JULY 28 • 2022 | 61

son of the late Brenda and
the late Samuel Small.
Contributions may be
made to National Holocaust
Museum, 100 Raoul
Wallenberg Place, S.W.,
Washington, D.C., 20024;
Jewish Family Service,
6555 W. Maple Road, West
Bloomfield, MI 48322;
Hebrew Free Loan, 6735
Telegraph Road, Suite
300, Bloomfield Hills, MI
48301; Jewish Hospice
and Chaplaincy Network,
6555 W. Maple Road, West
Bloomfield, MI 48322. A
graveside service was held
at Machpelah Cemetery in
Ferndale. Arrangements by
Hebrew Memorial Chapel.

GWENDOLYN
TAFFEL, 87, of
Livonia, died
July 15, 2022.
She is
survived by
her sons and daughters-
in-law, Steven and Hiroko
Taffel, Larry and Jackie
Taffel; grandchildren, Adam
(Michelle) Taffel, Joshua
Taffel (fiancee, Samantha),
Julian Taffel and Sara Taffel;
many other loving family
members and friends.
Mrs. Taffel was the
beloved wife of the late
Philip Taffel; the sister
of the late Mel (the late
Lorriane) Wilner.
Interment took place at
Adat Shalom Memorial
Park Cemetery in Livonia.
Contributions may be made
to a charity of one’s choice.
Arrangements by Dorfman
Chapel.

JANICE
MARLENE
TILCHEN, of
Boynton Beach,
Fla., died June
12, 2022.
She danced into hearts
on Feb. 26, 1947. A proud
Detroit resident for over 60
years, Jan loved Motown,
musicals at the Fisher and
Tigers games.
Jan was the Bloomfield
Hills PTO president, an
avid tennis player, golfer
and dancer. She moved to
Delray Beach, Fla., later in
life, and within two days,
bonded with even more
friends, colleagues and
continued her mitzvahs,
volunteering at Hadassah
and ORT.
She was a feminist
who treated everyone
with love, laughter and
humor. Jan was one of
the first Camp Walden
campers and was given the
name Bubbles; her three
daughters followed in her
footsteps, enjoying Camp
Walden for many years.
Now her grandchildren
are continuing the Walden
tradition.
Jan is survived by her
three daughters, Nicole
Tilchen Nespeca (Marc),
Melanie Tilchen Alexander
(Jamie) and Lindsay
Tilchen Johnson (Randy);
her four grandchildren; JJ,
Madelyn, Myles and Laila
Grace who loved calling her
Granny Janny. Janice is also
survived by her ex-husband
of 36 years, Alan Tilchen,
and a myriad of nieces,
nephews, cousins and dear
friends.

Jan was predeceased
by Wally and Irene
Friedman, Alex and Regina
Friedman, Phil and Mary
Tilchen, Richard and
Audrie Friedman, Marley
Chudnow, and Dr. Woody
Friedman (Beverly).
Her family requests
contributions in her
memory be made to the
Alzheimer’s Association,
alz.org; or by planting a tree
in Israel at shiva.com.

DR. JOEL
ZAHLER, 77, of
Bloomfield
Hills, died July
15, 2022.
Dr. Zahler is
survived by his wife of 51
years, Julianne Zahler. He is
also survived by his sister,
sisters-in-law and brothers-
in-law, and many loving
nieces and nephews.
Contributions may be
made to a charity of one’s
choice. Arrangements by Ira
Kaufman Chapel.

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René Slotkin,
‘Mengele Twin,’
Dies at 84

JTA
As a physical education teach-
er at an Orthodox boys school
in New York City, René Slotkin
frequently wore short-sleeved
shirts — leaving the numbers
tattooed into his arm visible to
anyone who saw him.
His story of Holocaust sur-
vival was remarkable: Slotkin
and his sister were among just
200 sets of twins to survive
gruesome experimentation by
the infamous Nazi physician
Josef Mengele at Auschwitz,
then were reunited six years
after being separated.
Slotkin’s story, which he told
and retold, including in a film
about his family, was never far
from the minds of his fellow
congregants at Congregation
Ohab Zedek, the Upper West
Side synagogue down the
block from his home where he
studied Talmud every morning
well into his 80s.
René was only 4 years old
when he and his twin sis-
ter Irene were deported to
Theresienstadt with their
mother, Ita, in 1942. (Their
father, Herbert, was taken to
Auschwitz in 1941 and died
there.) Two years later, they
were moved to Auschwitz,
where their mother was killed,
and the twins were separated
and subjected to medical abuse
by the infamous Josef Mengele.
It took Slotkin and his sister
nearly four decades before
they started speaking openly
about their experiences during
the Holocaust. In 1985, they
went to Yad Vashem, Israel’s
Holocaust memorial, in
Jerusalem to take part in
a mock trial of Josef Mengele
focused on his abuse of
twins.