Here is my latest review for School Library Journal:
The Twins of Auschwitz
By Eva Kor and Danica Davidson
Little Brown & Company
2021
In
1941 at the ages of seven, Eva along with her twin Miriam were already
experiencing antisemitism. The small village of Portz on the border
between Hungary and Romania was not beyond the grasp of the Third Reich. Eva
remembered going to the picture show and watching a movie called, “How to Kill
a Jew” where a Jewish father and son were running away from Germans with guns,
hunting them for sport. In schools, “The Protocols of the Elders of
Zion,” a fabricated document about the evils of the Jewish race, was being
taught as truth. Both Eva and Miriam were bullied and harassed in school for
being Jewish. In 1943, Eva’s father tried to take the family and flee
into the night, but it was too late. They were made to be prisoners in
their own home. The following year the Nazis invaded Hungary, and Eva’s
family was forced to wear the Star of David patches on their clothes.
After that, they were forced to board a train where they were shipped to
Auschwitz The family was immediately separated, and the twins were taken
to Dr. Mengele for experimentation. Eva and Miriam endured starvation,
medical experiments and more. They made it out of Auschwitz when the
Soviets liberated their camp, but their lives would never be the same.
The Twins
of Auschwitz is a disturbing read as all memoirs of the Holocaust
are. Here the readers gain a different understanding of Auschwitz from
Eva’s perspective. As a twin, she was forced to take part in medical
exams, tests, studies and experiments. Many holocaust books make a passing
reference to these twin experiments, but Eva gives the readers a first hand
account. The narrative flows well and is easy to read. The
vocabulary is simple, and there is a glossary in the back for readers who need
more information about key terms. Seeing that the main character is
between the ages of 7 - 10, it would seem as if this is a story for young
readers. However, due to the mature content, it is this librarian’s
opinion that The Twins of Auschwitz should be purchased for middle school or high
school students. It would also be a valuable purchase for reluctant
readers at both levels due to the fast paced chapters and easy
vocabulary. In a world where people who lived the Holocaust are no longer
with us, this book is a sincere and truthful reminder of this horrific event.
