Forgiving Dr. Mengele
Encyclopedia
Forgiving Dr. Mengele is a documentary film
about Eva Mozes Kor
, a victim of the Holocaust
and her decision to forgive the Nazis
who killed her family and in particular Dr. Josef Mengele
and his staff, who experimented on her and her twin
sister Miriam Mozes, as well as approximately 1,400 other twin pairs.
The documentary was directed by Bob Hercules and Cheri Pugh, who also served as producers. They followed Eva for over four years, chronicling her story and her journey to Israel. Her decision to forgive the Nazis has been met with incredulity and hostility by some, particularly other Holocaust survivors, and these views are portrayed as well.
Forgiving Dr. Mengele premiered at the Gene Siskel Film Center
in Chicago
, Illinois
, on February 24, 2006. It was scheduled to play for a week, and then travel to other cities in the US. The film is distributed by First Run Features
, which handles independent film
s and documentaries.
. In 1944, Nazis transported her immediate family to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Because Eva and Miriam were twins, Dr. Mengele selected them to remain alive for experiments. The rest of their family were never heard of again and are believed to have been murdered in the gas chambers.
After a 70-hour ride without food or water, Eva and Miriam, along with their mother, arrived at the selection platform. Eva gripped her mother's hand and looked around: her father and her two older sisters were nowhere in sight. She never saw them again.
Soon the twin girls were ripped from their mother, whom they also never saw again.
Eva later recalled how she and her family arrived at the Auschwitz railhead:
Eva and Miriam remained in Auschwitz for nine months, enduring experimentation such as being injected with potentially lethal strains of bacteria
(and not given treatment). After World War II
, they went to Romania
and then immigrated to Israel
. Eva served in the Israeli Army for ten years. After meeting a tourist who was a Holocaust survivor living in the United States, the two were married, and she moved to the US. In Terre Haute, Indiana
, they raised a family and she became a successful realtor and created the C.A.N.D.L.E.S. Museum (Children of Auschwitz Nazi Deadly Lab Experiment Survivors). The museum is dedicated to education about the Holocaust and operates under the mission to "eliminate hatred and prejudice from our world." Her husband, Michael, is a pharmacist, and her son, Alex, is active in the museum and education. He has made trips to Auschwitz on his mother's behalf and has documented these experiences.
In 1993, Eva Mozes Kor met with Doctor Hans Münch
, a Nazi doctor at Auschwitz who was acquitted of war crimes at the Krakow War Crimes Trial in 1947. After this meeting, which she recorded on video, she wrote Dr. Munch a letter of forgiveness. They met again in 1995 at Auschwitz, where Dr. Munch signed a documentation of the gas chambers, and Kor issued a declaration of amnesty and forgiveness to all Nazis. Her forgiveness caused much anger from many survivors. Eva Kor has made speeches about forgiveness across the country, as well as at her museum, to school groups and organizations. She is featured in The Forgiveness Project.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
about Eva Mozes Kor
Eva Mozes Kor
Eva Mozes Kor is a survivor of the Holocaust who, with her twin sister Miriam, was subjected to human experimentation under Josef Mengele at Auschwitz. Both of her parents and two older sisters were killed at the camp; only she and Miriam survived...
, a victim of the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
and her decision to forgive the Nazis
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
who killed her family and in particular Dr. Josef Mengele
Josef Mengele
Josef Rudolf Mengele , also known as the Angel of Death was a German SS officer and a physician in the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. He earned doctorates in anthropology from Munich University and in medicine from Frankfurt University...
and his staff, who experimented on her and her twin
Twin
A twin is one of two offspring produced in the same pregnancy. Twins can either be monozygotic , meaning that they develop from one zygote that splits and forms two embryos, or dizygotic because they develop from two separate eggs that are fertilized by two separate sperm.In contrast, a fetus...
sister Miriam Mozes, as well as approximately 1,400 other twin pairs.
The documentary was directed by Bob Hercules and Cheri Pugh, who also served as producers. They followed Eva for over four years, chronicling her story and her journey to Israel. Her decision to forgive the Nazis has been met with incredulity and hostility by some, particularly other Holocaust survivors, and these views are portrayed as well.
Forgiving Dr. Mengele premiered at the Gene Siskel Film Center
Gene Siskel Film Center
"The Film Center" redirects here. Not to be confused with the Film Center Building in New York CityThe Gene Siskel Film Center, formerly The Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and commonly referred to as The Film Center or The Gene Siskel, is the cinematheque attached to The...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, on February 24, 2006. It was scheduled to play for a week, and then travel to other cities in the US. The film is distributed by First Run Features
First Run Features
First Run Features is an independent film distribution company based in New York City. First Run was founded in 1979 by a group of filmmakers in order to advance the distribution of independent film...
, which handles independent film
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
s and documentaries.
Biographical information on Eva
Eva Mozes Kor and her sister Miriam were born in northern TransylvaniaTransylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
. In 1944, Nazis transported her immediate family to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Because Eva and Miriam were twins, Dr. Mengele selected them to remain alive for experiments. The rest of their family were never heard of again and are believed to have been murdered in the gas chambers.
After a 70-hour ride without food or water, Eva and Miriam, along with their mother, arrived at the selection platform. Eva gripped her mother's hand and looked around: her father and her two older sisters were nowhere in sight. She never saw them again.
Soon the twin girls were ripped from their mother, whom they also never saw again.
Eva later recalled how she and her family arrived at the Auschwitz railhead:
- 'When the doors to our cattle car opened, I heard SSSchutzstaffelThe Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
soldiers yelling, "Schnell! Schnell!" (Quick!), and ordering everybody out. My mother grabbed Miriam and me by the hand. She was always trying to protect us because we were the youngest. Everything was moving very fast, and as I looked around, I noticed my father and my two older sisters were gone. As I clutched my mother's hand, an SS man hurried by shouting, "Twins! Twins!" He stopped to look at us. Miriam and I looked very much alike. "Are they twins?" he asked my mother. "Is that good?" she replied. He nodded yes. "They are twins," she said ...
- Once the SS guard knew we were twins, Miriam and I were taken away from our mother, without any warning or explanation. Our screams fell on deaf ears. I remember looking back and seeing my mother's arms stretched out in despair as we were led away by a soldier. That was the last time I saw her..."
Eva and Miriam remained in Auschwitz for nine months, enduring experimentation such as being injected with potentially lethal strains of bacteria
Bacteria
Bacteria are a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...
(and not given treatment). After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, they went to Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
and then immigrated to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. Eva served in the Israeli Army for ten years. After meeting a tourist who was a Holocaust survivor living in the United States, the two were married, and she moved to the US. In Terre Haute, Indiana
Terre Haute, Indiana
Terre Haute is a city and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, near the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a population of 170,943. The city is the county seat of Vigo County and...
, they raised a family and she became a successful realtor and created the C.A.N.D.L.E.S. Museum (Children of Auschwitz Nazi Deadly Lab Experiment Survivors). The museum is dedicated to education about the Holocaust and operates under the mission to "eliminate hatred and prejudice from our world." Her husband, Michael, is a pharmacist, and her son, Alex, is active in the museum and education. He has made trips to Auschwitz on his mother's behalf and has documented these experiences.
In 1993, Eva Mozes Kor met with Doctor Hans Münch
Hans Münch
Hans-Wilhelm Münch was a German citizen and Nazi Party member who, during World War II, worked as a SS physician at the Auschwitz concentration camp in Nazi occupied Poland from 1943 to 1945. He was the only person acquitted of war crimes at the 1947 Auschwitz trials in Kraków...
, a Nazi doctor at Auschwitz who was acquitted of war crimes at the Krakow War Crimes Trial in 1947. After this meeting, which she recorded on video, she wrote Dr. Munch a letter of forgiveness. They met again in 1995 at Auschwitz, where Dr. Munch signed a documentation of the gas chambers, and Kor issued a declaration of amnesty and forgiveness to all Nazis. Her forgiveness caused much anger from many survivors. Eva Kor has made speeches about forgiveness across the country, as well as at her museum, to school groups and organizations. She is featured in The Forgiveness Project.
External links
- "A Holocaust Survivor's Path To Peace: Forgiving Josef Mengele" - article in Der SpiegelDer SpiegelDer Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
.