In Our Hearts We Were Giants: The Remarkable Story of the Lilliput Troupe--A Dwarf Family's Survival of the Holocaust

Yehuda Koren, Eilat Negev

Hachette Books, Apr 27, 2009 - History - 288 pages

In this remarkable, never-before-told account of the Ovitz family, seven of whose ten members were dwarves, readers bear witness to the best and worst of humanity and to the terrible irony of the Ovitz's fate: being burdened with dwarfism helped them endure the Holocaust. Israeli authors Yehuda Koren and Eilat Negev weave the tale of a beloved and successful family of performers who were famous 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 victims. Dr. Josef Mengele was notified of their arrival and they were assigned better quarters and provided more nutritious food than other inmates. The authors chronicle Mengele's experiments upon the Ovitz's, and the creepy fondness he developed for these small people, even the songs he composed and sang to this family of singers, dancers, and klezmorim. Finally liberated by Russian troops, the family returned to their deserted village in Transylvania, and eventually found their way to a new home in Israel. They resumed their careers, overcame their handicaps and became wealthy and successful performers.

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LibraryThing Review

User Review  - starbox - LibraryThing

"Seven dwarfs ...liege to no benevolent Snow White but to a heartless beast" By sally tarbox on 3 October 2017 Format: Paperback The fascinating and terribly moving story of the Jewish Romanian Ovitz ...

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - Whisper1 - LibraryThing

This is as the sub title notes "The Extraordinary Story of the Lilliput Troupe" In the 1930's and early 1940's, the Lilliput Troupe traveled near and far entertaining all who attended to see these ...

About the author

Yehuda Koren, a freelance journalist for the British, Israeli, and German press, and Eilat Negev, the senior literary correspondent for Yedioth Achronoth, previously co-authored In Our Hearts We Were Giants. Yehuda Koren, a freelance journalist for the British, Israeli, and German press, and Eilat Negev, the senior literary correspondent for Yedioth Achronoth, previously co-authored In Our Hearts We Were Giants.

Bibliographic information

• Title: In Our Hearts We Were Giants: The Remarkable Story of the Lilliput Troupe--A Dwarf Family's Survival of the Holocaust
• Authors: Yehuda Koren, Eilat Negev
• Publisher: Hachette Books, 2009
• ISBN: 0786738561, 9780786738564
• Length: 288 pages
• Subjects: History / Modern / 20th Century / Holocaust