I will protect you A true story of twins who survived Auschwitz

In 1944, 10-year-old identical twins Eva and Miriam, along with their Jewish family, were taken by cattle car to the Nazi death camp Auschwitz. There the two girls were separated from their family by the notorious Dr. Josef Mengele, who was fascinated by twins and wished to conduct experiments on them. Indeed, one of those experiments left Eva deathly ill. Taken to the camp hospital to die, she managed to survive despite the monstrous Mengele's laughing assertion that she had only two weeks to live. Her survival was due in large part to her stubborn, indomitable will, even though, as she states, "We twins were his property now." Her reports of life in the camp are sobering and and Kor charts the years of her life after Auschwitz's liberation and her dedication to sharing her story. An afterword by Davidson adds a modern perspective on the Holocaust and antisemitism in the U.S., as well as insight into her collaborative writing process with Kor, who died in 2019. A compelling story of survival.

In a powerful telling, the late Eva Mozes Kor (1934--2019) and Davidson provide as much history lesson as personal recollection and call for human rights. The book opens in 1941, as seven-year-old Eva and her identical twin Miriam (d. 1993), members of the only Jewish family in a Romanian village, encounter anti-Jewish ideas in media as well as experience cruelty from previously friendly classmates. Eva's nature as a leader willing to speak her mind is quickly established as she presses her resigned parents: "It's not safe to stay here." Following the family's deportation to Auschwitz, where she and Miriam become part of Josef Mengele's experimentations on identical twins, the girls' horrific experiences--intense reading for the target audience--are interspersed with contextualizing background on topics such as anti-Semitism, conspiracy theories and propaganda, genocide, and WWII. Eva's "unending desire for survival," her vow to protect Miriam, and "luck" bring the sisters through the war and to Israel in 1950; final chapters trace Eva's subsequent years as a human rights activist and Holocaust educator in Indiana. Unflinching in its first-person telling, the narrative is carried by its narrator's passionate conviction, per an afterword, that "memories will provide the necessary fuel to light the way to hope." Back matter includes a timeline and glossary. Ages 8--12. (Apr.)■

Gr 3--7--In 1941, at the ages of seven, Eva Mozes Kor and 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. Kor remembers 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. In 1943, the girls' 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 the family was forced to wear the Star of David patches on their clothes. Later, they were transported 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 countless other atrocities. They made it out of Auschwitz when the Soviets liberated their camp, but their lives would never be the same. Many Holocaust books make a passing reference to these twin experiments, but Kor gives readers a firsthand and disturbing account. The narrative flows well and is accessible for middle schoolers. Even though the memoirist is between the ages of seven and ten during most of the work, this is more appropriate for older readers. The gripping story and fast-paced chapters make this a valuable purchase for reluctant readers. VERDICT In a world where most people who lived the Holocaust are no longer with us, this book is a sincere and truthful reminder of this horrific event.--Jeni Tahaney

A Holocaust memoir that teaches young readers by sharing one woman's journey. "Your mind is like a garden. Plant flowers so weeds can't grow," read the embroidered message in the childhood kitchen of identical twins Eva and Miriam Mozes. Even after the Mozes family was imprisoned in Auschwitz, forced to leave the embroidery and most of their other possessions behind, fierce and determined Eva carried this piece of her mama's wisdom with her. Through the horrifying tribulations of the Holocaust, she held on to her desire for life and the strength of her love for her family, refusing to let the weeds of despair take root in her mind. Although unflinching in its treatment of the disturbing realities of the period, this work also emphasizes humanity's prevailing capacity for goodness and hope in the face of cruelty. Davidson, who worked with Kor to get her story down in print as well as doing additional research, situates Kor's life within a broader historical scope, detailing the social and political contexts that allowed the Nazi Party to gain power. Readers will be left not only with an understanding of the events of the Holocaust, but with insight into the long history of antisemitism and the dangers of dehumanizing language, propaganda, and unquestioning nationalism. Bright and compelling, Eva invites young readers to plant flowers of knowledge, love, and acceptance in their own minds. Moving and informative; a powerful resource for Holocaust education. (afterword, timeline, glossary) (Nonfiction. 8-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.