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Written by: Mark Weber of the Institute for Historical Review. 

With the possible exceptions of Hitler and Himmler, no man has been so vilified in recent years with the personification of “Nazi Evil” as Dr. Josef Mengele. 

In countless newspapers and magazine articles, Mengele has been routinely accused of sending 400,000 people to their deaths in gas chambers while serving as the chief physician at Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1943 and 1944. The man dubbed the “Angel of Death” supposedly conducted gruesome “experiments” on selected Jewish victims and habitually delighted in sadistic atrocities. For example, according to U.S. News and World Report (June 24, 1985) he enjoyed “giving candy to children he tossed alive into the ovens while he hummed Mozart and Wagner.” The Washington Post (March 8, 1985) reported that Mengele “routinely tossed babies into ovens alive” and “ordered pregnant women onto their backs, then stomped them until they aborted.”

While no sane person would excuse or whitewash atrocities, no matter who commits them, a basic regard for truth and decency compels another. And we must ALWAYS try to SEPARATE FACT from FICTION. So what are the Facts?… 

Mengele was born into a Catholic, middle-class family in Bavaria on March 16, 1911. Mengele enjoyed a normal childhood; he was a creative and intelligent child who often wrote plays for local charity events. In 1931, Mengele joined the Stahlhelm League of Front Soldiers (Der Stahlhelm) which was a WWI Veterans organization that INCLUDED SUPPORT for Jewish veterans of the First World War. In 1933 ‘Der Stahlhelm’ was absorbed into the growing nationalist movement in Germany. Despite his family wanting him to take up the family business, Mengele would pursue a medical career. He obtained his first doctorate from Munich University and his second doctorate at Frankfurt Main University on the studies of genealogical science. Joseph Mengele officially joined the National Socialist German Workers Party in 1937 and became an SS officer in 1938. In 1939 Mengele married Irene Schoenbein (and had his only child Rolf in 1944). During his three years of military service, mostly on the Eastern front, he proved himself a brave and diligent soldier, and received FIVE DECORATIONS , including the Iron Cross First Class and Second Class. In 1943 he was assigned as the chief physician at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Mengele was in charge of the large staff of inmate doctors, most of them Jewish, who treated inmates.  

Many Jews survived the war as a result of medical care in the camp infirmary, which was under Dr. Mengele’s general supervision. One such person was OTTO  FRANK , father of the famous ANNE  FRANK . After coming down sick, Otto was transferred to the camp hospital, where he remained until Soviet troops reached Auschwitz in January 1945. When the Germans evacuated the camp shortly beforehand, they left behind those who could not move, including sick, elderly and infirm inmates, and a number of children. The most horrific charges made against Mengele, such as the tale that he tossed live babies into ovens, are sick and absurd fables that contradict what is known about the doctor’s character. For example, as Time Magazine reported (June 24, 1985), Mengele was “given to occasional flourishes of gallantry: after transferring a pregnant Jewish doctor to Cracow to do research for him, Mengele sent her flowers upon the birth of her son.”

In the book, Autonomy of the Auschwitz Death Camp it is admitted that Joseph Mengele was genuinely kind to children at the camp and came to be known as “Good Uncle” by them.  Joseph Mengele oversaw the building of a Kindergarten for the children in barracks #29 and #31 in Auschwitz. All children under the age of 6 could visit the facility from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and were well cared for. The facility included walls decorated with scenes from fairy tales, an outside sandbox, a swing-set and a merry-go-round. 

It’s conceivable, of course, that Mengele could have murdered inmates , although camp officials who committed such crimes risked severe punishment. For example, the Buchenwald camp physician, Dr. Waldemar Hoven, was sentenced to death by an SS court for murdering inmates there.

Nationally syndicated columnist Jeffrey Hart told readers that he doubted many of the “monster Mengele” stories being peddled in the mass media. “… As a professional historian, I would urge some caution about many of the anecdotes that are being routinely accepted as fact,” wrote Hart. “My own historical hunch is that much of this kind of thing is mythology, concocted as a kind of metaphor … I doubt the story that he killed a women by crushing her throat with his boot. It will be a long time before scholars sift the fact from the fiction about Mengele.” (The Washington Times, July 9, 1985)
The evidence seems rather clear that Mengele did, in fact, perform medical research operations on Auschwitz inmates. In this regard it’s perhaps worth noting that the U.S. government conducted similar medical “experiments” both during and after the Second World War. American military physicians infected Negroes with syphilis without their knowledge as part of an investigation of new ways to treat venereal disease. And during the 1950s the CIA financed psychiatric experiments involving LSD, sleep deprivation, massive shock therapy and attempted brain-washing of hospital patients without their knowledge or consent. One survivor, Louis Weinstein, is now reportedly a “human guinea pig, a poor, pathetic man with no memory, no life.” The U.S. government has been sued for redress on behalf of Weinstein and eight other persons. (The Washington Post, August 1, 1985, editorial)
A flawed but enlightening article about Mengele by Professor Robert Jay Lifton of the City University of New York appeared in the July 21, 1985 issue of the The New York Times Magazine. The lengthy essay begins by noting that “Mengele has long been the focus of what could be called a cult of demonic personality. He has been seen as the embodiment of absolute evil …” But, as Lifton explains, he was not the “nonhuman or even superhuman force” portrayed in the media.

Lifton points out that the “eyewitness” testimony about Mengele at the well-publicized 1963-1965 Frankfurt Auschwitz trial was riddled with errors. For example, although Mengele was only one of numerous camp doctors who took turns deciding which new arrivals at Auschwitz-Birkenau would be assigned to work and which would not, a Jewish inmate who unloaded incoming transports insisted at the trial that Mengele alone was always there for the selections. When the judge commented, “Mengele cannot have been there all the time,” the witness replied: “In my opinion, always. Night and day.” Other former inmates described Mengele as “very Aryan looking” or “tall and blond,” although he was actually of medium height, with dark hair and a dark complexion.

Among the many myths circulated about Mengele, Lifton writes, are the stories that he advised President Stroessner of Paraguay on how to exterminate the country’s native Indian population, and that he made a fortune in South America in an extensive drug trade run by former Nazis.

A valuable contemporary record of Mengele’s character and performance during his stay at Auschwitz is the “Evaluation of SS Captain Dr. Josef Mengele,” dated August 19, 1944, prepared by the Auschwitz SS Physician’s Office. (Original on file at the Berlin Document Center.) The report is very flattering:

“Dr. Mengele has an open, honest, solid character. He is absolutely reliable, upright and straightforward. He does not manifest any weakness of character, bad tendencies or cravings. His emotional and physical make-up is outstanding.

     During his period of service at the Auschwitz concentration camp, he applied his practical and theoretical knowledge to combating severe epidemics. With prudence and persistent energy, and often under the most difficult conditions, he completed every assigned task to the complete satisfaction of his superiors. He showed himself capable of handling any situation. In addition, he used what little free time he had to ardently further his education as an anthropologist.

     His tactful and modest deportment is that of a good soldier. Because of his demeanor, he is especially well liked by his comrades. He treats subordinates with absolute fairness and requisite severity, but is nevertheless exceptionally admired and liked.

     In his behavior, work record and attitude, Dr. Mengele shows an absolutely solid and mature outlook on life. He is a Catholic. His speaking manner is spontaneous, uninhibited, convincing and lively.”


The personal evaluation went on to note that Mengele had “contracted typhus while conscientiously performing his duties as a physician at Auschwitz.” It listed the awards he had received for bravery and outstanding service, and concluded that he was worthy of promotion.

After fleeing to South America to avoid becoming a show trial defendant, Mengele lived for ten years in Argentina and Paraguay under his own name. There is no evidence that he ever felt ashamed or guilty about anything he did at Auschwitz. To the contrary. In a letter to his son Rolf he wrote: “I have not the slightest reason to justify or apologize for any of my decisions or actions.” (Time Magazine, July 1, 1985)
Mengele repeatedly insisted that he had not committed any crime, and that instead he had become a victim of great injustice. (New York Times, June 14, 1985; Baltimore Sun, June 14, 1985)
A long-time friend of both Dr. Mengele and the Mengele family in Germany, Hans Sedlmeier, told a reporter: “I could tell you what Mengele did, what he did during Auschwitz, what he did after Auschwitz, but you wouldn’t believe me. The newspapers won’t print the truth, because it’s not in the interest of the Jews…. I refuse to talk about the Mengele affair. Journalists have already written so many lies, and what the Jewish press has asserted…” Apparently exasperated, he did not finish the sentence. (New York Times, June 13, 1985)