Josef Mengele Accomplishments

“The more we do to you, the less you seem to believe that we are doing it.” Dr. Josef Mengele, more commonly known as the “Angel of Death,” once spoke these words during a time when he would execute inhumane and atrocious experiments on innocent people at the death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau. Mengele struck fear into every prisoner he came across. Although he was a monster of a man, he wasn’t born into savagery. Josef Mengele was born into a rich family in Günzburg, Germany on March 16, 1911. He was a very intelligent student, but unfortunately, he used his intelligence for evil. Therefore, Josef Mengele had a significant role in World War II, the world, and history because of his previous participation as a Nazi soldier and his role

This camp was the second of three Auschwitz concentration camps. People that were sent to this camp were Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, African Americans, people who opposed the Nazis, and many more. After his participation in the army, Mengele started off his medical career there in 1943 after the first Auschwitz was liquidated. Mengele’s job at the camp is best described as, “In 1943, Gestapo chief Heinrich Himmler named Mengele chief medical officer at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, where Mengele's duties included determining which incoming prisoners would be assigned to work details and which would be sent to death in the gas chambers” (Newsmakers 1). Dr. Mengele was appointed as Chief Camp Physician of Auschwitz-Birkenau. As prisoners would come in, he would choose who would die immediately in the gas chambers and who would live and work endlessly. Left would mean gas chambers, and right would mean they stay and work. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum website adds, “Known as the ‘Angel of Death,’ or sometimes as the ‘White Angel,’ for his coldly cruel demeanor on the ramp, Mengele is associated more closely with this ‘selection duty’ than any other medical officer at Auschwitz” (3). He would instill fear into everyone and never even tried to calm anyone down, especially when he was about to kill them. As some officers would get drunk before the selection process in

Mengele fled Auschwitz-Birkenau right before it was liquidated which turned into one of the greatest manhunts in history. Mengele left Auschwitz-Birkenau on January 17, 1945. He took records and notes of his experiments, but he destroyed most of them as to hide what he actually executed. Almost all of his notes were never found. Mengele became depressed as he was on the run. He had high blood pressure, stress, and other things that ultimately led to his downfall. He moved west, to the Gross-Rosen concentration camp. On February 13, 1945, he left once more right before the camp was liquidated. As acknowledged by UXL Biographies, “After hiding his files with a friend, he was captured along with his medical unit in Bavaria by U.S. forces” (3) The U.S. forces let him go although he was listed under major war criminals in the U.S. database. Mengele got ahold of a duplicate set of release papers under a false name in which he used to flee again. He then went to his hometown, Günzburg, Germany, were the locals protected him. They believed that all the things that he really did were lies told to them by the enemies. They deceived the Allies for a while. Mengele worked on the farm there. Eventually, the Allies caught up and searched many houses of family members, friends, neighbors, and more. There they found false evidence that Mengele was dead. This stirred up a lot of confusion around finding Mengele for they didn’t know whether he was even alive. UXL Biographies