European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 13, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Memories haunt victims of nazi Experiment Mengele twins by Jon Nordheimer the new York times a a a they Are surviving members of what Irene i Hizme Calls Quot the most exclusive club in the i world Quot. Jewish twins handpicked by nazi a i physician Josef Mengele at the Auschwitz 1 Birko Nau death Camp  Guinea pigs in her words a for experimentation to develop a master  a she was 6 years old and for years afterwards she thought she would carry her awful secret to the grave. A to Lalk about. It Quot she said recently Quot is a descent into darkness Quot Eva kor of Terre haute ind., could not bring herself to describe the scenes of horror to her children. Quot the pain was too great Quot she said. Peter Somogyi a new Jersey businessman said he. Has put the Nightmare behind him but his wife said his cries of torment still awaken him in a cold sweat Quot nearly half a Century after they entered the Gates of Auschwitz the Mengele twins Are being heard As never before. A 1children of the flames a Book by Lucette Matalon. Lagnado and Sheila Cohn Dekel describes the blighted histories of twins who have come Forward in recent years some like Hizme who lives in Oceanside n y., Are forcing themselves to speak out for the first time Mengele selected about 1,500 sets of twins a jews gypsies and others a for projects conducted at his genetics Laboratory. Many died in the research at the end of1 the War fewer than 200 individuals were alive in the experiments Many had blood a drained and transfused in research that was said to be connected with Mengele s search for ways to increase the. Fertility and birth rates of German women. He also tried to find ways to change Eye color. A Quot Quot Mongole worked on one twin and used the other for Twenty seven known survivors of the experiments live in the United states most of them in the new York metropolitan area six Are in Canada and about 100 in Israel and elsewhere. ,. A som6 survivors say they believe there Are others still living who have allowed their past to remain locked in a secrecy Loo anguished by the experiments performed on them to speak out. Some who were toddlers when Mengele and his staff subjected them to Radical tests and surgical procedures s might have concentration Camp tattoos and unexplained scars but Quot no conscious memory of the ordeal Little of the research exists. It is thought that after Thea War Mengele either destroyed his records and tissue Vav Sample or carried them into hiding first in Europe and then in South America. J. A a in More than 40 years Mengele s death has been reported Many times. In 1985, his son and some experts identified the remains of a Man who drowned near. Sao Paulo Brazil in 1979 As  1a "6n the surface we enjoy Normal lives but we have a readers action line any change in Stop loss actions a  Howai a a Guy Seo is Lyna ovo. Una is the air Force policy on Stop loss actions Lor separating service members stationed in Germany / t was supposed to begin terminal leave on dec 13,1990, a and separate from the military on Jan. 8. So i sent my household goods out on oct. 17,1990. On oct. 31,1990,1 was told that i was t under the Stop loss program but that my terminal leave had been taken away. I was not notified of Stop loss action until mid november. Will the air Force make exceptions for people whose household goods have been gone for extended periods of a time or will they do it by air Force specially code Aasc a Only ,. Sgt. Nicholas e. Groene Span Dahlem a Germany Peter Somogyi and Hla brother Thomas pictured in 1945 were jewish twins handpicked by nazi physician Josef Mengele for his experiments nyt., never escaped the Long dark Shadow of Mengele Quot said. Hizme a 53-year-Oldmother of two. Quot if i push it out of my Day it returns at  was speaking of he memories before a hushed audience at congregation Ohab Zedek in Manhattan at. An Observance a a of holocaust memorial week recently. The memory of the past haunts the survivors even As  old. In recent interviews they said they carried a Burden that other survivors of the Camps do. Not that their selection for Mengeler a experiments spared their lives. Their families died at Auschwitz. So did children who were not selected for the research. Quot if childhood is the foundation of a human beings life Quot said kor who was 9 in 1944 when she arrived at Auschwitz a then what kind of foundation can we have if our memories Are  the smell of burning flesh a. And chimneys belching the Black smoke of our families Quot. There was one other difference and for the twins it is the hardest to explain. _ Quot Mengele known As the a Angel of death Quot for his role in choosing who would live and who would die was also for them Mengele the projector. As Long As he required them for his research they were spared the Gas chamber. Giving blood samples and submitting to a rays and injections were daily options to death even though most of the twins w6uld eventually die painful deaths As did those who entered the crematorium on their first Day in Auschwitz. Even the Young ones such As Hizme understood the deadly game they played. Her parents had taken their children and fled from their native Germany to Czechoslovakia to escape Adolf Hitler but ail were rounded up in 1943 and transported to Auschwitz. Given special status the twins lived in their own 1 i Barracks separated by sex. They got an extra ration of food once or twice a week and were Given the medical care denied to tens of thousands of others. A Savior and Demon Quot was the Way Hizme described the dichotomy about Mengele in Young minds. Even . Tavares Deputy chief Public affairs he air Force military personnel Center Randolph fab Texas replies the air Force policy on Stop loss actions for people who Are separating or retiring is the same for people stationed overseas or in the Continental United states except or members stationed at Short tour locations who were originally exempt from Stop loss. In March the Pentagon announced the deletion of Many air. Force speciality codes of pcs from Stop loss a and  these  will be released from the air Force by april 30. Service members still affected by Stop loss who desire Early release can apply for a a a hardship or Noh Mission essential exemption through their consolidated base personnel office. Although some service members scheduled to separate when Stop loss was implemented May have experienced a a a hardship As a result of shipping household goods this a today survivors describe him As kindly and avuncular. They say he gave them Candy and kissed the Quot some of the older girls thought he was handsome and had a crush on him Quot kor  1 on his first Day at Auschwitz Somogyi recalled the is a guards at the railway unloading Dock walked among the. Masses of arriving jews shouting Quot twins wins like buyers in a fish Market a. As they did so Menete surveyed those who answered the Call whistling Mozart As he selected who lived and who died. Quot a a Quot Lagnado who spent seven years tracking Down surviving twins toe her Book said they told her they Felt shame that they had survived Quot not because they were Strong but because of a Freak of  Auschwitz was liberated by soviet soldiers on Jan. 27,1945, kor and her twin Miriam returned  Home in Transylvania Only to learn that 117 relatives had a perished in the War. L _ _ _ a Hizme was plucked from Auschwitz by a peasant. Who kept her until a Rescue committee organized by Quot american jews found  was reunited i with her twin brother Rene in the United states in 1950 Rene Slotkin Hizme a twin was sitting in the rear of Temple Ohab Zedek while his sister spoke. He winced at each word. Hizme has multiple sclerosis and is in a Quot when i look at Irene like this Quot Slotkin said a i can to help but think of the experiments Mengele experimented. On one twin and kept the other for a control i was the control Irene got . There Seq records ohm a what they put into her Young  Somogyi was also in the Temple. Later he said that he too after All these years cannot reconcile his a expert prices in his Long daily trip Between work in new Jersey and his Home in Pleasantville n.y., when he is alone with his thoughts he listens to classical music tapes in the car. But no Mozart. Only italian operas mostly verdi.,. Reason in itself does no to automatically exempt them from Stop loss. The base discharge authority reviews All the factors applying to each Case. Those recommended for approval a a a i Are sent to the servicemen tiber a Iri ajor command for endorsement and  write us readers action line is the readers Quot court of last. Resort Quot striving to answer some of the questions about life overseas in a military environment or. Questions about policies and guidelines when other avenues for answers Are not readily available. If you have a question and done to know where to turn for the answer write to readers action line do the stars and stripes Apo 09211-4211. All letters must be a j. Signed and preference will be Given to those seeking information of general interest to our readers page_16 _ a a the stars and stripes monday May 13, 1991