Dr. Josef Mengele
By Sarah Bibbey
December 2, 2011
Term 2
His Early Life
His name was Josef Rudolf Mengele
 He was born on March 16, 1911- Died on
February 7, 1979
 Josef was the oldest of 3 children.
 His family included: his brother Karl Junior, his
sister Alois, and his parents Karl and Walburga
Mengele.

Later in Life





Married Irene Schönbein on July 28, 1939
He and Irene had one child named Rolf, who
was born March 11, 1941
In 1949, his wife Irene divorced him
Mengele remarried Martha Mengele who was
his younger brother’s widow.
They had no children with each other
His Studies
In 1935, Mengele earned a PhD in Anthropology
from the University of Munich.
 1937 he became the assistant to Dr. Otmar
Freiherr Von Verschuer was known for his
research in genetics
 Also Mengele studied under Theodor Mollison
and Eugen Fischer who were involved in
medical experiments on the Herero tribe in
South-West Africa

Military Service
In 1937 Mengele joined the Nazi Party
 Mengele was drafted into the army in 1940
 Just before he was transferred to Auschwitz,
Mengele was promoted to the rank of SSHauptsturmführer (Captain) in April 1943.

Auschwitz
May 1943 Mengele replaced another doctor
who had fallen ill
 Became Chief Medical Officer of the main
infirmary camp at Birkenau
 Mengele earned the nickname "Angel of Death"
for the cruelty he visited upon prisoners

Human
Experimentation
Mengele used Auschwitz as an opportunity to
continue his research on heredity, using inmates
for human experimentation.
 Mengele's experiments also included attempts
to change eye color by injecting chemicals into
children's eyes
 He had a long life fascination with identical
twins

After Auschwitz
The SS abandoned the Auschwitz camp on
January 27, 1945, and Mengele transferred to
Gross Rosen camp in Lower Silesia, again
working as camp physician.
 The unit hurried west to avoid being captured
by the Soviets and were taken as prisoners of
war by the Americans.
 Mengele, initially registered under his own
name, was released in June 1945 with papers
giving his name as "Fritz Hollmann".

In South America



In Buenos Aires, Mengele at first worked in
construction, but soon came in contact with
influential Germans, who allowed him an affluent
lifestyle in subsequent years.
Mengele practiced medicine, specializing in illegal
abortions, and was briefly detained by police on
one occasion for the death of a patient during an
abortion.
He was doing well in South America, yet Mengele
feared being captured, especially after news of
Eichmann's capture and subsequent trial were
revealed
Manhunt
Mengele was listed on the Allies' list of war
criminals as early as 1944.
 His name was mentioned in the Nuremberg
trials several times, but Allied forces were
convinced that Mengele was dead, which was
also claimed by Irene and the family.
 Mengele sightings were reported all over the
world, but they turned out to be false.

Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf2_
OXkTedg
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY6Jgc
6vTZg&feature=related

Sources
Google pictures
 Wikipedia
 YouTube
