Who Is Dr. Perl's Out Of Death, A Zest For Life?

Bad Science

On Monday, November 15th, 1982 the New York Times published an article entitled “Out of Death, a Zest for Life.” The title caught my eye because it seemed to be the only one that didn’t have to do with politics, the economy, or terrorism. The author, Nadine Brozan, wrote this article based on an interview with a woman named Dr. Gisella Perl. Dr. Perl was a Hungarian gynecologist and a survivor of the Holocaust from one of its most famous death camps; Auschwitz.

As a prisoner, she was allowed to work as a doctor who was forced to aid Dr. Josef Mengele. Dr. Mengele was a man who practiced very bizarre, unethical medical experiments on the prisoners of Auschwitz and he eventually became known as “the doctor of death” or “the angel of death.” Dr, Perl said, “One of the greatest crimes in Auschwitz was to be pregnant.” (Brozan C: 20) Not only did Dr. Mengele perform horrible experiments on pregnant women, but he also preformed tests on handicapped prisoners and twins (which he is most

Perl helped pregnant women at Auschwitz the best way she knew how to, and sadly it was a horrible thing she had to do for them. For her to continue being a gynecologist after having worked at Auschwitz must take a lot of strength. I was intrigued to see the different points of view people had when speaking of Dr. Mengele. She described him as an evil, bizarre, and twisted man (Brozan C: 20) On the flip side, various twins used in his experiments had a very strong bond with him (Dekel & Lognado 9) Regardless of how anybody chooses to see him, Dr. Mengele is said to be one of the leading murderers in the Holocaust. In my opinion, he rightfully earned the titles of “The Angel (or Doctor) of