Dr. Josef Mengele By Sarah Bibbey

December 2, 2011Term 2

His Early LifeHis name was Josef Rudolf MengeleHe was born on March 16, 1911- Died

on February 7, 1979Josef 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 LifeMarried Irene Schönbein on July 28,

1939He and Irene had one child named

Rolf, who was born March 11, 1941In 1949, his wife Irene divorced himMengele 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 ServiceIn 1937 Mengele joined the Nazi PartyMengele was drafted into the army in

1940Just before he was transferred to

Auschwitz, Mengele was promoted to the rank of SS-Hauptsturmführer (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 BirkenauMengele 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 AmericaIn 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

ManhuntMengele 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.

Videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v

=Wf2_OXkTedghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v

=zY6Jgc6vTZg&feature=related

SourcesGoogle picturesWikipediaYouTube

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