Eva Kor

(ATTENTION: This page discusses the Holocaust and includes some graphic information.)

Eva Mozes Kor was a Holocaust survivor. She was born in Romania in 1934 to farmers and lived there with her three siblings, including her twin sister Miriam. Their village was occupied by German forces in 1944 and the family was forcibly relocated to a nearby ghetto. A few weeks after their relocation they were taken to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Upon arrival, Eva and her twin sister Miriam were singled out and separated from their parents and two older sisters. Kor recalled that this was the last time she saw her mother, “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.” Her mother, father, and two older sisters did not survive to see the liberation of Auschwitz in 1945. The twins Eva and Miriam spent the next nine months at Auschwitz where they were subjected to experimentation led by infamous SS Doctor Josef Mengele. Eva and Miriam suffered under horrific living conditions and brutal experimentation on an almost daily basis. In a 2001 speech, Kor talked openly about her experiences. Auschwitz was liberated on January 27, 1945, with roughly 180 children surviving, mostly twins. Eva and Miriam were among them.

Eva and Miriam would go to live with their Aunt Irena in Romania, with Eva marrying Michael Kor in 1960. Michael was an American citizen and they moved to Terre Haute, Indiana to start a family. The Holocaust was not talked of often in her community in Terre Haute. It was heavily stigmatized and a taboo subject. She also faced targeted harassment, with antisemitic phrases and swastikas being painted on her home. Eva refused to accept this and, understanding the importance of remembering the Holocaust, began to speak out. She was interviewed numerous times and was inspired to found CANDLES (Children of Auschwitz Nazi Deadly Lab Experiments Survivors) in 1984. Eva Kor continued her Holocaust activism through the CANDLES organization. In 2007 Kor worked with Indiana state legislators to pass a law requiring the Holocaust be taught in secondary schools. She was in large part responsible for Indiana students being educated about the events of the Holocaust. CANDLES also maintains CANDLES Holocaust Museum and Education Center in Terre Haute, which continues to support Eva Kor’s Holocaust activism through education.

Eva Kor is also remembered for her campaign for forgiveness. In the mid-1990s she publicly forgave Nazis including Adolf Hitler and her personal tormentor Josef Mengele. While controversial amongst some other Holocaust survivors Eva Kor stayed her course and spoke of how transformative this act was. Eva Kor died on July 4, 2019 at 85 years old while in Poland accompanying a CANDLES group to a tour of Auschwitz. Her legacy lives on through not just the CANDLES organization and museum but also through her campaigns of forgiveness and education for those who would come after her.

Click here to view the PBS documentary on Eva Kor.