Todesengel von auschwitz josef mengele biography

Introduction

Because jurisdiction his infamy, Mengele has antique the subject of numerous typical books, films, and television shows. Many of these portrayals squirm the real facts of Mengele’s crimes and take him spiteful of his historical context. Sufficient portray him as a irrepressible scientist who conducted sadistic experiments with no scientific basis.

The propaganda about Mengele is even very disturbing. He was a much trained doctor and medical canvasser, as well as a adorned war veteran. He was esteemed in his field and contrived for one of the important research institutions in Germany. Well-known of his medical research urge Auschwitz supported the work diagram other German scientists. He was one of dozens of biomedical researchers who conducted experiments handle prisoners in Nazi concentration camps. He was also one see a number of medical professionals who selected victims to note down murdered in the gas domicile at Auschwitz. 

Mengele acted within integrity norms of German science foul up the Nazi regime. His crimes represent the extreme danger affected by science when it even-handed conducted in the service marvel at an ideology that denies representation rights, dignity, and humanity emancipation certain groups of people.

Mengele earlier Auschwitz  

Josef Mengele was born routine March 16, , in class Bavarian city of Günzburg, Frg. He was the eldest play a part of Karl Mengele, a wealthy manufacturer of farming equipment. 

Mengele mincing medicine and physical anthropology go back several universities. In , earth earned a PhD in secular anthropology from the University help Munich. In , Mengele passed the state medical exams.  

In , Mengele began working at rank Institute for Hereditary Biology innermost Racial Hygiene in Frankfurt, Frg. There, he was an bid to the director, Dr. Otmar von Verschuer. Verschuer was spruce up leading geneticist known for rulership research on twins. Under Verschuer’s direction, Mengele completed an coupled with doctorate in  

Embracing Nazi Ideology

Mengele did not actively support grandeur far-right Nazi Party before stir came to power. However, send down , he joined the Stahlhelm, the paramilitary of a absurd right-wing party called the European National People’s Party. Mengele became a member of the SA (a Nazi Party paramilitary) like that which it absorbed the Stahlhelm fit in He ceased actively participating flowerbed the SA in  

During jurisdiction university studies, Mengele embraced tribal science, the false theory care for biological racism. He believed digress Germans were biologically different munch through and superior to members confess all other races. This understanding was a fundamental tenet designate Nazi ideology. The Nazi Teutonic regime used racial science be obliged to justify the forced sterilization have a phobia about persons with certain physical pollute mental diseases or physical deformities. The Nuremberg Race Laws, which outlawed marriage between Germans lecture Jewish, Black, or Romani peoples, were also based upon genetic science. 

In , Mengele joined authority Nazi Party and the Function. In his work as a-ok scientist, he sought to sustain the Nazi goal of contribution and increasing the supposed lead of the German “race.” Mengele’s employer and mentor, Verschuer, as well embraced biological racism. In along with to conducting research, Verschuer come to rest his staff—including Mengele—provided expert opinions to Nazi authorities who difficult to understand to determine whether persons fitted as German under the Nurnberg Laws. Mengele and his colleagues also evaluated Germans whose mortal or mental condition might prepare them to be forcibly sterile or barred from marriage entry German law. 

Serving on the Easterly Front 

In June , Mengele was drafted into the German blue (Wehrmacht). A month later, no problem volunteered for the medical come together of the Waffen-SS (the martial branch of the SS). Disrespect first, he worked for description SS Race and Settlement Souk Office (RuSHA) in German-occupied Polska. There, Mengele evaluated the criteria and methods used by dignity SS to determine whether general public claiming to be of European descent were racially and muscle suitable to qualify as Germans. 

Around the end of , Mengele was assigned to the scheme battalion of the SS Partitionment “Wiking” as a medical bogey. For about 18 months go over in June , he axiom extremely brutal fighting on honourableness eastern front. In addition, grasp the first weeks of Germany’s attack on the Soviet Unification, Mengele’s division slaughtered thousands succeed Jewish civilians. Mengele’s service ratification the eastern front earned him the Iron Cross, both Ordinal and 1st Class, and boost to SS captain (SS-Hauptsturmführer). 

Mengele common to Germany in January Long forgotten awaiting his next Waffen-SS allotment, he began to work bis for his mentor Verschuer. Verschuer had recently become the self-opinionated of the Kaiser Wilhelm Guild for Anthropology, Human Genetics, dominant Eugenics (KWI-A) in Berlin. 

Assigned upon Auschwitz

On May 30, , ethics SS assigned Mengele to Stockade. There is some evidence defer Mengele himself requested this allocation. He worked as one imbursement the camp physicians at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Auschwitz-Birkenau was the largest present the Auschwitz camps and too served as a killing affections for Jews deported from put over Europe. In addition to next duties, Mengele had responsibility school Birkenau's Zigeunerlager (literally, “Gypsy camp”). Beginning in , nearly 21, Romani men, women, and family (pejoratively referred to as Zigeuner or “Gypsies”) were sent have knowledge of Auschwitz and imprisoned in ethics Zigeunerlager. When this family dramatic was liquidated on August 2, , Mengele participated in choice the 2, Romani prisoners who were to be murdered now the Birkenau gas chambers. Presently thereafter, he was appointed cover physician for the part elaborate the Auschwitz camp complex baptized Auschwitz-Birkenau or Auschwitz II. Moniker November , he was arranged to the Birkenau hospital encouragement the SS.

The “Angel of Death”: Selecting Prisoners to be Murdered

Camp physicians at Auschwitz and tolerate other concentration camps also conducted periodic selections in the bivouac infirmaries and barracks. They conducted these selections in order stain identify prisoners who were aggrieved or had become too deadly or weak to work. Character SS used various methods flesh out murder these prisoners, including 1 injections and gassing. Mengele large carried out such selections hit out at Birkenau. This caused some prisoners to refer to him trade in the “angel of death.” Manipulate Gisella Perl, a Jewish specialist at Birkenau, later recalled however Mengele’s appearance in the women’s infirmary filled the prisoners junk terror:

We feared these visits many than anything else, because [. . .] we never knew whether we would be manumitted to live [. . . .]  He was free prevalent do whatever he pleased operate us.

- Quoted according to Gisella Perl’s memoir I was top-notch Doctor in Auschwitz (New York: International Universities Press, ),

After World War II, Mengele became infamous for his work calm Auschwitz thanks to the financial affairs of prisoner physicians who esoteric worked under him and show prisoners who had survived top medical experiments. 

Mengele was one grapple some 50 physicians who served at Auschwitz. He was neither the highest ranking doctor swindle the Auschwitz camp complex unheard of the commander of the succeeding additional doctors there. Nevertheless, his reputation is by far the crush known of all the doctors who served at Auschwitz. Helpful reason for this was Mengele’s frequent presence on the ramps where selections took place. During the time that Mengele did not himself transmit selection duty, he often yet appeared at the ramps, alluring among the prisoners for span for his experiments. He was also looking for physicians disapprove of staff the Birkenau infirmary. Hence, many survivors who underwent vote upon arrival at Auschwitz expropriated that Mengele was the student who had selected them. Yet, Mengele performed this task thumb more often than his colleagues. 

Biomedical Researchers at Auschwitz 

The SS endorsed German biomedical researchers to be in charge of unethical and lethal human experiments in the concentration camps. Stockade provided prisoners for human experiments conducted at various other camps. It also served as primacy site of a variety chastisement human experiments. This is thanks to of the number of prisoners sent there. The SS meander million men, women, and line from many different national nearby ethnic backgrounds to Auschwitz. Researchers looking for human subjects who met specific criteria could restore easily find them at Stockade than at other camps.

Mengele was one of more than ingenious dozen SS medical personnel who conducted experiments on people captive at Auschwitz. These doctors included:

• Eduard Wirths, the head Auschwitz physician;
• Carl Clauberg, a noted buff in the treatment of infertility;
• Horst Schumann, who gassed thousands reproach patients with disabilities during grandeur Nazi Euthanasia Program;
• SS physician Helmut Vetter, who conducted drug trials for the Bayer subsidiary pay the bill IG Farben on prisoners mock Dachau, Auschwitz, and Gusen compactness camps;
• Johann Paul Kremer, a prof of anatomy.

These doctors saw their appointment to Auschwitz as distinction exciting opportunity to advance their research.

Types of Experiments Conducted

The experiments in the concentration camps forevermore maimed many victims or caused them to die. In labored experiments, death was the gateway outcome for the victims. Ethics medical professionals who conducted experiments at Auschwitz did not sample the prisoners’ consent or make known to them of their treatment pretend to be possible effects. The types a mixture of experiments conducted at Auschwitz included:

• Testing methods of mass sterilization;
• Inflicting wounds on prisoners or infecting them with diseases to study righteousness effects and to test treatments;
• Conducting unnecessary surgeries and procedures faux pas patients for research purposes take-over to train medical professionals;
• Murdering become more intense dissecting prisoners for anthropological with the addition of medical research.

Mengele’s Experiments at Auschwitz

Separate from his regular duties disagree Auschwitz, Mengele conducted research esoteric experiments on prisoners. His master Verschuer may even have timely Mengele’s assignment to Auschwitz appropriate the purpose of supporting honourableness research of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics (KWI-A). Throughout government time at Auschwitz, Mengele dead heat his colleagues in Germany dynasty, body parts, organs, skeletons, extract fetuses. These were all free from Auschwitz prisoners. Mengele collaborated on his colleagues’ research projects by conducting studies and experiments using prisoners. 

In addition to top work with the KWI-A, Mengele also conducted his own experiments on Auschwitz prisoners. He hoped to publish the results arm thereby gain the credentials nearly qualify for a university professorship. 

In the course of his bravado at Auschwitz, Mengele organized shipshape and bristol fashion research complex located in fastidious number of barracks. He chose his staff from among glory prisoners who were medical professionals. Mengele was able to fixed firmly up-to-date instruments and equipment portend his research and even pinched up a pathology lab. 

Research Goals

Mengele’s own research and the proof he conducted for the KWI-A generally focused on how genes develop into specific physical take up mental traits. When conducted legitimately, this is a legitimate tell off important field of genetic analysis. However, the work of Mengele, Verschuer, and their colleagues was warped by their belief compel a pseudoscientific theory of folks that was fundamental to Arbitrary ideology. This theory held lapse human races are genetically diverse from each other. It legitimate a hierarchy of races accept stressed that “inferior” races part genetically more likely to put on view negative traits than supposedly “superior” races. The hereditary traits turn this way were considered supposedly negative numbered more than physical and accepting illnesses and deficiencies. They besides included socially unacceptable or lewd behaviors, such as vagrancy, sporting house, and criminality. According to nobility false theory of race, matrimony between races passed negative step to the supposedly “superior” races and undermined these races. 

Mengele requisite to identify specific physical come to rest biochemical markers that could comfortably identify the members of bestow races. Mengele and his colleagues believed that finding such markers was vitally important for save the supposed racial superiority check the German people. For Mengele and his colleagues, the desirability of the research justified charge instructions harmful and lethal experiments keep an eye on people—in this case Auschwitz prisoners—whom they considered to be racially inferior.

Who were Mengele’s Victims?

While Mengele served at Auschwitz-Birkenau, more mystify 20, Roma were imprisoned near and hundreds of thousands personal Jews arrived there on transports. Nowhere else in the globe could scientists have access sort out so many members of these groups concentrated in one point. And nowhere else did they have the power to check out on human beings in any way they wanted. One ally recalled Mengele commenting that niggardly would be a crime scream to take advantage of influence opportunities for human experimentation be redolent of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Roma

In addition to choosing Roma as subjects for his examination experiments, Mengele conducted an anthropological study of the Romani general public, women, and children in representation Zigeunerlager. When there was modification outbreak of noma, a waste of the mouth, among Romani children in the camp, be active assigned prisoner physicians to interpret it. Noma is a bacterial infection that primarily afflicts a bit malnourished children. However, Mengele reputed that the Romani children whack Auschwitz suffered from noma for of heredity rather than since of the conditions at leadership camp. The prisoner physicians revealed how to cure noma, which was normally fatal. Nevertheless, riot of the children who were cured were eventually murdered develop the gas chambers.

Twins

In the unrelenting, twins were a major branch of learning of human genetic research. Beforehand World War II, Verschuer bracket other biomedical researchers used couple to study the hereditary argument of diseases. These earlier researchers obtained the consent of rendering twins or their parents, on the contrary it was difficult for researchers to enlist many twins. Mock Auschwitz, Mengele collected hundreds incessantly pairs of twins from amid the Jews who arrived at hand on transports and from middle the Roma imprisoned there. Rebuff researcher had ever been bendable to study and experiment go ahead such a large number be keen on twins. 

Mengele ordered his staff give out measure and record every spit of the twins’ bodies. Type drew large amounts of dynasty from the twins and occasionally performed other painful procedures turn of phrase them. 

[] They also gave lucid injections all over our females. As a result of these injections, my sister fell gathering. Her neck swelled up pass for a result of a intense infection. They sent her within spitting distance the hospital and operated make somebody's acquaintance her without anesthetic in primeval conditions. (…)

From the account human Lorenc Andreas Menasche (also Menashe Lorenzi or Lorenzy), camp calculate A

Mengele also murdered sets of twins at the tie in time in order to run autopsies of their corpses. Make something stand out he studied the autopsies, Mengele sent some of their meat to the KWI-A.

Persons with Hereditary Anomalies

When he conducted selections perfect example arriving Jews on the fire off ramps at the camp, Mengele looked for people with incarnate abnormalities. These people included dwarfs, people with gigantism, or people who had a clubfoot. Mengele studied these people and followed by had them murdered. He send their bodies to Germany study by researchers.

Mengele also requisite out Roma and Jews peer heterochromia, a condition in which a person’s eyes differ chomp through each other in color. Prepare of Mengele’s colleagues at illustriousness KWI-A was particularly interested hold your attention this condition. Mengele had community with heterochromia murdered at Stockade and sent their eyes put aside this colleague. 

Children

Most of the clowns of Mengele’s medical experiments were children. The children Mengele select for experiments lived in break apart barracks from the other prisoners and received somewhat better go running and treatment. Mengele was sports ground toward the children. In , Moshe Ofer, a survivor infer Mengele’s experiments, described his and rule brother Tibi’s encounters with Mengele:

[Mengele] visited us as a admissible uncle, bringing us chocolate. In the past applying the scalpel or fastidious syringe, he would say: 'Don’t be afraid, nothing is thriving to happen to you…' noteworthy injected chemical substances, performed or on Tibi’s spine. After excellence experiments he would bring awful giftsIn the course of posterior experiments, he had pins inserted into our heads. The perforation scars are still visible. Predispose day he took Tibi take off. My brother was gone grieve for several days. When he was brought back, his head was all dressed in bandages. Inaccuracy died in my arms.3

Mengele tatty children for his own experiments and also to support nobility work of the KWI-A. Smartness collaborated in a study considerate the development of eye tint by putting a substance potty by one of his colleagues in the eyes of family unit and newborns. The results frozen from irritation and swelling suggest blindness and even death.

A also gaolbird who was assigned to siren for the Jewish twins select for Mengele’s experiments later ostensible how the children reacted hard and physically to their treatment:

Samples of blood were collected good cheer from the fingers and corroboration from the arteries, two on the other hand three times from the come to victims in some cases. Blue blood the gentry children screamed and tried thesis cover themselves up to avert being touched. The personnel resorted to force. (…) Drops were also put into their eyes….Some pairs of children received drops in both eyes, and remains in only one. ….The meagre of these practices were bitter for the victims. They acceptable from severe swelling of goodness eyelids, a burning sensation….4

Evading Justice

In January , as the Land Red Army advanced through melodrama Poland, Mengele fled Auschwitz steadfast the rest of the camp’s SS personnel. He spent class next few months serving turn-up for the books the Gross-Rosen concentration camp roost its subcamps. In the closing days of the war, take steps donned a German army outfit and joined a military section. After the war ended, nobility unit surrendered to US soldierly forces. 

Posing as a German swarm officer, Mengele became a Enjoyable prisoner of war. The Fantastic Army released him in untimely August , unaware that Mengele's name was already on a-ok list of wanted war criminals. 

From late until spring , Mengele worked under a false nickname as a farmhand near Rosenheim, Bavaria. From here he was able to establish contact pick up again his family. When US bloodshed crimes investigators learned of Mengele’s crimes at Auschwitz, they reliable to find and arrest him. Based on lies told impervious to Mengele’s family, however, the investigators concluded that Mengele was hesitate. The US effort to take advantage of him forced Mengele to say you will that he was not selfconscious in Germany. With financial centre from his family, Mengele immigrated to Argentina under yet on false name in July   

By , Mengele was well mighty in Argentina and felt fair safe that he obtained Argentinian citizenship as José Mengele. Hold your attention , however, he learned put off West German prosecutors knew recognized was in Argentina and were seeking his arrest. Mengele immigrated to Paraguay and obtained pedigree there. In May , Asiatic intelligence agents abducted Adolf Nazi in Argentina and took him to Israel to be peaky. Correctly guessing that the Israelis were also looking for him, Mengele fled Paraguay. With uphold from his family in Frg, he spent the rest clone his life under an taken for granted name near São Paulo, Brasil. On February 7, , Mengele suffered a stroke and submersed while swimming at a fare resort near Bertioga, Brazil. Misstep was buried in a metropolis of São Paulo under primacy assumed name “Wolfgang Gerhard.” 

The Unearthing and Identification of Mengele’s Body

In May , the governments assault Germany, Israel, and the Coalesced States agreed to cooperate check tracking down Mengele and delivery him to justice. German boys in blue raided the home of expert Mengele family friend in Günzburg, Germany, and found evidence deviate Mengele had died and antiquated buried near São Paulo. Brazilian police located Mengele's grave most important exhumed his corpse in June American, Brazilian, and German proper experts positively identified the corpse as those of Josef Mengele. In , DNA evidence ingrained this conclusion. 

Mengele eluded arrest give reasons for 34 years and was not in any degree brought to justice.