Josef Mengele Essay
Many people know about how harsh the Nazi concentration camps were. They know that Auschwitz had some of the worst living conditions and a high death rate. We always hear of the Nazi’s using the gas chambers to kill prisoners and how terrible this form of killing was but what people always overlook are the types of experiments they did on prisoners. Being experimented on always led to a painful death, if you were lucky. The Nazi’s were much into science and were always coming up with ways to perform experiments on the prisoners. There is one particular person that was responsible for thousands of deaths due to these experiments. Josef Mengele, nicknamed the “Angel of Death”, is responsible for thousands of the most painful and gruesome deaths
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He was a good student and never caused any trouble. In April 1930 he graduated high school and studied medicine at the Goethe University in Frankfurt and then later studied philosophy at the University of Munich. There, he earned his PhD in physical anthropology in 1935. He then became an assistant to Dr. Otmar von Verschuer, famous for his research on twins. Mengele grew an interest in twins as well which led to many experiments being performed on twins during the Holocaust. In 1937 he joined the Nazi Party and just three years later he was drafted into the army as a medical officer. He was wounded in battle in 1942 and then volunteered to be transferred to Auschwitz as a medical officer. Several weeks later he was appointed as the Chief Camp Physician of Birkenau-Auschwitz where he performed some of the most painful, exhausting, and traumatic tests imaginable. (“Josef Mengele Biography”). Mengele first started experimenting with Gypsy children from the so-called kindergarten. He then later expanded his experimental field to twins, dwarfs, and any people with disabilities or abnormalities (Berenbaum 134). Although he was rather fond of twins, he was also fond of Gypsy children. He would often bring sweets and toys to them and was very kind them. Whenever they were sent to the gas chambers he would take them personally, speaking kindly to them until the end (Berenbaum
He was a good student and never caused any trouble. In April 1930 he graduated high school and studied medicine at the Goethe University in Frankfurt and then later studied philosophy at the University of Munich. There, he earned his PhD in physical anthropology in 1935. He then became an assistant to Dr. Otmar von Verschuer, famous for his research on twins. Mengele grew an interest in twins as well which led to many experiments being performed on twins during the Holocaust. In 1937 he joined the Nazi Party and just three years later he was drafted into the army as a medical officer. He was wounded in battle in 1942 and then volunteered to be transferred to Auschwitz as a medical officer. Several weeks later he was appointed as the Chief Camp Physician of Birkenau-Auschwitz where he performed some of the most painful, exhausting, and traumatic tests imaginable. (“Josef Mengele Biography”). Mengele first started experimenting with Gypsy children from the so-called kindergarten. He then later expanded his experimental field to twins, dwarfs, and any people with disabilities or abnormalities (Berenbaum 134). Although he was rather fond of twins, he was also fond of Gypsy children. He would often bring sweets and toys to them and was very kind them. Whenever they were sent to the gas chambers he would take them personally, speaking kindly to them until the end (Berenbaum