“Jack and Oskar clearly have the greatest differences in background I have ever seen among identical twins reared apart.”
– Thomas J. Bouchard Jr, Director, Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart
Jack Yufe and his identical twin brother, Oskar Stöhr, were separated shortly after birth. Years later, when they finally met, they saw that they shared various habits:
Both flushed the toilet before and after using it. Both read the endings of books first. Both wrapped tape around pens and pencils to get a better grip. Both spoke at precisely the same rate, despite their different languages.
The twins became the subject of academic study, as well as a documentary film. The differing circumstances of their upbringings – Jack was raised Jewish, and his brother Catholic – had a darker aspect.
During the Second World War, Jack joined a British naval cadet program. His brother, living in Germany, joined the Hitler Youth. According to Jack’s New York Times obituary,
Jack and Oskar both later said that during the war they had been haunted by the idea that they might one day meet on the battlefield, with one killing the other.
More happily – if only for the twins – both took pleasure in shocking others by sneezing loudly.