File:1990 Lagnado.jpg

Title

{en} Lucette Lagnado - Sheila Cohn Dekel. Children of the Flames: Dr. Josef Mengele and the Untold Story of the Twins of Auschwitz (New York, NY: Morrow, 1990).

Abstract

"During World War II, Nazi doctor Josef Mengele subjected some 3,000 twins to medical experiments of unspeakable horror; only 160 survived. In this remarkable narrative, the life of Auschwitz's Angel of Death is told in counterpoint to the lives of the survivor twins, who until now have kept silent about their heinous death-camp ordeals and are themselves now inching into middle or old age. In stories that abound with ambiguity, anger, and redemptive hope, we encounter them first as children beginning their descent into Auschwitz by witnessing their entire families being led away to be killed. Later, we see the twins grateful for the soup and bread Mengele procured for them and reassured by his moments of seemingly genuine affection, yet terrified, always, by what he forced them to endure."--Publisher description.

About the Author

Lucette Matalon Lagnado (USA, 1956-2019) was an Egyptian-born American Jewish journalist and memoirist. Born in Cairo to a Jewish family, she lived in the United States. She was a reporter for The Wall Street Journal.