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NEW YORK - This provocatively titled documentary tells the story of Eva Moses Kor, a Holocaust survivor with a difference. Along with her 9-year-old twin sister, Kor was a prisoner at Auschwitz who was subjected to inhuman medical experiments conducted by the infamous Dr. Josef Mengele.
On the 50th anniversary of her liberation (which actually was captured on film), she made a public announcement declaring her forgiveness of her tormentor, and of the Nazis in general. Bob Hercules and Cheri Pugh's "Forgiving Dr. Mengele" details the ramifications of that decision.
Those ramifications were not insignificant, as many fellow Holocaust survivors strongly disagreed with her stance. Their arguments, which include the assertion that Kor has no right to speak for the dead, are given ample exposure here.
The film follows its feisty subject, now a real estate broker living in Terra Haute, Ind., as she spreads her policy of forgiveness at home and around the world. It includes scenes of her revisiting Auschwitz, as well as a trip to Israel in which she has a testy exchange with Palestinians that demonstrates that her forgiving nature does not extend to all matters.
Another moving aspect of her story is her formation of a Holocaust museum in a Terra Haute strip mall. Although the museum was quite successful in its aspirations, it burned to the ground amid suspicious circumstances.
The film never quite achieves a powerful dramatic focus, and even at a brief 80 minutes it has a tendency to ramble. But this tale of one survivor determined not to let those horrific experiences define her is moving enough to make "Forgiving Dr. Mengele" a worthy addition to the evergrowing canon of Holocaust-related films.
Frank Scheck
Copyright BPI Communications Jun 13-Jun 19, 2006