, protected from the elements only by tents made of their own blankets and sheets and by the clothes on their backs. They were soon taken on a four-day train ride to Auschwitz, standing all the way, with no food or drink. There the sisters were "selected" to be victims of Dr. Josef Mengele's medical "research." Eva's amazing fortitude and her desire to protect her sister helped her to survive a horrible disease brought on by an injection. Both twins endured a terrifying daylong separation during a forced march between camps; the remaining Auschwitz prisoners were liberated by Soviet soldiers, and the girls found a way to go home in search of family survivors. Kor's straightforward first-person narrative is unusual because it details life in the concentration camp through the eyes of a child who lived among children. In an eight-page epilogue, the author talks about her discovery, 50 years after liberation, of the importance of forgiveness ("a seed for peace"), and of what she has done to teach young people the positive lessons of life garnered from her horrific experiences.—Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH

School Library Journal

2020-07-27
Kor and Buccieri tell the story of how Kor and her twin sister survived Auschwitz; this new edition, published posthumously following Kor’s death in 2019, includes an extensive afterword.

In 1944, when Eva and her identical twin, Miriam, were 10, their family of six was taken from their small Romanian village and sent to Auschwitz. Upon their arrival at the camp, Eva and Miriam were separated from their family, whom they never saw again. Twin children and teens arriving at Auschwitz were selected by Dr. Josef Mengele, known as the Angel of Death, to be used as test subjects in his scientific experiments. In straightforward language the book relates the twins’ daily routines, including lab experiments and occasions on which they suffered serious brushes with death as the result of injections they were given. Many of the memories related come across as rough sketches, though some graphic details are included. Following their liberation from Auschwitz in 1945, Eva goes on to chart their path back to Romania, from there to Israel, and finally her immigration to America, where she became an outspoken advocate and organizer for Holocaust remembrance. The afterword provides more background and insight into the last decade of Kor’s life and her controversial decision to forgive the Nazis as an act of personal healing.

A significant contribution to the history of the Holocaust. (afterword, author's note, photo credits, additional resources) (Memoir. 13-18)

Kirkus Reviews