Josef Mengele

Who was Josef Mengele?

Josef Mengele was a German Schutzstaffel officer and physician in Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II. He was notorious for the selection of victims to be killed in the gas chambers and for performing unscientific and often deadly human experiments on prisoners. After the war, he fled to South America, where he evaded capture for the rest of his life.

Mengele received doctorates in anthropology and medicine from Munich University and began a career as a researcher. He joined the Nazi Party in 1937 and the SS in 1938. Initially assigned as a battalion medical officer at the start of World War II, he transferred to the concentration camp service in early 1943 and was assigned to Auschwitz. There he saw the opportunity to conduct genetic research on human subjects. His subsequent experiments, focusing primarily on twins, were unscientific and had no regard for the health or safety of the victims. Mengele was also a member of the team of doctors assigned to do "selections": new arrivals deemed able to work were admitted into the camp, and those deemed unfit for labor were immediately killed in the gas chambers.