Surviving the Angel of Death
The Story of a Mengele Twin in Auschwitz
Eva Kor with Rojany Bucceri

Tanglewood Press
November 25, 2009 / ISBN 978-193371828
Teen / Young Adult / Non-fiction /Autobiographical
Amazon

Reviewed by Nicole Merritt

Eva Kor’s autobiographical story of her young life in Auschwitz as a Mengele twin is nothing short of amazing. There have been many stories told of the harrowing experiences of concentration camp survivors and whetheryou have or haven’t read any or all, you should read this one. The words just about jumped off the pages, and I felt as though I was literally engulfed in this book. I read it from beginning to end as a bedtime story.

This would make a wonderful gift to the young adult/teen reader in your family and might even be an interesting read-aloud to your child as a bedtime story. While it describes some of the scenes in detail, it isn’t horrid, excepting for the nature of the material itself. Eva Kor tells a harrowing story of a ten year old girl, her fight to survive against murderous odds and her will to protect her twin sister, Miriam, after the two watched in awe and disbelief as their parents were stripped from their hold and sentenced to death.

I recommend Surviving the Angel of Death to anyone who’s curious about the events of the Holocaust and the Mengele Twin experiments that went on during that time. These children were subjected to injected diseases and torturous abuse and their heroic survivals are awe-inspiring for us as adults.

Eva Kors built a museum to her testimony and now lectures about her ordeal. This version of her original story is written for the young adult reader but, as an adult, I found it stimulating and was not distracted by the more simplified writing style. This book is, again, another testimony to the heroic deeds that an historic race has endured to survive against all odds. Read it and weep!