Survivor of Holocaust and Mengele Experiments to Address Ethics in Human Research

CINCINNATI—Eva Mozes Kor, a twin who survived not only the Holocaust but also the brutal experiments of Dr. Josef Mengele, will present the lecture, "Ethics in Human Research,” at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2010, on the University of Cincinnati (UC) medical campus.

The lecture will take place in Room 5051 of the Medical Sciences Building, 231 Albert Sabin Way.

Mozes Kor will appear as a guest of the department of neurosurgery and the Mayfield Clinic. Her appearance is supported by a grant from the Mayfield Neurosciences Foundation.

The one-hour lecture is free and open to the public. Because seating is limited, those interested in attending are asked to RSVP to Jillian Bollinger at (513) 558-6031 or Jillian.Bollinger@uc.edu.

Mozes Kor travels the country speaking about her Holocaust experience, her ability to forgive, and the need for today’s medical researchers to maintain scrupulous ethical standards and accountability to the public.

"We are honored to host Eva Mozes Kor as a guest lecturer,” says Mario Zuccarello, MD, chair of the department of neurosurgery. "Her memories cast a spotlight on one of the darkest corners of medicine’s history, while her messages of forgiveness and our duty to remain vigilant against prejudice are timeless and universal. We can all learn from her.”  

Mozes Kor and her identical twin, Miriam Mozes, were among 200 twins who survived Mengele, known as the Angel of Death, who conducted his human experiments at the Auschwitz Concentration Camp. Mozes Kor’s parents, grandparents, two older sisters, uncles, aunts and cousins did not survive the Holocaust. Miriam Mozes died of a rare form of cancer in 1993.

Mengele, trained in medicine, was driven by an obsession with heredity and the Nazi ideal of a blue-eyed, blond-haired Aryan race. He found his subjects in 1,500 pairs of twins at Auschwitz. According to historical accounts, Mengele used chemical drops to try to change the color of children’s eyes, injected tuberculosis into healthy bodies, drew blood incessantly and removed organs.

Both Mozes Kor and her sister were subjected to surgeries and experiments.

In 1995 Mozes Kor founded a museum named CANDLES, an acronym for the words "Children of Auschwitz Nazi Deadly Lab Experiments Survivors.”