“The angel of death” Josef Mengele

1. “The angel of death”Josef Mengele By: Michelle Davidson I will apply dietetic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment; I will keep them from harm and injustice.- Hippocratic Oath The more we do to you, the less you seem to believe we are doing it. - Joseph Mengele

2. "He had a look that said 'I am the power,'" said a survivor. Why “The Angel of death” “Mengele was an attractive man. A perennial little smile showed the gap between his front teeth. Immaculately dressed in jodhpurs, he wore a cap bearing the SS insignia and carried the obligatory riding crop, constantly slapping it against his gleaming black boots. Whenever he spoke to me, he was very polite, giving the impression that he was interested in me. It was hard to believe that his little smile and courteous behaviour were just a facade behind which he devised the most horrific murderous schemes.” Ruth Elias, a survivor of Theresienstadt and Auschwitz Although an accomplished pianist singer, as well as an intelligent and charismatic man, he was a deceiving murder underneath this façade. He would choose the prettiest woman and entertain her all night, only to shoot her in the morning. He was in charge of the gas chamber selections.

3. Table of contents Where He Came from What Did He Do Preferred Victims Tools He Used His Past Time Why Did He Do It Where Was The Morality Escaping Justice

4. Where he came from • Born: March 16, 1911, the eldest of three boys • Lived in Gausnburg • He studied philosophy at Munich and medicine at Frankfurt University. In 1935 his dissertation dealt with racial differences in the structure of the lower jaw • Fought for the Nazi’s • Dr. Josef Mengele arrived at Birkenau in early May 1943, worked there till end of war

5. What did he do

6. Freezing • Subjects were immersed in freezing cold water till death or near death • In some cases they tried to re-warm them up

7. Vivisections • Subjects opened up and studied with no anaesthesia • Tried to learn more about the body • Meticulous notes kept of every inch

8. Eye colour • Injected chemicals into their eyes like phenolthaline Usually left them temporally blind or permanently Victims experienced excruciating pain

9. Sea water • Forced to drink salt water • Tested to see if they could make it drinkable • All victims dehydrated and died from this experiment • Many in desperation tried to drink the water off the freshly mopped floor

10. High altitude • Tested was for humans to survive high pressure without suits and equipment • Victims usually died

11. Mustardgas & other weapons • Poison Mustard Gas Incendiary Bomb He would test them on victims/prisoners and see which treatments worked the best.

12. Disease & bacteria • Malaria Experiments • Spotted Fever (Typhus) Experiments Interesting Fact • When Mengele first came to Auschwitz he rid the entire female camp side of typhus, in his own ruthless manner • Gassed the first 600 women from first set of barracks • Then all the women from the second set of barrack were taken out bathed and given new cloths • They were then moved into the vacant living quarters • The second two steps were repeated until all the barracks were cleansed • Problem solved, and more scum dead

13. psychological • He used the Daisy Game on children • It used a mixture of electric pulses and a sadistically smiling Josef Mengele as well as an expected routine of torture and death

14. Sulphanilamide • Purposely inflict wounds to simulate war wounds • Used bacteria such as streptococcus, gas gangrene, and tetanus. • Aggravated wound by: • Rubbing ground glass • Wood shavings • Tried to treat with Sulphanilamide • Injuries were serious and would sometimes lead to death

15. Switching limbs & Siamese twins • He would swap limbs between people • It always failed and they were in great pain before they died because of blood types among others things He attempted to create Siamese twins by sewing children together • The children sewn together were in immense pain with no pain killers to help • Their cuts and treated areas usually became infected causing a slow and extremely painful death

16. Babies • Mengele preformed proper medical deliveries • He treated them immaculately and he was kind to them, giving a false sense of security • However he took them for experiments or just out right killed them • According to one Jew’s story after she gave birth Mengele ordered that her breast be bound • He wanted to see how long her baby would take to die from starvation

17. General Research • General medical techniques to gain information • Most was done inhumanly as can be seen from the story of the two Hungarian twins

18. His preferred subjects Giants • He would use Russian captives for freezing experiments to see how there body had adapted to the cold when really it was mostly their garb Dwarfs Russians Twins Wanted to find a way to create the master race faster by creating duplicates through twins Other genetic deformations Wanted to understand how genetics work and how they mutate

19. Tools he used • Normal medical tools Scalpel Thermometer Stethoscope Needles etc. He also used scientific experimentation procedure to preform his experiments and gather knowledge

20. His Past time at Auschwitz • 20 miles from Auschwitz, is a place for the guards to relax and forget about the 3,000 Jews that were killed per day All the while the guards enjoyed: Games Dancing Lots of food And cavorting with the Helferinnen (Females that worked alongside the Army in a variety of positions) Music

21. Why did he do it ? Power & Science? Sadistic? • Wanted to be better • To have power over others • He wanted to please the Fur to move further up the ranks gaining more control • He wanted to crate a perfect army of the ideal Germans • Enjoys causing the pain inflicted by his research • He wanted to make the Jews and others fear him • His only childhood issue was his over expecting father who showed very little intimacy

22. Where was the Morality left out ? Morals Facts/Authority • The morals that were needed • Do what is right • Question what you are given • Respect others but have a mind of your own • Listen to authority but not without question • Do your best • These were not taught in school for Josef Mengele, they are not particularly taught in school now. Everyone has to find a moral compass of there own. • He was taught by the authoritative figure of a teacher in school to: • Follow the rules no matter what • The facts are what is important • Focus on what happened not why • Do not question authority • They did not teach why something was what it was, the reasons behind the facts, or to question what is given.

23. Escaping Justice • Received papers from fellow prisoner, Dr. Fritz Ulmann; he did not have the usual SS’s blood type tattooed beneath his arm so the American Army did not realise he was a member and let him go • Laid low at George Fischer’s(a pseudonym of a fellow Nazi) farm for three years • 1949 escaped to Argentina • 1954 divorced from Irene • 1956 had his name officially changed back to Josef Mengele • 1958 married his brother, Karl's, widow - Martha Mengele • June 7, 1959 West Germany finally issued their first arrest warrant for Mengele • 1959 at some point moved from Argentina to Paraguay • 1964 the Universities of Frankfurt and Munich withdrew his academic degrees • Believed to have died on February 7, 1979 on the beach at Bertioga in Embu, Brazil while suffering a stroke while swimming in the ocean and drowned. • It has been verified that 1985 the grave in Embu, Braxil marked “Wolfgang Gerhard” was in fact Mengele’s • January 1945, fled Auschwitz • Arrived at Gross-Rosen camp before the Russians; • He then left Gross-Rosen camp before Russians liberated it on February 11, 1945 • Captured as prisoner of war and held in a POW camp near Munich