The Girl Who Forgave Death – 1945. Eva Kor, a survivor of the Holocaust with Romanian/American roots, was taken to Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944. Tragically, upon their arrival, her mother, father, and two sisters were immediately separated and condemned to death. Despite the unimaginable pain she endured, Eva courageously expressed the following sentiment:
“I never even got to say goodbye to her. But I didn’t really understand that this would be the last time we would see her”
Eva and her sister Miriam, both twins, were spared and taken by Josef Mengele, the Nazi Angel of Death, for experiments. They endured months of medical torture, enduring injections of unknown substances that even modern doctors cannot identify. As a result, both girls fell gravely ill, with Eva suffering from a debilitating fever for five weeks. Despite being given only two weeks to live and unable to walk, Eva summoned the strength to endure the experiments and the pain, constantly reminding herself of her will to survive. In 1945, the Soviet Army liberated the camp, allowing Eva and her sister to return to Romania.
In 1950, Eva relocated to Israel and served in the army for eight years. Eventually, she moved to the United States in 1960 and married a Holocaust survivor named Michael Kor. As Eva aged, she experienced various health problems. Meanwhile, Miriam faced intricate and severe medical issues during her three pregnancies. It was later discovered that Miriam’s kidneys had ceased growing since she was 10 years old. Subsequently, her kidneys failed, and Eva believed this outcome was a consequence of the experiments they endured as children. Without hesitation, Eva selflessly donated one of her kidneys to her sister, stating, “I have one sister and two kidneys, so it was an easy choice.”
Regrettably, Miriam succumbed to kidney cancer in 1993. Filled with anger towards the Nazis for the suffering inflicted upon her family, Eva dedicated herself to advocating for Holocaust recognition. However, in a remarkable display of forgiveness, Eva embarked on an emotional journey and forgave Mengele and the Nazis for the pain they had caused her. This transformative perspective took hold during the 1990s.
In 2019, Eva passed away. The photograph mentioned above captures Eva displaying an image of herself and her sister Miriam taken in Auschwitz, with Miriam standing beside her on the left in the hood.
by Rachael Shieley
