On October 1, 81-year-old Eva Kor, a well-known Holocaust survivor, spoke to a spellbound crowd at the Louisville Downtown Rotary Club. In 1944, she, her twin, Miriam, her mother, father and two older sisters were loaded onto a cattle car for the four day trip to Auschwitz.
There were 100 people on each car without food or water. Upon arrival at Auschwitz, she and her twin sister were ripped from their mother’s arms and she never saw the rest of her family again.
On the selection platform the twins were set aside for Dr. Mengele who was conducting experiments on twin children. Most of the experiments involved injections and body measurements. Out of 1,500 sets of twins, only 250 people survived.
On January 27,1945, they were liberated. She was fortunate to get to Israel to start a new life. She met her future husband there and eventually moved to Terre Haute, IN, where they currently live.
In Terre Haute she created the CANDLES Holocaust Museum and Educational Center in 1995. The museum’s mission is to shine a light on the Holocaust and to instill the world with hope, healing, respect and responsibility.
Kor has spoken 132 times so far this year. She received several standing ovations when she spoke here in Louisville. She has also led six trips to Auschwitz in recent years.
Her next trip will be July 9-17, 2016. Anyone interested can e-mail nichole@candlesholocaustmuseum.org.