A Legacy and a Promise
I first met Eva Mozes Kor, a survivor of the Holocaust and Josef Mengele’s twin experiments, in the summer of 2017. I spent two days with her, during which time I interviewed her about her experience as a Mengele twin and watched as an auditorium full of college students listened intently to her story. At the end of her lecture, she received a standing ovation longer than any I have ever witnessed. The line of people who wanted to speak to her afterwards wrapped around the back of the auditorium. Despite my telling her it was okay to go back to the hotel since she had already had a long day, Eva insisted on staying until she spoke to every last student. Eva left the next morning to head to another college—at 83, she had a full slate of speaking engagements—but before she left, I made a promise to her. Amazed and inspired by Eva’s mission, I promised to always tell her story and preserve her legacy.
Over the next couple of years, Eva and I kept in touch frequently and worked on projects together. Most notably, we traveled to Auschwitz with the Davidson College men’s basketball team in the summer of 2018 and filmed a short documentary about the experience. The team spent four harrowing days touring Auschwitz-Birkenau with Eva and heard her story first-hand. Eva led them through former barracks of the concentration camps that now serve as a memorial and house personal artifacts of the victims: clothing, shoes, prosthetic limbs, even human hair. Eva took the team to the gas chambers so they could see the ovens used to burn the bodies of those who were murdered. Together, we all took part in a memorial service honoring the memory of those who died during the Holocaust.
One year to the day that we said goodbye to Eva at the airport in Krakow, Eva passed away. I learned of her death from one of the Davidson basketball players who sent me a text message that read, “Rest in Peace, Eva. Such an inspiration and an amazing person.” It was the first of many that I received from the team and the coaches. We still talk about her frequently.
Eva and her twin sister, Miriam, were liberated from Auschwitz on January 27, 1945, just a few days before their tenth birthday on January 31st. Though I teach about the Holocaust and antisemitism throughout the year and include Eva’s story regularly, I always think about her more often this time of year.
In 2005, the United Nations decided to commemorate the liberation of Auschwitz by establishing International Holocaust Remembrance Day. This day, observed annually on January 27, is meant to honor the victims of the Holocaust and promote Holocaust education.
Ironically, on January 23, just a few days before the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and the 20th anniversary of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) published the first-ever, eight-country Index on Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness, which shows an alarming lack of knowledge regarding the Holocaust among the respondents in the countries surveyed, which include the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Austria, Germany, Poland, Hungary and Romania.
Among the most concerning results from the Index, a majority of people surveyed in all countries believe that something like the Holocaust (a mass killing of the Jewish people) could happen again. 76% of American adults believe this to be the case, followed by the U.K. at 69%, France at 63%, Austria at 62%, Germany at 61%, Poland at 54%, Hungary at 52%, and Romania at 44%. 46% of young adults (ages 18-29) in France either had not heard of or weren’t sure if they had heard of the Holocaust, and almost half (48%) of Americans could not name a single concentration camp or ghetto established by the Nazis in WWII. 25% of French and Austrian respondents question whether or not the Holocaust happened as described. 53% of Romanians aged 18-29 who were surveyed believe that the number of Jews killed was exaggerated.
While these findings are alarming, there is also reason for hope. Across all eight countries, there is overwhelming support for Holocaust education. At least 9 out of 10 people believe that it is necessary to continue to teach the Holocaust and that Holocaust education is necessary in schools to prevent another Holocaust from occurring. The question then becomes, what can be done to reverse the trends revealed by the Index on Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness?
One answer that stands out to me hearkens back to the promise I made to Eva when we first met. I wish Eva were here to tell her story and to talk to all the people who would surely line up to speak to her and ask questions when she was finished. I cannot possibly do justice to her tale of survival under the harshest conditions. But I owe it to her to try. I owe it to her memory to ensure that her story continues to be told and that her legacy of educating the world about the Holocaust lives on from generation to generation.
This week, my lectures and presentations look a little different. They are all focused on Eva’s story. Six million is a number most people have trouble fully coming to terms with. But the story of one person, one survivor, one woman who dedicated her life to making sure that the lessons of the Holocaust continued to be taught and passed down makes an impact. So this week, that’s the story I will tell; the promise I will keep; the legacy I will work to preserve.