Richard K. Lowy’s new book gathers the parallel testimonies of two teenage twins from Josef Mengele’s notorious Nazi medical programme. Recorded late in life and verified through the camp’s surviving paperwork, their recollections of Hitler’s ‘Final Solution’ is a rare and crucial addition to the Holocaust record, writes Harry Margulies.
Featured Review
The European Reads: Kalman & Leopold: Surviving Mengele’s Auschwitz
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A foreword by Michael Berenbaum, Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies and Director of the Sigi Ziering Institute at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles, adds to the book’s scholarly panache. As impressive as Lowy’s research is, this is ultimately a deeply personal family history crafted by a son seeking to preserve his father’s legacy. Unsurprisingly, given the author’s extensive experience in the entertainment industry, the book’s engaging story is presented in a visually impressive layout featuring a wealth of maps, charts, photographs, and other visual elements. A well-designed, poignant story of the Holocaust told by two survivors.- Kirkus Review
Reviewed by Craig Jones for IndieReader
During the Second World War, around six million people (most of them Jews) were systematically killed in Germany and German-occupied territories in an event known as the Shoah (or Holocaust). Given how historically recent this was, it’s remarkable that I felt the need to write that; but, then again, as KALMAN AND LEOPOLD: Surviving Mengele’s Auschwitz points out, truths can be (and frequently are) forgotten.
Author of the Month: Richard K. Lowy
Reuniting the Lost: Richard K. Lowy on Preserving Holocaust History, Resilience, and the Power of Friendship
Richard K. Lowy is featured on Global Television, the CANDLES Holocaust Museum, the Jerusalem Post, and over 413 other media outlets across the United States. Both the book Kalman & Leopold: Surviving Mengele’s Auschwitz and the documentary Leo’s Journey: The Story of the Mengele Twins tell an extraordinary story of survival amidst the horrors of the Auschwitz death camp. This harrowing account sheds light on the unspeakable cruelty of Josef Mengele’s experiments, while celebrating strength, friendship, and the human spirit. Through the firsthand accounts of two survivors, Kalman and Leopold, readers are witness to the depths of one of humanity’s darkest chapters.
Reviewed by Dan Perry for The Jerusalem Post
Surviving Mengele’s Auschwitz’ is seminal Holocaust document of the banality of evil
The book is set to be released amid preparations for the January 27 commemoration in Poland of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
Richard K. Lowy’s Kalman & Leopold: Surviving Mengele’s Auschwitz is a harrowing and meticulously detailed account of two Holocaust survivors whose paths crossed in Auschwitz II-Birkenau under the shadow of Dr. Josef Mengele’s notorious experiments. This work is more than a historical record; it’s a testament to resilience, friendship, and the imperative of preserving Holocaust memories as the generation of survivors dwindles.
Reviewed by Joan Kirschner for Reader Views
It is fitting that I began writing this review of “Kalman & Leopold: Surviving Mengele’s Auschwitz” by Richard K. Lowy today, as it is January 27th, International Holocaust Remembrance Day. This date was designated by the United Nations General Assembly to commemorate the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp by the Soviet Red Army in 1945 – now 80 years ago.
Most people are aware that millions of people, including six million Jews, died in their many concentration camps including Auschwitz-Birkenau, the most widely known of those infamous facilities. Many other groups were targeted as well including Roma, Soviet Russians, other Slavic peoples, Poles, and other enemies of the Nazi German government during WWII.
Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers’ Favorite
Author Richard K. Lowy has a truly moving and exceptional commitment to preserving historical truth through the most intimate and personal of lenses. I was profoundly moved by his respectful yet unvarnished approach to storytelling, which allows the voices of Kalman and Leopold to speak directly to readers. Lowy’s narrative technique immerses readers in the lived experiences of his subjects, making their pain, resilience, and humanity palpable in ways that transcend traditional historical documentation. His vivid portrayal of Auschwitz goes beyond mere historical recounting, offering an exploration of survival, trauma, and the extraordinary capacity of individuals to maintain dignity in the most inhumane of circumstances.
Reviewed by Pieter’s Newsletter
As we are witnessing the return of hostages from Gaza there is thankfully no end to the support they are getting, nor is there a lack of media attention for the post-captivity life of these traumatized people. How different it was for those few that walked out of Hitler’s concentration camps, barely alive. They had to pick up themselves and return to places where there were no families, no friends, there was nothing for them to return to. While many of these survivors went on to lead productive lives and built families again, there was a pain that could not be shared, that could not discussed, that society was not interested in and that was buried away in the deepest recesses of their souls. I have seen it firsthand with my own grandfather who survived Buchenwald, a strong man on the outside with a career and family, on the inside given to a trauma that no one recognized or dared talk about. The war, the horrors, all of it was paved over.
Reviewed by Carol Thompson for Readers’ Favorite
This is one of the rawest, most personal accounts of the horrors of Josef Mengele’s atrocities. Kalman & Leopold: Surviving Mengele’s Auschwitz, as told to Richard K. Lowy, is a haunting and profoundly moving account of resilience, friendship, and survival. Through the lens of Kalman Braun and Leopold Lowy, this book revisits the harrowing reality of Auschwitz-Birkenau, where humanity was tested in unimaginable ways. As their chronicler, Lowy skillfully balances historical context with the individual voices, maintaining the authenticity of their stories. The foreword by Michael Berenbaum offers a broader historical framework, underscoring the importance of transitioning from living memory to historical memory as the last survivors’ fade. This book is a must-read. It belongs in every secondary high school and university classroom in the United States, as well as in every historical society. Thank you, Mr. Lowy, for preserving the story and memories of two heroes. It was a privilege to read.
Reviewed by Lucinda E Clarke for Readers’ Favorite
Author Richard K Lowy takes us back in time to what his father endured in the Auschwitz–Birkenau concentration camp along with his fellow worker Kalman. Taken from verbal memories and extensive research, their stories are real, vivid, and horrific. The glossary and the footnotes are useful in keeping the explanations clear and concise in this testament of the atrocities and man’s inhumanity to man. Kalman & Leopold is an important work, adding to those accounts of the Holocaust that decry those who say that it never happened. It did, with all the horror and indescribable cruelty of that shameful period of history. My heart was touched deeply by this book, and I shall never forget it. Very highly recommended.
