Josef Mengele

**Josef Rudolf Mengele**, better known as **Doctor Josef Mengele** (March 16, 1911 – February 7, 1979), was a German Nazi SS officer and a physician at Auschwitz concentration camp.  There, he worked with Rudolf Höss, the camp's Commandant.

Mengele participated in the Holocaust. After trainloads of victims arrived at the camp, Mengele selected which would be killed instantly and which would be allowed to live as slave laborers.**' He ordered the deaths of many people - sometimes entire barracks of prisoners at a time.**'

Mengele also performed many painful and unethical medical experiments on prisoners at Auschwitz. Many of these prisoners died; Mengele had others killed so he could study their bodies.

After the war, he avoided capture and fled to South America. He died in Brazil at age 67.

### Education and theses

Mengele received a doctorate in anthropology in 1935 and a medical degree in 1938, both from the University of Frankfurt.

Mengele believed in scientific racism and eugenics. His 1936 thesis claimed it was possible to determine a person's race by looking at their jawbone. His thesis advisor was Theodor Mollison.

In 1938 Mengele wrote another thesis about cleft palates which supported the idea that people with congenital disabilities should be sterilized.

### Before Auschwitz

Mengele joined the Nazi Party in 1937 and the SS in 1938. During the first years of World War II, he served as a medical officer in the Waffen-SS.

In 1942, he was wounded. He recovered and went to work at the Race and Resettlement Office in Berlin.

### At Auschwitz

In 1943, Mengele volunteered to work at Auschwitz concentration camp. According to a 2020 _New Yorker_ article, "This was regarded as a [great] assignment for S.S. troops; you could kill people there without the threat of being killed."

At Auschwitz, Mengele had an unlimited supply of prisoners to use for medical experiments.  These experiments were cruel and broke all of the laws of medical ethics.**'

He was fascinated with twins and dwarves, and did many experiments on them. His victims included many children. He killed many twins and dwarves so he could autopsy and compare their bodies.

He often infected prisoners, including children, with diseases to study the illnesses' effects. If a prisoner survived, they were killed so Mengele could study their bodies.

He used Jewish and Roma prisoners to try out different methods of castrating or sterilizing people. His goal was to find methods that the Nazis could use on millions of people. He also experimented on pregnant women.

Mengele's experiments were often extremely painful. Sometimes he removed prisoners' organs without anesthetic. He amputated healthy arms and legs, and injected chemicals into prisoners' eyes to try to change their eye color.

For his actions and his cruelty at Auschwitz, Mengele was nicknamed the _Angel of Death._ In 1960 and 1961, after Mengele had fled Germany, his title of physician was revoked.

### Escape and death

After the war, Mengele first hid in Germany, then escaped and lived in South America. He drowned in Sao Paolo, Brazil on February 7, 1979.**' At the time, he was 67 and had never gotten in trouble for the things he did at Auschwitz.

### Promotions and ranks in the SS (1940-1945)

- SS-Untersturmfuhrer (Second Lieutenant) ; 1940-1942
- SS-Obersturmfuhrer (First Lieutenant) ; 1942-1943
- SS-Hauptsturmfuhrer (Captain) ; 1943-1945

## Related pages

- Nazi Germany
- The Holocaust
- Auschwitz concentration camp
- World War II
- Medical ethics
- Scientific racism
- Eugenics

## Other websites

- A short essay on Mengele at the Holocaust ,,.,history project
- A short essay about Mengele by Robert Jay Lifton

## Infobox (military person)

- **name**: Josef Mengele
- **birth place**: Günzburg, Kingdom of Bavaria,German Empire
- **death place**: Bertioga, São Paulo, Brazil
- **image**: WP Josef Mengele 1956.jpg
- **caption**: Mengele in c.1955-1956
- **signature**: Josef Mengele Signature.svg
- **nickname**: Angel of Death (),White Angel (German : Der Wießerengel or Wießerengel),Wolfgang Gerhard (Burial Name)
- **religion**: Atheist
- **allegiance**: (1938-1945)
- **branch**:  Schutzstaffel
- **serviceyears**: 1938—1945
- **rank**: Hauptsturmführer, Schutzstaffel, SS (Captain)
- **battles**: World War II
- **awards**: Iron Cross, Iron Cross First Class
Wound Badge, Black Badge for the Wounded
Medal for the Care of the German People
- **commands**: Human medical experimentation performed on prisoners at Auschwitz concentration camp, and selection of prisoners to be gassed at Auschwitz
- **spouse**: Irene Schönbein
- **parents**: Karl Mengele
Walburga Hupfauer
- **children**: Rolf Mengele