Indiana Holocaust survivor to lead group for 70th anniversary commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz Terre Haute, Ind. resident Eva Mozes Kor will participate in official commemoration ceremonies in Poland for the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on Jan. 27. Kor is the founder of CANDLES Holocaust Museum and Education Center, Indiana’s only Holocaust museum. Kor is part of a delegation of 100 survivors invited by the World Jewish Congress and the USC Shoah Foundation. Her activities include a reception with Steven Spielberg (who founded the USC Shoah Foundation after directing Schindler’s List) and a recreation of the famous “liberation photo” taken January 27, 1945 by Soviet photographer Alexander Vorontsov. Kor and her twin sister Miriam were in the front row holding hands in that iconic photo. Presidents of Austria, Croatia, France, Germany, Malta, Poland, Slovenia & Switzerland have thus far confirmed their presence at the ceremony. The United States will be represented by a delegation led by Secretary of Treasury Jacob Lew and two Auschwitz survivors. In addition to the ceremony on Jan. 27, Kor will also lead a tour group on Jan. 28-29 at Auschwitz-Birkenau. She will recount her experience surviving medical experimentation under the direction of Nazi doctor Josef Mengele. The group is composed of 80 people from 60 cities, twenty states, four countries, three continents, and two hemispheres. Among the group will be Emmanuel Habimana, a survivor of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The tour is organized by CANDLES Holocaust Museum, which leads annual tours of Auschwitz, including another tour in June. Details are available on the CANDLES website, candlesholocaustmuseum.org. While Kor is in Poland, CNN will air its special one-hour documentary, “Voices of Auschwitz,” on Jan. 27 at 9 pm ET. The documentary features four survivors including Kor, who was interviewed at Auschwitz by Wolf Blitzer for the piece. Kor can also be seen in the film premier Night Will Fall, to air on Jan. 26 at 9 pm ET on HBO. Alfred Hitchcock originally directed the piece to document the atrocities committed at Auschwitz, but it was unfinished until now. Statement from Eva Kor “It is hard for me to realize that 70 years have flown by since the day we were liberated from Auschwitz. In some ways it is as fresh in my mind as if it happened yesterday, when I could finally walk out of the camp and no one yelled ‘Halt!’ nor did anyone shoot at me. “I was very excited that I defeated the Nazis by staying alive, but I was troubled, since at age eleven I did not know how to get home safely with my twin sister Miriam. “When the Soviet Army was taking the liberation picture, we found my mother’s friend Mrs. Csengeri with her twin daughters, Judith and Lea. We asked her to take care of us, and she did for seven months until we returned home to our village of Portz, Romania. That is when we found out that no one in our family survived. “Looking back 70 years, I remember that all was quiet in Auschwitz I on Jan. 27, 1945, after months of heavy fighting artillery, bombings, and the other gruesome sounds of war. I never imagined then that I would ever want to come back to that place that changed my life forever, that took away my parents, sisters, grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins. For many years it also took away my joy of living. “As I observe 70 years of my liberation from this hell on earth called Auschwitz, I am glad that I am alive, and very happy that I forgave the Nazis. I have forgiven everybody who has ever hurt me – not because they deserve it, but because I and all victims deserve to live free of the pain imposed on us. “As I look at the world today, we face many problems, such as the rise of terrorism. We owe it to ourselves and the memory of Auschwitz to defend human life and decency.”
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 00:47:36 +0000
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