T hough many people do not believe in the concept of hell, I think we can all agree that certain individuals deserve to melt in the darkest abyss in existence.Think Dr. Josef Mengele. In case many of you have not had the pleasure of knowing who he is, I am about to pour acid onto whatever disintegrating innocence you may have left. This man was known as “The Angel of Death,” or “Todesengel” in Auschwitz during Nazi Germany due to his ungodly experiments performed on prisoners, most famously to twins. I must warn readers that the following content is gruesome, and contains detailed descriptions of horrendous human experiments.
The Background
On March 16, 1911, Josef Mengele was born to Karl and Walburga Mengele in Günzburg, Germany. He had two younger brothers, Karl Jr. and Alois Mengele. Josef’s father was the founder of a successful farm machinery company, so Josef’s childhood seemed normal, if not privileged. Throughout high school, he received good grades and developed a love for music, skiing, and art. He studied philosophy at the University of Munich in 1930, but earned a PhD in Anthropology.
It is interesting to ponder whether him residing in munich, which was also seen as the headquarters for the Nazi Party, may have influenced him later on when he joined the Stahlhelm - a paramilitary nationalist organization established after World War I which soon became absorbed by the Nazi Party - in 1931 at the age of 20. He later enrolled into the University of Frankfurt to study medicine, and it was here where he truly became interested in genetics to the point of writing a thesis on the subject that managed to earn him a cum laude doctorate in medicine in 1938; his next plan of action was joining the SS that same year.
The Background
On March 16, 1911, Josef Mengele was born to Karl and Walburga Mengele in Günzburg, Germany. He had two younger brothers, Karl Jr. and Alois Mengele. Josef’s father was the founder of a successful farm machinery company, so Josef’s childhood seemed normal, if not privileged. Throughout high school, he received good grades and developed a love for music, skiing, and art. He studied philosophy at the University of Munich in 1930, but earned a PhD in Anthropology.
It is interesting to ponder whether him residing in munich, which was also seen as the headquarters for the Nazi Party, may have influenced him later on when he joined the Stahlhelm - a paramilitary nationalist organization established after World War I which soon became absorbed by the Nazi Party - in 1931 at the age of 20. He later enrolled into the University of Frankfurt to study medicine, and it was here where he truly became interested in genetics to the point of writing a thesis on the subject that managed to earn him a cum laude doctorate in medicine in 1938; his next plan of action was joining the SS that same year.
Entry to Auschwitz
After receiving military training and being drafted to the army in June of 1940, he later became wounded while in the Medical SS division and was deemed unfit for combat, but was still promoted to captain. During this time, he was working for his mentor Von Verschuer, who convinced Mengele to apply to work at Auschwitz because it would give him the opportunity to further his research on genetics. At first, Mengele was not able to work “treating” the prisoners, so he was assigned to the “selections” process where he would determine which incoming prisoners would go to the gas chambers, which would go to the barracks, and which would go for medical experimentation straight off the train. It was at this time that he earned his nickname because he reportedly wore a long white lab coat while nonchalantly pointing prisoners to the left or right - death or life - with his riding crop.
In fact, it could be inferred that he seemed to truly enjoy the newfound power he had acquired in determining life or death, and would actually shoot many prisoners for no reason or send sick women straight to the gas chambers. At one point, it was said that a Jewish woman coming into the camp was obviously not ok with being separated from her thirteen year old daughter, so she scratched the face of an SS officer. When Mengele heard about this, he shot the woman and her daughter with no hesitation, then proceeded to send everyone he had just pointed to right straight to the gas chambers out of pure spite.
While working with Von Verschuer, Mengele had done many legitimate experiments regarding genetics and twins, but once he was transferred to Auschwitz and was promoted to first physician of the Birkenau camp, he took free reign of the opportunity and proceeded to seemingly lose all remaining regards for human life.
After receiving military training and being drafted to the army in June of 1940, he later became wounded while in the Medical SS division and was deemed unfit for combat, but was still promoted to captain. During this time, he was working for his mentor Von Verschuer, who convinced Mengele to apply to work at Auschwitz because it would give him the opportunity to further his research on genetics. At first, Mengele was not able to work “treating” the prisoners, so he was assigned to the “selections” process where he would determine which incoming prisoners would go to the gas chambers, which would go to the barracks, and which would go for medical experimentation straight off the train. It was at this time that he earned his nickname because he reportedly wore a long white lab coat while nonchalantly pointing prisoners to the left or right - death or life - with his riding crop.
In fact, it could be inferred that he seemed to truly enjoy the newfound power he had acquired in determining life or death, and would actually shoot many prisoners for no reason or send sick women straight to the gas chambers. At one point, it was said that a Jewish woman coming into the camp was obviously not ok with being separated from her thirteen year old daughter, so she scratched the face of an SS officer. When Mengele heard about this, he shot the woman and her daughter with no hesitation, then proceeded to send everyone he had just pointed to right straight to the gas chambers out of pure spite.
While working with Von Verschuer, Mengele had done many legitimate experiments regarding genetics and twins, but once he was transferred to Auschwitz and was promoted to first physician of the Birkenau camp, he took free reign of the opportunity and proceeded to seemingly lose all remaining regards for human life.
Child Victims of Josef Mengele
Photo Credit: Auschwitz (5/44) - Roma Children - victims of Josef Mengele's "experiments" - Panasonic DMC-LC40 via Flickr. (License)
Photo Credit: Auschwitz (5/44) - Roma Children - victims of Josef Mengele's "experiments" - Panasonic DMC-LC40 via Flickr. (License)
Human Experimentation
Mengele soon formed the habit of going to do the selections process even when he was off duty just to keep an eye out for children and gypsies, but especially twins. It was actually reported that he was extremely kind to the children he chose for his experiments to the point where many would refer to him as “uncle Mengele.” He would give candy to his subjects and take the time to remember little details of the children’s life just to let them think he genuinly cared about them. The places where he housed the children he wanted to use in his experiments were better than the conditions of other prisoners, he fed them well, and he had even made a playground and kindergarten available to them. Aside from this, he would keep his subjects safe from the gas chambers for a short period of time.
Regardless of this, Mengele most certainly did not care about any of these innocent children, and just saw them as his experiments. In fact, he once killed a pair of twins just to settle an argument regarding a diagnosis with another doctor. As one former Auschwitz prisoner doctor so eloquently put in Robert Jay Lifton’s book titled What made this man? Mengele, “He was capable of being so kind to the children, to have them become fond of him, to bring them sugar, to think of small details in their daily lives, and to do things we would genuinely admire ... And then, next to that, ... the crematoria smoke, and these children, tomorrow or in a half-hour, he is going to send them there. Well, that is where the anomaly lay.”
Mengele would measure his prisoners’ body weekly in order to determine if they were fit for his experiments, which would consist of amputating one twin’s arm and trying to reattach it to the other twin, injecting chemicals into living kids’ eyes in order to try and change their eye color which would result in blindness, pain and infection, drawing blood from twins just for sheer enjoyment, perform sex changes, create incestuous impregnations, and many other things. All these experiments were done without anesthesia.
It is well recorded that Mengele was really interested in people with hetero-chromatic eyes, so he would kill them and then proceed to gouge out their eyeballs in order to send them to Berlin for further studies. He would also start a “collection” of dwarves and others with physical disabilities whom he would torture by pulling out healthy teeth ,bleeding them to death, or sending them to the gas chamber before dissecting their cadavers. In fact, he performed post-mortem autopsies on all of his subjects. If one twin was to die from his experiments, he would kill the other by injecting chloroform into their heart just so he could dissect both of them after death and compare them. One witness named Vera Alexander once stated that she saw Mengele sew together two twins in order to create his own demented type of conjoined twin by connecting their blood vessels and organs before the twins died from gangrene three days later.
Mengele soon formed the habit of going to do the selections process even when he was off duty just to keep an eye out for children and gypsies, but especially twins. It was actually reported that he was extremely kind to the children he chose for his experiments to the point where many would refer to him as “uncle Mengele.” He would give candy to his subjects and take the time to remember little details of the children’s life just to let them think he genuinly cared about them. The places where he housed the children he wanted to use in his experiments were better than the conditions of other prisoners, he fed them well, and he had even made a playground and kindergarten available to them. Aside from this, he would keep his subjects safe from the gas chambers for a short period of time.
Regardless of this, Mengele most certainly did not care about any of these innocent children, and just saw them as his experiments. In fact, he once killed a pair of twins just to settle an argument regarding a diagnosis with another doctor. As one former Auschwitz prisoner doctor so eloquently put in Robert Jay Lifton’s book titled What made this man? Mengele, “He was capable of being so kind to the children, to have them become fond of him, to bring them sugar, to think of small details in their daily lives, and to do things we would genuinely admire ... And then, next to that, ... the crematoria smoke, and these children, tomorrow or in a half-hour, he is going to send them there. Well, that is where the anomaly lay.”
Mengele would measure his prisoners’ body weekly in order to determine if they were fit for his experiments, which would consist of amputating one twin’s arm and trying to reattach it to the other twin, injecting chemicals into living kids’ eyes in order to try and change their eye color which would result in blindness, pain and infection, drawing blood from twins just for sheer enjoyment, perform sex changes, create incestuous impregnations, and many other things. All these experiments were done without anesthesia.
It is well recorded that Mengele was really interested in people with hetero-chromatic eyes, so he would kill them and then proceed to gouge out their eyeballs in order to send them to Berlin for further studies. He would also start a “collection” of dwarves and others with physical disabilities whom he would torture by pulling out healthy teeth ,bleeding them to death, or sending them to the gas chamber before dissecting their cadavers. In fact, he performed post-mortem autopsies on all of his subjects. If one twin was to die from his experiments, he would kill the other by injecting chloroform into their heart just so he could dissect both of them after death and compare them. One witness named Vera Alexander once stated that she saw Mengele sew together two twins in order to create his own demented type of conjoined twin by connecting their blood vessels and organs before the twins died from gangrene three days later.
Eva and Miriam Mozes
Photo Credit: Surving the Angel of Death by Eva Mozes Kor via Flickr. (License)
Photo Credit: Surving the Angel of Death by Eva Mozes Kor via Flickr. (License)
One twin remembers the death of her brother at the hands of Mengele and states that, “Dr. Mengele had always been more interested in Tibi. I am not sure why - perhaps because he was the older twin. Mengele made several operations on Tibi. One surgery on his spine left my brother paralyzed. He could not walk anymore. Then they took out his sexual organs. After the fourth operation, I did not see Tibi anymore. I cannot tell you how I felt. It is impossible to put into words how I felt. They had taken away my father, my mother, my two older brothers - and now, my twin.” There was another case of a pair of twins under Mengele’s authority, but miraculously, these two survived to tell the tale. These brave women are named Eva and Miriam Mozes, and they were identical twins whose parents, grandparents, sisters, uncles, and aunts were all killed in the Holocaust, so all they had was each other. Miriam claims that when they first entered the camp, she remembered seeing dead children sprawled on the floor, and that it was then that she was determined to not let herself or Eva be dead and sprawled on that filthy floor like those children.
Though both sisters were subjected to brutal experimentations, it was Eva who came the closest to dying after being injected with a mystery substance by Mengele and developing a high fever. It was at this point that she remembers that, “Mengele and Dr. Konig and three other doctors came in the next morning. They looked at [her] fever chart, and Dr. Mengele said, laughingly, 'Too bad, she is so young. She has only two weeks to live." After they managed to get liberated from the camp, the twins were featured in a film taken by the soviets on the Holocaust.
Though both sisters were subjected to brutal experimentations, it was Eva who came the closest to dying after being injected with a mystery substance by Mengele and developing a high fever. It was at this point that she remembers that, “Mengele and Dr. Konig and three other doctors came in the next morning. They looked at [her] fever chart, and Dr. Mengele said, laughingly, 'Too bad, she is so young. She has only two weeks to live." After they managed to get liberated from the camp, the twins were featured in a film taken by the soviets on the Holocaust.
The Aftermath
As soon as the war was over in 1945, Mengele was in custody of the United States and became a fugitive, but was soon released because the US failed to realize that he was on a list of war criminals. By fall of 1948, Mengele decided to move to Argentina in an area full of Nazi Sympathizers. He was able to live there peacefully by using a false identity he acquired through the Red Cross. Though his father’s company had no ties to South America, his father tried his best to aid Mengele in his Emigration and even managed to create business connections his son could develop. Despite this, the International Military Tribunal and the Mossad both attempted to extradite Mengele in 1960 after successfully capturing Adolf Eichmann from Buenos Aires, so Mengele decided to move to Paraguay, and then Brazil.
Josef Mengele died in Sao Paolo, Brazil at the age of 67 due to a stroke while swimming in a vacation resort. All files on his experiments have never been found, and even if they were, they would be of no use to the scientific community because all he did was not in the name of science in any way. All the atrocities he managed to commit were done solely for his enjoyment, and he never once tried to prevent the death of any of his subjects, he only caused them. In return, he lived to a ripe old age and never paid for his crimes. At the beginning of this post when I stated Mengele deserved to melt in the darkest abyss in existence, I was wrong. This creature deserves to rot in a place so full of suffering that no human can even begin to conceive. I just hope everyone, both dead and alive, that had to endure the torture he placed upon them found some peace.
As soon as the war was over in 1945, Mengele was in custody of the United States and became a fugitive, but was soon released because the US failed to realize that he was on a list of war criminals. By fall of 1948, Mengele decided to move to Argentina in an area full of Nazi Sympathizers. He was able to live there peacefully by using a false identity he acquired through the Red Cross. Though his father’s company had no ties to South America, his father tried his best to aid Mengele in his Emigration and even managed to create business connections his son could develop. Despite this, the International Military Tribunal and the Mossad both attempted to extradite Mengele in 1960 after successfully capturing Adolf Eichmann from Buenos Aires, so Mengele decided to move to Paraguay, and then Brazil.
Josef Mengele died in Sao Paolo, Brazil at the age of 67 due to a stroke while swimming in a vacation resort. All files on his experiments have never been found, and even if they were, they would be of no use to the scientific community because all he did was not in the name of science in any way. All the atrocities he managed to commit were done solely for his enjoyment, and he never once tried to prevent the death of any of his subjects, he only caused them. In return, he lived to a ripe old age and never paid for his crimes. At the beginning of this post when I stated Mengele deserved to melt in the darkest abyss in existence, I was wrong. This creature deserves to rot in a place so full of suffering that no human can even begin to conceive. I just hope everyone, both dead and alive, that had to endure the torture he placed upon them found some peace.