In a story that defies comprehension, Dr. Elliott Konis, a Polish Jew, was forced to work as a doctor for Nazi soldiers during World War II. His tale of survival, resilience, and ultimate pursuit of justice has now been unveiled by his sons, Allen and Leonard Konis, through a significant donation to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

A Life of Hope Turned Tragedy
Born in 1911 in Vilna, Poland (modern-day Vilnius, Lithuania), Dr. Konis had just begun his career as a physician when the Nazis invaded in 1941. He and his family were confined to the Vilna ghetto, where starvation, disease, and systematic murder became their daily reality. When the ghetto was liquidated in 1943, his first wife, Hanna Asgud, a nurse, was among those sent to their deaths.

Despite his own suffering—including beatings, a fractured skull, and starvation—Dr. Konis was spared solely because his medical skills were useful to the Nazis. Forced to treat wounded German soldiers, he witnessed...