And if I can keep this with me then it can help me to remember why not forgetting is so important. Its not to torture myself with sickly images but to keep the problem in perspective. Dr. Mengele isn't the only person to ever have such crazed ideas. He was simply put in a unique position to carry his ideas out while so many looked away. So this is a perfect opportunity for us to remember why its so important to take responsibility for the world around us and not just assume that "Its none of my business, its not my problem, I'm keeping my mouth shut".
Thats obviously the type of attitude that allowed this to happen in the first place. And if we can keep that in perspective than we can empower ourselves to be able to stand up to those who would ever allow anything like the description below to ever happen again.
~ Joanna
REF: http://www.candlesmuseum.org/
MISSION STATEMENT
The CANDLES (Children of Auschwitz Nazi Deadly Lab Experiments Survivors) Holocaust Museum and Education Center is dedicated to eliminating hatred and prejudice from our world and educating others about the Holocaust. Members of their staff pursue this mission by working with schools and those who visit the museum, providing educational activities to both students and teachers, speaking in public, and by maintaining an educational facility. By maintaining and supporting this museum, the story of the Holocaust and the lessons to be learned from that period will continue to be shared with the public.
Email: candles@abcs.com
History of CANDLESMengele Twin is another way survivors of the genetic experiments at Auschwitz often refer to themselves. An unfamiliar term until 1985, the term became well known after the return to the Auschwitz camp in 1985 of the groups of survivors organized under the name of CANDLES (see explanation below)
Early in 1978, Eva Mozes Kor of Terre Haute, IN, began to wonder about what happened to those other children who had been involved in the experiments. It had taken her years to "come to grips" with those youthful experiences and once she did, she wanted to find the other "children" and talk with them.
The idea had originated in 1984 when she had attended a gathering of Holocaust survivors in Washington, D.C. and had met another survivor of the camp who had been involved in the experiments. The name is an acronym for Children of Auschwitz Nazi Deadly Lab Experiment Survivors. The symbol of the organization is a split Star of David, representing the twins and the splitting of the egg which produces twins. surrounded by barbed wire. In the middle of the star are two candles, representing not only the twins but the light and/or illumination that the organization hopes to bring to the world about what happened to them at Auschwitz.
To find the other twins, Eva combined forces with her identical twin, Miriam Mozes Zeiger who lived in Israel. A small ad was placed in the Israeli papers and suddenly about 80 twins were identified as survivors of that horrible time.
In 1985, five sets of twins met at Auschwitz Birkenau and once more made the march to Auschwitz I where most of the experiments were conducted. In forming the organization and gaining worldwide recognition, Kor hoped to find information long kept from them about what was done to them.
Because of the publicity generated by that march, other twins were found and the organization now numbers about 120 members, in several foreign countries and in the United States.
Until 1985, little was known about the infamous twins' experiments. They had been discussed in a book by Dr. Miklos Nyiszli (Auschwitz. A Doctor's Story of Survival) but for the most part, the selection of twins for genetic experiments was not something which had been discussed.With the march and the organization of the twins' group, the world demanded to know more about this group of child survivors. Yet, their stories - while all different - are all the same. They remember being taken to the labs. They remember injections. They remember having blood drawn. They remember being observed. They remember having their heads and body parts measured. They remember having eye color charts held up against their heads. They remember that if one twin got sick and went to the infirmary that twin did not return and the other twin soon disappeared. They remember trying to survive. They remember they lost their childhood at Auschwitz and never found it again. They remember they have illnesses and medical problems that no one can explain.
They remember they were human guinea pigs. They remember they were used for medical experiments without informed consent. They remember they are alive because they were a twin. They remember their families are dead. They remember because they can not forget.http://www.candlesmuseum.org/Twinlist_04.htm
1 comment:
I've read through some of the lists of child victims from the Holocaust...as much as I have a deep desire to visit the Holocaust museum, I'm very aware that's one experience I couldn't have alone.
Post a Comment