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News: Twins separate at birth: 1 raise as Jew, other became a Nazi
Member Since: 1/7/2010
Posts: 4,967
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Twins separate at birth: 1 raise as Jew, other became a Nazi
One was raised a Jew while the other joined the Nazis, but when they met after 40 years apart they found they were almost identical: Jack Yufe, half of famous twins separated at birth, dies aged 82
- Jack Yufe, made famous by a study of twin behavior, has died aged 82
- Jack was separated from his twin brother Oskar Stohr at six months old
- Oskar grew up Catholic in Germany, Jack was raised a Jew in Trinidad
- During the Nazi regime Oskar joined the Nazis and said he admired Hitler
- First met aged 21 but disliked one another and went their separate ways
- But they met again 25 years later, and found they were strikingly similar
While Jack was raised a Jew in Trinidad with his father, Oskar was brought up Catholic in Nazi Germany and later joined the Hitler Youth
Jack Yufe (left) has died aged 82 in California from cancer. He was separated from twin brother Oskar Stohr (right) at birth, but when the two met later in life, their personalities turned out to be almost identical
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If 'The story of Jack and Oskar' was pitched as the script for a Hollywood movie, it's a good bet no one would believe it.
Separated six months after birth in 1933, Jack Yufe was raised as a Jew in his native Trinidad while his identical twin, Oskar Stohr, grew up in Nazi Germany, where he joined the Hitler Youth.
When the two met again in Germany years later, they discovered they didn't particularly like each other. Not so much because they were different, but because they were so much alike.
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Jack (left) and Oskar (right) became famous after taking part in a Minnesota University study of identical twins to determine how much of our personalities are learned from life, and how much is genetic
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As they got to know each other better they would learn they also walked with the same gait, had the same nervous habits, even liked to play the same practical jokes on people.
'They both used to wash their hands before and after going to the toilet,' recalled Nancy L. Segal, a professor of psychology at California State University, in Fullerton.
Segal has previously studied the brothers as part of a landmark study of twins conducted at the University of Minnesota.
'They both used to like to sneeze loudly in elevators, thinking that was funny,' she continued.
'If you sat across from them at a table and there was a vase with a rose or something, they would both shove it aside because they couldn't stand that.'
They also shared the same hot temper and competitive drive, which led them to learn not to ever talk politics or religion, Jack's son, Kenneth, said.
'It was an interesting pair to watch, for sure,' he added.
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The two were separated when their parents split and their Catholic mother took Oskar to her native Germany while Jack stayed in Trinidad with their father.
Oskar's mother stayed with him in Germany for only a few months before leaving to take a job in Italy, sending him to be brought up by his strictly Catholic grandmother.
Both were told they had a twin brother, though Jack admitted later that he never thought much about it.
Meanwhile Oskar was told never to mention his brother, or their Jewish father, as his grandmother was antisemitic and would have hated him for it.
Later, after the Nazis came to power, hiding his Jewish heritage became crucial to Oskar's survival.
Oskar was also raised in a strict fashion, beaten with a stick for the slightest misbehavior, always told to mind his manners and to be 'proper' in front of company.
Meanwhile in Trinidad, Jack enjoyed a relatively carefree upbringing, playing on the beach, swimming in the ocean, and enjoying sports - becoming a champion rower.
While he was aware of his Jewish heritage, his father was far from devout and Jack was never bar mitzvahed.
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During the war, Oskar had joined the Hitler Youth, which was mandatory for young men in Germany at the time, while Jack had steered clear of the conflict in Trinidad.
However, once the conflict was over, Jack was sent to live with his aunt in Venezuela who had been in Germany during the Nazi regime, and had survived the concentration camps.
In his teens, Jack was moved again, this time to Israel, where he worked on a Kibbutz and served in the navy.
Aged 21, his father got back in touch to tell him he had moved to San Diego, and encouraged Jack to come and join him, which Jack agreed to.
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While Jack (left) and Oskar (right) became close during the 20-year study, neither felt they could ever fully relax around the other, with Jack admitting he felt as if his individuality had been taken away
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The pair got in contact, agreed to a meeting, and in 1956 Jack caught a flight to Frankfurt, where the two met at the airport. The visit did not go well.
Oskar and his wife both spoke German, while Jack and his wife spoke no German at all.
The only way the couples could communicate was in Yiddish, a language that Oskar was afraid to use.
While Oskar insisted that it was important for political reasons that his Jewish heritage remain a secret, Jack suspected that in fact, it was more because he was ashamed of who he was.
Jack and Oskar spent a week living together in a small house, speaking only occasionally in hushed voices, before Jack finally called the trip off, and headed to America early.
While the men had noticed some similarities between themselves - they both liked to drink, had short tempers, and walked with the same gait - it was the stark differences of opinion that drove them apart.
Jack set up business in San Diego, and the pair did see each other again for another 25 years.
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It was only in the seventies that Jack was persuaded to once again contact his brother, after his first wife discovered that the University of Minnesota was running a study on identical twins.
The aim was to deduce how much of someone's personality was genetic, and how much was caused by environment, by examining set of twins who had been raised apart.
Once again, Jack reached out to his brother in Germany, and to his surprise, Oskar agreed to make the trip to the United States.
It was on this occasion that the men discovered they were in fact far more similar than their first meeting had led them to believe.
While Jack had expected the intervening years to create more differences between the pair, in fact it had made them more similar.
When they met at the airport, both wore the same rimmed glasses, the same quirky shirts with epaulets and four pockets on the front, and had the same collection of rubber bands on their wrists.
Later study found that they even shared the same eccentric behavior in a way that was too perfect to have been pure coincidence.
Both always flushed the toilet before using it, read magazines back to front, dipped buttered toast in coffee, liked to bring a book to restaurants, and loved spicy food.
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Jack admitted at first that the similarities irritated and 'unnerved' him, making him feel as if his individuality had been taken away.
However, as the study progressed, the two men came to care deeply for one another, Srgal said , who got to know both over the 20-year project.
She would later write about them in her books 'Born Together — Reared Apart: The Landmark Minnesota Twin Study' and 'Indivisible by Two: Lives of Extraordinary Twins.'
When Stohr died of cancer in 1997, she said, Jack was devastated but didn't attend the funeral because he looked so much like his brother that he feared it would disturb the family.
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Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz3rIpY8a3T
 This is such an interesting story about 2 separated at birth Twins. I know long. But wanted to share.  I highlighted the important stuff. But read it all.
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Member Since: 8/7/2015
Posts: 18,105
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omg what are the odds 
the fact one of them was raised as a jew and the other became a nazi is just...
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Member Since: 6/3/2011
Posts: 14,194
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So Hollywood-esque.  Reality really beats fiction.
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Member Since: 9/6/2012
Posts: 46,465
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Twin stories are always strangely interesting
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Member Since: 9/1/2013
Posts: 5,014
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Reverse Hitlerian Expedition
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Member Since: 10/10/2011
Posts: 16,324
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I want a twin 
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Member Since: 5/3/2012
Posts: 42,099
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Member Since: 8/13/2012
Posts: 32,832
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When they met they had the same clothes that's so strange 
They had the same behaviour despite being raised so differently, that means we are just products of genetics  does this mean there is God?
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Member Since: 8/7/2015
Posts: 23,857
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Member Since: 3/20/2011
Posts: 26,615
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When's the movie coming out?
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Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 7,294
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ATRL Contributor
Member Since: 9/14/2010
Posts: 78,921
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I think everyone should watch the documentary and relate it to themselves and the world around them.
Their story (and the other Minnesota twins) is as relevant today as it was in the 1980s.
It's why I ultimately pity racists, homophobes, and hateful religious groups that treat me or anyone else in a manner that's unjust rather than hating a person that hates me.
Poor them and their unfortunate upbringing. Some people can't help that they're ignorant. 
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Member Since: 9/2/2012
Posts: 7,210
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Quote:
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First met aged 21 but disliked one another and went their separate ways
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Damn
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ATRL Contributor
Member Since: 9/14/2010
Posts: 78,921
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Quote:
Originally posted by Zoraluv
Damn |
It would be like Gaga having a glass of wine with Putin.
Born and bred to hate one another.
^ Or just watch the Boy in the Striped Pjamas rather than the documentary. It's definitely better viewing - same concept 
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Member Since: 4/4/2014
Posts: 17,141
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Sounds like a movie on lifetime...
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Member Since: 8/19/2011
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Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 2,667
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Omg not a Trini Jew... Literally me
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Member Since: 1/2/2011
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Member Since: 8/19/2013
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ATRL Contributor
Member Since: 1/6/2010
Posts: 4,761
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What an interesting read. Funny how they were behaving similar even though they were separated for so long. The way the German brother had to hid the truth from the Nazis. Sad for him while his twin brother did enjoy his life somewhat better.
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