Josef Mengele: The Angel Of Death

Toju Ogunnowo

Josef Mengele

Josef Mengele, or The Angel Of Death as he is more commonly known as, was born on March 16, 1911, in Günzburg, Germany, to a rich family. He didn’t have a sad backstory as many people would assume. Instead, as a child, he had good grades, was well-liked, and his father even had a successful business in Germany.

In 1953, he graduated from the University of Munich with a PhD in Physical Anthropology. Two years later, in January 1937, he became the assistant of Dr. Otmar von Verschuer, who had already begun to do research on the twin experiments. Josef joined the Nazi party that same year. By June 1940, he was drafted into the German army and volunteered for the medical service of the Waffen-SS, an armed wing of the

He wanted to show the lack of resistance among Jews and wanted to perpetuate the degeneration of Jew and “gypsy” blood through physical abnormalities and the collection of blood and tissue samples. Most patients had unfortunately died as a result of all his experimentation. While we often associate Josef Mengele as the main perpetrator, Dr. Miklos Nyiszli contributed greatly to his research.

Josef had planned to combine all his research to make an essay called Habilitation, but never got to accomplish that. He instead fled Auschwitz as the Soviet Army advanced to western Poland. He obtained a fake identity and worked on a farm near Günzburg until 1949. After escaping to Argentina, police found his hiding place from a friend of Mengele's, only to find out he had drowned to death in 1979.

Introducing this to the U.S Holocaust Memorial Museum would increase the general knowledge about World War II and the individual destruction caused to those who lived through it and their families. This man significantly affected both the medical world and history forever, yet many people have never heard of his name. He was a major part of the holocaust and was the main doctor behind the twin experiments. Having more information about Josef Mengele will also inform people about the twin experiments, another part of the holocaust that

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“Dr. Josef Mengele: The Cruelest Nazi Doctor of the Holocaust.” Medical Bag, 15 June 2016, www.medicalbag.com/despicable-doctors/dr-josef-mengele-the-cruelest-nazi-doctor-of-the-holocaust/article/472824/.

Pictures

watson.ch. “Der Nazi-Arzt Mengele Entkam Dem Mossad Nur Knapp – Ein Anderer Nazi War Wichtiger.” Watson.ch, Watson, 7 Sept. 2017, www.watson.ch/Wissen/International/347137555-Der-Nazi-Arzt-Mengele-entkam-dem-Mossad-nur-knapp-----ein-anderer-Nazi-war-wichtiger.

“Dr. Josef Mengele: The Cruelest Nazi Doctor of the Holocaust.” Medical Bag, 15 June 2016, www.medicalbag.com/despicable-doctors/dr-josef-mengele-the-cruelest-nazi-doctor-of-the-holocaust/article/472824/.

Walker, Andy. “The Twins of Auschwitz.” BBC News, BBC, 28 Jan. 2015, www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30933718.

Stockton, Richard. “4 Of The Most Evil Science Experiments Ever Performed.” All That's Interesting, All That's Interesting, 25 Aug. 2017,