Holocaust Survivor
"Forgive your worst enemy. It will heal your soul. It will set you free."
Mozes Kor was only ten years old when, in 1944, she, her twin sister, two older sisters, and parents were packed into a cattle car and taken to Aushwitz. When the train arrived at the concentration camp, her father and older sisters disappeared into the crowd. She never saw them again.
A guard saw Mozes and her twin sister and proceeded to take the mother away for questioning. When the man returned, he grabbed the girls and lead the two girls away. Mozes said that she did not even get a chance to say goodbye to her mother. This would be the last time that her and her sister saw their mother.
The twins had their hair cut off and arms branded with numbers. Upon entering the latrine of the concentration camp, Mozes saw the skeletal corpes of three children on the filthy ground. It was at this moment that she swore that she and her sister would survive and would not end up like those children.
Mozes was a part of several experiments. In one, she was drained of her blood, so the scientists could determine how much blood a human could lose before dying. Also, she was meticulously examined and although this was not physically harmful, it was extremely degrading. Through this, the Nazi doctors were able to compare her body to that of her twin sister.
In another experiement, Mozes was injected with a deadly germ and was left for dead. When she heard the doctors laughing about how it was "too bad" she was going to die because she was so young. At that moment, she refused to die. "I would do anything i nmy power to prove to Dr. Mengele wrong and to get well."
After she managed to beat the odds and survive the disease, she was reunited with her sister. Miriam looked sick, but neither one of them wanted to talk about their time apart and the experiments that were done upon them. It was not until later that Mozes discovered that Miriam was injected with a germ that stunted the growth of her kidneys. In 1987, Mozes donated one of her kidneys to her to keep her alive for a few more years, but Miriam died in 1993 due to cancer; a cancer that Mozes believes was a result of the experiments.
"Mengele used 1,500 sets of twins and other multiples as guinea pigs at Auschwitz and less than 200 were still alive on Jan. 27, 1945, when the camp was liberated, Mozes Kor said.
Mozes Kor said she tells her tragic life story, although it is both difficult to tell and difficult to listen to, because she learned some very important lessons.
One lesson, that she didn't learn until long after the war, was forgiveness. She said, "I have forgiven the Nazis." She initially had no intention of forgiving anybody"
But after having met a Nazi doctor and visiting the remains of the Auschwitz grounds, she told the doctor that she forgave him for what he did. She even came to forgive Dr. Mengele.
After having been a prisnor of these horrific memories for fifty years, she said that being able to forgive the Nazis, freed her soul.
She now tells everybody, "Forgive your worst enemy. It will heal your soul. It will set you free."
To read the entire article: http://www.catholicherald.org/archives/articles/mozeskor.html
Mozes Kor was only ten years old when, in 1944, she, her twin sister, two older sisters, and parents were packed into a cattle car and taken to Aushwitz. When the train arrived at the concentration camp, her father and older sisters disappeared into the crowd. She never saw them again.
A guard saw Mozes and her twin sister and proceeded to take the mother away for questioning. When the man returned, he grabbed the girls and lead the two girls away. Mozes said that she did not even get a chance to say goodbye to her mother. This would be the last time that her and her sister saw their mother.
The twins had their hair cut off and arms branded with numbers. Upon entering the latrine of the concentration camp, Mozes saw the skeletal corpes of three children on the filthy ground. It was at this moment that she swore that she and her sister would survive and would not end up like those children.
Mozes was a part of several experiments. In one, she was drained of her blood, so the scientists could determine how much blood a human could lose before dying. Also, she was meticulously examined and although this was not physically harmful, it was extremely degrading. Through this, the Nazi doctors were able to compare her body to that of her twin sister.
In another experiement, Mozes was injected with a deadly germ and was left for dead. When she heard the doctors laughing about how it was "too bad" she was going to die because she was so young. At that moment, she refused to die. "I would do anything i nmy power to prove to Dr. Mengele wrong and to get well."
After she managed to beat the odds and survive the disease, she was reunited with her sister. Miriam looked sick, but neither one of them wanted to talk about their time apart and the experiments that were done upon them. It was not until later that Mozes discovered that Miriam was injected with a germ that stunted the growth of her kidneys. In 1987, Mozes donated one of her kidneys to her to keep her alive for a few more years, but Miriam died in 1993 due to cancer; a cancer that Mozes believes was a result of the experiments.
"Mengele used 1,500 sets of twins and other multiples as guinea pigs at Auschwitz and less than 200 were still alive on Jan. 27, 1945, when the camp was liberated, Mozes Kor said.
Mozes Kor said she tells her tragic life story, although it is both difficult to tell and difficult to listen to, because she learned some very important lessons.
One lesson, that she didn't learn until long after the war, was forgiveness. She said, "I have forgiven the Nazis." She initially had no intention of forgiving anybody"
But after having met a Nazi doctor and visiting the remains of the Auschwitz grounds, she told the doctor that she forgave him for what he did. She even came to forgive Dr. Mengele.
After having been a prisnor of these horrific memories for fifty years, she said that being able to forgive the Nazis, freed her soul.
She now tells everybody, "Forgive your worst enemy. It will heal your soul. It will set you free."
To read the entire article: http://www.catholicherald.org/archives/articles/mozeskor.html
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