Josef Mengele

Dr. Josef Mengele, Ph.D , MD (March 16, 1911–February 7, 1979) was a Nazi German physician who performed experiments that were condemned as murderously sadistic on prisoners in Auschwitz during World War II. He personally selected over 400,000 prisoners to die in gas chambers in Auschwitz.

Early History

Mengele was born in Günzburg, Bavaria, eldest of three sons of Karl Mengele (1881–1959)), a well-to-do industrialist, and his wife Walburga (d.1946). He had two younger brothers, Karl (1912–1949) and Alois (1914–1974). In 1926, Mengele was diagnosed with osteomyelitis, a bacterial infection of bone and bone marrow which causes inflammation and can lead to a reduction of blood supply to the bone. He studied medicine and anthropology at the University of Munich, the University of Vienna and the University of Bonn. At Munich he obtained a doctorate in Anthropology (Ph.D.) with a dissertation in 1935 on racial differences in the structure of the lower jaw, supervised by Prof. Theodor Mollison. After his exams he went to Frankfurt, working as an assistant to Otmar von Verschuer at the Frankfurt University Institute of Hereditary Biology and Racial Hygiene. In 1938 he obtained a doctorate in medicine (M.D.) with a dissertation called "Familial Research on Cleft Lip, Palate and Jaw".

Related Topics:
Günzburg - Bavaria - 1881 - 1959 - 1946 - 1912 - 1949 - 1914 - 1974 - 1926 - Osteomyelitis - Bacterial infection - Anthropology - University of Munich - University of Vienna - University of Bonn - 1935 - Otmar von Verschuer - 1938

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In 1932, at the age of 21, Mengele joined the Stahlhelm, Bund der Frontsoldaten (Steel Helmet, League of Front Soldiers); this organization was incorporated into the SA in 1933, but Mengele resigned shortly thereafter, alluding to health problems. He applied for Nazi party membership in 1937 and in 1938 he joined the SS. In 1939, Mengele married his first wife, Irene Schoenbein. From 1938 to 1939 he served for six months with a specially trained Gebirgsjäger regiment. In 1940 he was placed in the reserve medical corps, following which he served with a Waffen-SS unit, the multi-national SS-Division (mot.) Wiking. In 1942 he was wounded at the Russian front and was pronounced medically unfit for combat, and promoted to the rank of SS-Hauptsturmführer (Captain).

Related Topics:
1932 - Stahlhelm, Bund der Frontsoldaten - SA - 1933 - Nazi - 1937 - 1938 - SS - 1939 - Gebirgsjäger - 1940 - Waffen-SS - SS-Division (mot.) ''Wiking'' - 1942

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Mengele also received an Iron Cross first class, and an Iron Cross second class, for bravery in combat. His Iron Cross first class, (roughly equivalent to the U.S. Silver Star decoration), was awarded after then SS-Ostuf. Mengele, under enemy fire, pulled two panzer crewmen out of a burning tank. His other awards include the Wound Badge, and the Medal for the Care of the German People.

Related Topics:
Iron Cross - Wound Badge

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