In our hearts we were giants

by Yehudah Ḳoren

"This 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 research and interviews with Perla, the youngest Ovitz daughter and last surviving sibling, and other witnesses, Israeli 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 into the hell of the concentration camp from the transport train, the Ovitz family - known widely as the Lilliput Troupe - was separated from other Jewish inmates. When Dr. Josef Mengele learned of their arrival, he assigned them to sequestered quarters. Already embarked on his horrific "research" on twins and other genetically unique individuals, Mengele developed special plans for the Ovitzes. The authors chroni