Our reporter caught up with Sora Vigorito in St. Pete after her testimony of survival and resilience.
By Ramon Lopez
Original Air Date: November 26, 2025
Host: Her four-year old twin sister died during Josef Mengele’s concentration camp experiments with twins. She survived. Our reporter talked to Sora Vigorito, who will be coming to Venice.
Anthony Cooke
[Mournful cello music]
Ramon Lopez: That was cellist Anthony Cooke’s hope-and-endurance musical prelude called Ani Ma’amin, which in Hebrew means “I Believe.” The haunting melody was sung by Jews as they were led to the gas chambers in the Nazi death camps. Born in the depths of suffering during the Holocaust, it became a powerful symbol of Jewish faith and resilience.
Chabad of St. Petersburg hosted an evening with Sora Seiler Vigorito, the youngest known survivor of Dr. Josef Mengele’s infamous twins experiment at Auschwitz last Thursday, November 20 at the Palladium Theater in St. Petersburg.
Born in Berlin in 1941, she lived in hiding until found by the Gestapo in 1944 and shipped off to Auschwitz with her twin sister Hanna, who did not survive. Sora Vigorito was among 89 sets of identical twins subjected to Mengele’s so-called “scientific” experiments, which earned him the name Angel of Death. The four-year old twins were locked up in Megele’s laboratory. They were then injected with an unknown substance in their spine, causing convulsions. Hanna died in the tiny wooden cage the toddlers shared shortly before liberation in early 1945.
The evening featured her personal testimony of survival and resilience. Cooke’s soul-stirring performance set the tone for reflection and inspiration. Rabbi Alter Korf of Chabad St. Petersburg said “her story is one of loss, devastation…and faith, a living reminder of the horrors of the Holocaust and the power of the human spirit to endure.”
Josef Mengele
The 200-300 people at the Palladium were told that when Mengele came for Hanna’s lifeless body, a distraught Sora slapped the Angel of Death hard across the face. He then smashed her hand with a hammer, the effects of which she suffered for years.
This act of defiance drew applause from the audience. Asked what she would say to Mengele if she had the chance today, the Holocaust survivor simply said: “You had it coming.” More applause from the audience.
Children at Auschwitz
Sora was reunited with her father who went to Dachau by her grandmother, who also survived Auschwitz. Sora later moved to Canada and then to the United States. She met and married Frank Vigorito 57 years ago. They raised three children who provided many grandchildren. Today, they live in Florida. She is a semi-retired licensed mental health professional who is using her painful experiences to help her patients through their childhood trauma with empathy and deep understanding.
Sora said she did not feel safe until her bubba—her grandmother—wrapped her arms around her. She said she did not really feel safe until she married Frank.
She said she had a “dead soul” and struggled with spiritual emptiness until her connection to Judaism deepened.
WSLR spoke privately to Sora Vigorito after her presentation. This reporter asked her why she became a mental health counselor and what message she has for others this Thanksgiving holiday.
Sora Vigorito
Sora Vigorito: My decision to become a counselor—and this sounds ridiculous, but—I wanted to make the world a better place.
Each one of us needs to look at what we have—those of us who have little—look at what we have and thank God for it. We need to look at the good things that God has given us and not constantly look for more.
RL: We now know Sora’s story. But what happened to Josef Mengele? He slipped out of Germany and spent the rest of his life on the run in South America where he was able to elude capture by the relentless war crime hunter Simon Wiesenthal. In February 1979, while visiting friends in a coastal resort, the Angel of Death had a stroke while swimming and drowned.
If you missed hearing Sora’s story at the Palladium, you have a second chance. On Wednesday, February 4 at 10 a.m, she will appear at the Venice Community Center. Contact Chabad of Venice and North Port to learn more on the event. It will include a violin performance of Schindler’s List selections by Vladimir Tsypin.
This is Ramon Lopez for WSLR News.
WSLR News aims to keep the local community informed with our 1/2 hour local news show, quarterly newspaper and social media feeds. The local news broadcast airs on Wednesdays and Fridays at 6pm.