Holocaust survivor Eva Mozes Kor will share her story and reflect on her decision to forgive during “Echoes From Auschwitz,” a lecture and discussion Monday, Nov. 23 in the Cohen Center Ballroom.
Part of the Community Speaks Lecture Series, the free event is a collaboration of FGCU’s Office of Community Outreach, Office of Undergraduate Studies and Center for Judaic, Holocaust and Genocide Studies. It will begin with a reception at 5:30 p.m. in the Cohen Center Ballroom; the lecture starts at 6 p.m.
Born in 1934 in Portz, Romania, Kor was one of an estimated 3,000 twins who were victims of Nazi genetic experimentation under the direction of Dr. Josef Mengele. Her twin, Miriam, also survived Auschwitz but died of cancer in 1993.
Eva and Miriam were 10 years old when their family was shipped to the Nazi death camp. Guards ripped them from their mother’s arms when they saw that they were twins, and the girls never saw their parents or two older sisters again.
In 1984, they created the organization CANDLES (Children of Auschwitz Nazi Deadly Lab Experiments Survivors) as a means to help locate other Mengele twins and shed more light on their story. Kor founded CANDLES Holocaust Museum and Education Center in 1995 in Terre Haute, Ind., in memory of her sister.
Fifty years after the liberation of Auschwitz, Kor returned to the camp. According to an account on the CANDLES website: “To the surprise of many, she then freed herself from her victim status and announced to the world that — in her name alone — she forgave the Nazis. An incredible weight of suffering was lifted and she felt strong. Offering her forgiveness healed Eva, but it did not mean she would forget or that it changed what happened. Forgiving the Nazis drew mixed reactions and controversy. Throughout each subsequent conversation about forgiveness, Eva remained insistent that the act was for her well-being alone and not intended to dismiss the Holocaust.”
- Listen to an interview with Eva Mozes Kor from WGCU’s “Gulf Coast Live!”
- Learn more at the CANDLES website.