Josef Mengele
Josef Mengele is a familiar name to many; he is associated with the atrocities committed at the extermination camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Mengele, like many others, escaped Europe in the aftermath of World War II, likely using the ratlines.
Prior to 1937, Mengele’s career path looked relatively typical for a doctor and researcher; he had successfully completed his education. Born to a well-off family, Mengele was a successful student, finishing both a doctoral degree in genetics and a PhD in physical anthropology by his mid-twenties.
In 1937, Mengele went to work for the Institute for Hereditary Biology and Racial Hygiene, under the supervision of Dr. Otmar von Verschuer. Verschuer was particularly known for an interest in research on twins. This same year, Mengele joined the Nazi party; he would complete his medical degree. In June 1940, he was drafted into the German army and entered the medical service of the Waffen-SS. Little is known of his activities between 1940 and 1943.
Mengele was transferred to Auschwitz-Birkenau on May 30, 1943. He is the best-known physician stationed at the extermination camp, but not the highest ranking. He was initially responsible for the Roma at the camp, but when the Roma camp was eliminated, he took on a larger role as Chief Camp Physician of Auschwitz II (Birkenau). While Auschwitz was an extermination camp, Auschwitz II was a labor camp. In this role, he chose who would live and who would die, but also had wide access to experimental subjects for his personal research. He was, of course, interested in proving Nazi theories of racial superiority.
Mengele fled Auschwitz avoiding Soviet troops, but was captured by U.S. forces. Unaware that he was wanted as a war criminal, U.S. forces soon released him. Between 1945 and 1949, he worked quietly as a farmhand; with help from his family, he fled to Argentina in 1949. He initially settled in Argentina, but moved to first Paraguay and later Brazil, following the capture of Eichmann in 1960. Mengele died a free man in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1979, while visiting a vacation resort and taking a swim. The identify of his remains was confirmed using DNA testing in 1992.