(NETWORK INDIANA ) Today marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, a Nazi concentration camp in Poland during the Holocaust. Among the survivors freed that day: Eva Kor. She went on to become an Indiana treasure.
To commemorate the day, Gov. Holcomb issued a proclamation declaring today to be Eva Education Day. After leaving Auschwitz, she eventually settled in Terre Haute. Kor died last summer but had spent much of her life teaching the public about the horrors of the Holocaust and the importance of never giving up.
For many people, just the name Auschwitz brings up an all-too-real pain. Kor was a child survivor of the Holocaust and knew that pain well.
“The world probably knows my mom a little different; she was a Mengele twin. She survived Dr. Joseph Mengele’s experiments,” said her son, Alex Kor.
On this 75th anniversary of the Auschwitz liberation, her story and desire to educate — her son says– matters even more.
“In this day and age I think, unfortunately, there’s a lot of people who say the Holocaust never occurred,” Kor said.
He said it was a unique experience growing up Jewish in Terre Haute with two parents who survived the Holocaust.
And he’s thankful the state is taking steps to teach children by distributing Eva Educational toolkits to schools around the state.
Kor said, “It’s even more important to carry on my mom’s work.”
In the last few years there’s been a spike in anti-Semitism, according to Amber Maze with the Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis.
“That’s part of how you fight prejudice; it’s part of how you fight hate. You learn about the failings of humanity in the past,” said Maze.
Recognizing this tragic moment in history will help shine a light on current problems around the world, Maze said.
“There are genocide and human rights violations happening right at this moment,” Maze said.
In the meantime, while Kor’s son mourns his mother, he’s thankful her story and mission meant so much to so many: “She had a good heart. I’ll miss her.”
About 1,000 schools across the state and several hundred libraries received the Eva Educational toolkits.
The governor’s office has encouraged all schools to take time out of the day to show the children the documentary.
