Josef Mengele Research Paper

Josef Mengele was born on March 16, 1911, in Gunzburg, Germany. He was the born the oldest son of Walburga and Karl Mengele. His father was a “...prosperous manufacturer of farming implements” (www.ushmm.org). He had two younger brothers, Alois and Karl Jr Mengele. Through his schooling, Mengele was known to be incredibly intelligent and ambitious. He attended the Frankfurt University Institute of Hereditary Biology and Racial Hygiene, and also the Anthropological Institute at the University of Munich. He studied genetics and anthropology, and earned a Ph.D. in physical anthropology in 1935. During his time in university, he wrote three articles, most of which were dissertations. They were entitled “Racial-Morphological Examination of the Anterior Portion of the Lower Jaw in Four Racial Groups...Genealogical Studies in the Cases of Cleft-Lip-Jaw-Palate [and] Hereditary

“In 1931 at the age of 20 he joined the Stahlhelm (Steel Helmet); he joined the SA in 1923 and upon being accepted into the Nazi party, he applied for membership in the SS” (www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org). Mengele earned a medical degree around the same time, and was drafted into the army in June 1940. While in the army, Josef served as a volunteer for the medical service Waffen-SS, and a medical officer with the SS Division “Wiking”. Josef also “...functioned as a medical expert for the Race and Settlement Main Office…” (www.ushmm.org). He began working for the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute (KWI) under Dr. Otmar von Verschuer, a mentor from his university years, for Eugenics, Anthropology, and Human Genetics after he became injured during war in January 1943 and returned back to Germany. A few months later, Mengele was promoted to SS captain. With better opportunities for his studies and research in mind, Josef decided to relocate to a concentration