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He saved dozens of kids in Auschwitz — he kept it a secret for nearly the rest of his life

JL;DR SUMMARY Judith Richter embarked on a journey to unveil her father Erno Zvi Spiegel's untold heroism during the Holocaust after discovering his story in a LIFE Magazine article. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

AuschwitzHolocaustSurvivorsHopePbs DocumentaryJosef MengeleErno Zvi SpiegelJudith RichterThe Last Twins

Places mentioned

Hungary
"Erno Zvi Spiegel was 29 years old when he was deported from Hungary to Auschwitz along with other members of his family, including his twin sister Magda."
Bavaria, Germany
"While her mother was very open about her experiences, Richters father was more reserved, and Israeli society at the time looked down on European Jews for, as they wrongly assumed, not fighting back."
Oświęcim, Lesser Poland, Poland
"he learned her father had played a critical role in protecting children at Auschwitz-Birkenau a secret she gleaned not from her father himself but from an article on Josef Mengele in a LIFE magazine."
Jerusalem, Israel
"Four of the twins who survived Auschwitz, thanks in part to the efforts of Erno Zvi Spiegel, together in Jerusalem in 2017."
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
"The two reunited for the first time in almost four decades in Boston, and after that, Spiegel arranged meetings with a number of the other surviving twins."
Israel
"Growing up in Israel as the daughter of Holocaust survivors, Judith Richter was taught not to discuss the Shoah."
Durham, North Carolina, United States
"Originally from Durham, NC, she is a 2024 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where she majored in sociology."

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Retrieved 2026-04-13 05:30:42 UTC
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