Eilat Negev – författare

Giganterna i Auschwitz är en unik historia om en mycket speciell syskonskaras levnadsöde. Det här är en skildring som spänner över tiden före, under och efter andra världskriget.  Familjen Ovitz var judar och bosatta i Transylvanien, Rumänien. Sju av de tio barnen var kortväxta. Före andra världskriget var de artister inom teater, musik och sång. De uppträdde i Rumänien och angränsande länder. I maj 1944 deporterades syskonen till Auschwitz koncentrations- och förintelseläger. I enlighet med den människosyn som präglade nazismen var bland andra de med fysiska funktionsnedsättningar en belastning för samhället, ej värdiga att leva. Som judar valdes de ut för att dödas. Nazistläkaren Mengele som utförde medicinska experiment i Auschwitz hade ett särskilt intresse för tvillingar och kortväxta som försökspersoner. Mengele höll samtliga dessa sju syskon vid liv för att kunna utföra sina grymma experiment. De blev till hans mänskliga laboratoriemöss. Detta är en berättelse om en syskonskara som överlevde mot alla odds. De flyttade efter kriget till Israel där de fortsatte sin artistkarriär.

This remarkable, never-before-told account of the Ovitz family, seven of whose ten members were dwarfs, bears witness to the best and worst of humanity and to the terrible irony of the Ovitzes' fate: being burdened with dwarfism helped them endure the Holocaust. Through dogged research and interviews with Perla, the youngest Ovitz daughter and last surviving sibling, and other relatives, authors Yehuda Koren and Eilat Negev weave the tale of a beloved and successful family of performers who were popular entertainers in Central Europe until the Nazis deported them to Auschwitz in May 1944. Descending from the transport train into the hell of the concentration camp, the Ovitz family,known widely as the Lilliput Troupe,was separated from other Jewish victims. When Dr. Josef Mengele was then notified of their arrival, he assigned them to sequestered quarters. His horrific "research" on twins and other genetically unique individuals already under way, Mengele had special plans for the Ovitzes. The authors chronicle Mengele's loathsome experiments upon the family members, the disturbing fondness he developed for these small people, and their interminable will to make it out alive. Dozens of telling photographs are included in this horrifying yet remarkable tale of survival.

'Through thick and thin, never separate. Stick together, guard each other, and live for one another.' As Hitler's war intensified, the Ovitz family would have good reason to stand by their mother's mantra. Descending from the cattle train into the death camp of Auschwitz, all twelve emerged in 1945 as survivors - the largest family to survive intact. What saved them? Ironically, the fact that they were sought out by the 'Angel of Death' himself - Dr Joseph Mengele. For seven of the Ovitzes were dwarfs - and not just any dwarfs, but a beloved and highly successful vaudeville act known as the Lilliput Troupe. Together, they were the only all-dwarf ensemble with a full show of their own in the history of entertainment. The Ovitzes intrigued Mengele, and amongst the thousands on whom he performed his loathsome experiments, they became his prize 'patients': 'You're something special, not like the rest of them.' It was this disturbing affection that saved their lives.After being plunged into the darkest moments in modern history, this remarkable troupe emerged with spirits undimmed, and went on to light up Europe and Israel, which offered them a new home, with their unique performances. Giants reveals their moving and inspirational story.