Angel of Death: 8 facts about the life and work of Josef Mengele

Josef Mengele was a German doctor who performed medical experiments on Auschwitz concentration camp prisoners. He was an advocate of eugenics, the idea of human selection, and the means to enhance one’s inherited traits. Hundreds of thousands of people have fallen prey to him throughout the years, earning him the nickname “Angel of Death.” He was a very horrible man, and those who attempt to whitewash the Nazis should reconsider their views after learning the horrific truth about one of the wheels in the Third Reich’s ruthless machine.

1. He saw his work as a normal job

The surviving prisoners, rescued during the liberation of Auschwitz, said that it was terrible for them not only the fact that inhuman experiments would be carried out on them but also the reaction of Doctor Death to his patients. They noticed that Mengele lacked sympathy and that all the detainees were only lifeless objects to him. Furthermore, the survivors claim that this was not a ploy; the doctor did not have any emotion and did not value human life in any way. To get the latest stories, install our app here

When fresh inmates arrived at Auschwitz, he stepped out onto the platform and discreetly waved his fingers to the right, indicating that the person would be kept alive for horrible experimentation, or to the left, indicating that the individual would be sent to the gas chamber.

When Josef Mengele was found by his son Rolf in the 1970s, he seemed to be a man who was satisfied with life, who really felt that he did not hurt anybody, and who remained dedicated to Nazi philosophy.

2. He tried to change the colour of his irises by experimenting with them

Attempts to change the colour of the inmates’ eyes to fit the Aryan race – a steel colour – were among Mengele’s most renowned and probably most harmless experiments. To do this, the doctor injected several chemicals into the patients’ eyes, attempting to turn brown eyes grey or blue. To get the latest stories, install our app here

He was particularly fond of peoples with heterochromia, a condition in which the irises are of various hues. If the approach failed, Mengele removed one eye from a live person and transferred the organ of vision to a colleague who specialized in pigmentation for further study.

3. He played the role of the kind “Uncle Josef” to lure children into experiments

It’s unclear if Mengele enjoyed mocking children who were already in a dismal position in this manner, or whether he felt that experiment conducted with less stress would provide more accurate findings, but he appeared to be a kind man and even requested the children to call him “Uncle Josef.” Mengele allegedly cared for his essence by giving candies to youngsters and establishing a kindergarten and playground. He even personally played the violin to the children and entertained them

When the time came for another victim, he was taken in his personal car or a supposed ambulance truck for examination.

Mengele, in particular, was concerned with twin research. When the convicts were transported by rail, the doctor always preserved the twins, regardless of race, but not out of good intentions, but for terrible experiments. Mengele thought the twins were such good test subjects that he permitted them to maintain their hair and clothing, which other inmates were not allowed to do. However, their destiny was to be much less desirable in the future than that of other prisoners since the doctor, in his hunt for methods to raise the Aryans, exposed the children to excruciating painful experiments.

4. As experimental helpers, he chose prisoners

A prisoner was forced to assist the doctor in his horrific experiments today, and he may be on the same table as a test subject tomorrow. Josef Mengele commanded a large cadre of competent physicians and troops ready to carry out the doctor’s orders. Instead of enlisting their assistance, he chose to play psychological games with concentration camp prisoners, choosing captives for use as support personnel in experiments. To get the latest stories, install our app here

The public heard about the true magnitude of the tragedy that took place in the Auschwitz dungeons largely because of the survivors who were unintentionally Mengele’s assistants.

5. While working, he loved to whistle classical music

Above we have already said about the indifference of the doctor to people. This was made worse because Josef Mengele personified the Nazi Germany ideal that they wanted to see in all Germans: intelligent, educated, and courteous, but ruthless to opponents.

He sang classical songs while choosing which of the detainees to subject to tests and whom to send to the gas chamber. Survivors also claim that Mengele loved listening to and singing the music of German and Austrian artists throughout his cruel experiments, particularly Robert Schumann and Franz Schubert.

6. He conducted failed observation experiments

Josef Mengele’s research included examining the effects of exposure to drugs whose effects had long been recognized. He afflicted inmates with terrible diseases, for example, merely to see how the condition progressed. He also injected the inmates with chemicals such as gasoline and stood there watching them die in anguish. It seems that this was done not because of any scientific purpose in proving a theory, but rather because of the SS’s freedom of action and the joy obtained from tormenting individuals.

7. He personally put people to death

Josef Mengele was a scientist and a soldier who served in the SS as a doctor on the Eastern Front in 1941. He was subsequently injured and judged unsuitable to serve in the military. He chose who had the right to be Germanized and who had to be exterminated in occupied Ukraine. To get the latest stories, install our app here

But he didn’t forget about his army experience even at the Auschwitz concentration camp, where head physician Eduard Wirths supervised him. When Josef Mengele thought it was necessary, he personally executed the prisoners, which was a much better destiny than what he had planned for them. As a result, witnesses recalled how Mengele shot patients who refused to jump into near-boiling water. He also murdered a newborn by tossing him from a building’s top on another occasion. It is unknown how many people Josef Mengele directly murdered in experiments or with the use of weapons, but the figure is in the tens of thousands.

8. He managed to get away with it

The fact that this war criminal got away with it is maybe the most frightening truth. Josef Mengele disguised himself as a regular soldier. He escaped to the west, where he was apprehended by the allies, as Soviet soldiers approached Auschwitz and all Nazis awaited their ultimate execution for the horrors they had done. However, he was eventually freed since there was a misunderstanding with tens of thousands of captives at the time, and his identification could not be determined. To get the latest stories, install our app here

Mengele stayed in a Bavarian town for a while before fleeing to Argentina in 1949, which was still loyal to the former Nazis. He conducted illegal abortions there before opening a drugstore. He resided in the Buenos Aires suburbs until the early 1960s. Josef Mengele travelled to Brazil after the Israeli intelligence organization Mossad abducted Adolf Eichmann, another Nazi criminal who used a false identity. He died at the age of 67 after having a stroke while swimming in the ocean on February 7, 1979.