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. OBITUARY CHARGES The processing fee for obituaries is: $125 for up to 100 words; $1 per word thereafter. A photo counts as 15 words. There is no charge for a Holocaust survivor icon. The JN reserves the right to edit wording to conform to its style considerations. For information, have your funeral director call the JN or you may call Sy Manello, editorial assistant, at (248) 351-5147 or email him at smanello@ thejewishnews.com. 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.