Friday, October 22nd, 2021
Speaker's parents survived the Holocaust
By William Kincaid
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
Alex Kor talks about the Holocaust with students Thursday at Celina High School.
CELINA - Having just lost his father two days prior, Dr. Alex Kor said he wasn't sure if he could make it to Celina High School on Thursday.
But in the end, Kor, a podiatrist who practices in Lebanon, Indiana, said he was glad he had taken the morning off to share with students the story of his parents, Holocaust survivors Michael and Eva Kor, and give voice to their enduring legacy of hope and forgiveness.
Kor used the occasion to read part of the speech his mother had intended to give on Jan. 27, 2020, at the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp. Eva Kor and her twin sister, Miriam, had been subjected to torturous medical experiments by notorious Nazi physician Josef Mengele. She died July 4, 2019, during a visit to Krakow, Poland, home of Auschwitz.
Channelling his mother's spirit and speaking aloud her words, Kor said there is still much work to do as much of the world is engulfed in turmoil with hate crimes and anti-semitic violence occuring to a degree not seen since World War II.
"There is nothing I can do to change my past, but I can change my future and hopefully that of others. Saying, 'Never again,' is not enough. We must act with definite purpose and a common goal for the sake of ourselves and others," Kor said. "It is up to us to actively teach today's world, especially our youth, why respect and common decency for everyone, regardless of race, religion or any other difference, is so vitally important. And until we use that education to begin to heal our own wounds over the most basic level and allow ourselves, the former prisoners, to be free of the pain of our tragic pasts, we will never truly be free."
By deciding in 1993 to forgive Hans Wilhelm Münch, the only Nazi doctor to be acquitted of war crimes due to his efforts to keep alive more than 20 Jewish people, Eva Kor was freed from an incredible burden and pain that had haunted her for 50 years and likely extended her life, Kor said of his mother. Her controversial act of forgiveness gave other sufferers an example of how to deal with adverse situations, he added.
He made clear, though, that his mother forgave the Nazi doctor in her name only, not on the behalf of others, as was falsely claimed by some at the time.
"My mom was nine or ten years old when she was taken to camp. Why was she allowed to live? She was a twin. She was a Mengele twin," he said. "When they got off the train at Auschwitz, they would look for twins."
Eva's parents and two older sisters were killed at Auschwitz. She and her twin sister, Miriam, were selected for medical experimentation.
"My mom survived nine torture-filled months at the hands of a doctor, Josef Mengele," he said.
His father, Michael, spent four years in a concentration camp before being liberated by a U.S. Army unit, Kor said.
Over the years, Alex Kor said his parents dealt with their experiences in various ways, none more evident than in 1978 when the family was asked to appear on the NBC TV affiliate station in Terre Haute, Indiana, at the conclusion of the national airing of the miniseries "Holocaust."
Eva Kor talked on TV about her Holocaust experience relative to the miniseries as her husband, son and daughter watched from nearby. This wast the first time she had spoken in a public way about her experiences.
Alex Kor, who was 17 at the time, saw his father cry for the first time in his life. He was struck by an epiphany that it was his role to help his father deal with his past and to encourage and help shape his mother into a speaker.
His mother did indeed grow into a polished speaker. In 1995 she opened the CANDLES Holocaust Museum and Education Center in Terre Haute with the mission to prevent prejudice and hatred through education about the Holocaust, according to the museum's website.
His father, a retired pharmacist widely known for his love of piano playing, Purdue Boilermakers and the music of Dean Martin, eventually warmed up to the idea of talking about his past and eventually became a speaker at the museum.
Michael Kor, who would have turned 96 on Sunday, died Tuesday at Witham Memorial Hospital, Extended Care Facility in Lebanon, Indiana, according to his obituary.
Before concluding his talk, Alex Kor passed along some of his mother's nuggets of wisdom to students.
Prejudice is a cancer of the human soul. Getting even never helped a single person. Anger is a seed for war, forgiveness is a seed for peace. Forgiveness is an act of self-healing and self-empowerment.
Celina High School Holocaust studies teacher Toma Hainline helped arrange Alex Kor's presentation on Thursday. She came in contact with Alex Kor through her college tennis coach.