Review Detail

At the age of 10, Eva Mozes and her twin Miriam were taken away from their home in Romania and sent to Auschwitz. They suffered through a long train journey in which they could not sit or lie down, and there was no food or water given to them. Upon arriving there, Evas mother, father, and her two older sisters were pulled in one direction, while Miriam and Eva were identified as twins and pulled in another direction. Eva and Miriam became part of a horrific medical experiment by Josef Mengele. Mengele, also known as the Angel of Death, studied identical twins, gypsies, dwarfes, and disabled people. His goals were to learn how to do away with genetic mutations that cause disabilities, and to learn how to create twin pregnancies in Aryan women in order to increase their numbers. The experiments that Mengele conducted on twins, including Eva and Miriam, were terrible and tortuous. Twins were injected with illnesses, x-rayed and measured repeatedly, and forced to do hard labor.


In this account of Eva and Miriams struggle, Eva Mozes Kor relates the horrible experiences that she and her twin endured. Mozes Kor also relates how, through great struggle and with a huge force of will, she and her twin were able to survive Auschwitz. Deeply moving, this heartbreaking yet ultimately uplifting tale illustrates the incredible strength of two young girls. Readers will gain a new appreciation and understanding of life in Auschwitz, told from a unique point of view that of a Mengele twin. Highly recommended for those interested in history, or readers looking for a tale of a strong young girl.