Josef Mengele was born on March 16, 1911 in Gϋnzburg, Germany. He got his Ph.D. in human anthropology at the University of Munich and then went to the Institute for Hereditary Biology and Racial Hygiene in Frankfurt in 1937. He studied under Dr. Otmar von Verschuer, which is where his interest in twins began. That same year, he became a member of the Nazi party. By 1940, he had been drafted into the German army. He became a medical captain and was transferred to Auschwitz in May 1943.
Contrary to popular belief, he was not the highest-ranking doctor. Dr. Eduard Wirths held that title. There were around thirty physicians total. They were responsible for going around the camp and selecting people to experiment on. Mengele was called the “Angel of Death” or the “White Angel,” as he decided who would live and who would get gassed.
Twins
Mengele was interested in twins because they allowed him to trace disease origin. However, they were treated slightly differently that the other prisoners, as they were allowed to keep their clothes and hair. They were questioned and tattooed when they were discovered. Mengele attempted to treat the children kindly outside of experimentation, earning him the nickname “Uncle Mengele.” They were allowed to attend classes and play soccer until they were carted off for experiments.
Experiments were a daily occurrence. Each twin was required to give blood every day. It is estimated that ten cubic centimeters worth of blood was drawn every day. This was especially harmful to the very young twins. They would lay side-by-side and be examined and compared. Then, painful experiments would ensue. These included:
· Blood transfusions from one twin to another
· Eye drops/injections to try to create blue eyes
· Disease injections
· Spinal taps
· Organ removals, castrations, and amputations
· Autopsies
Procedures were often done without anesthetics. Many twins were subjected to separation. When twins were killed, the other twin wasn’t notified. This left the survivors wondering where their life companions had gone.
Genetic Abnormalities
Heterochromia
Mengele exhibited high interest in studying high color. He expressed particular fascination in heterchromia, a condition that leaves people with different colored eyes. Once people were killed, he gathered their eyeballs and studied them. He worked with Karin Magnussen to study eye pigmentation. He wanted to discover a way to artificially change eye color as a means of obtaining the Aryan ideal of blue eyes.
Dwarfs
The Ovitz family of Romania was comprised of seven dwarf siblings. Before they arrived at Auschwitz, they traveled Europe as a musical group. When they arrived at the concentration camp, they were spared from the gas chamber. Mengele was interested by their condition and treated them with good living conditions but subjected them to ophthalmology, dermatology, dermatology, and gynecology exams. They survived to see Auschwitz’s liberation in 1945.
Hypothermia
Hypothermia experiments were used to recreate the conditions of the Eastern Front. Mengele wanted to know two things: how long it takes to freeze to death and how to best resuscitate a hypothermic person. People were forced to sit in icy vats. It was discovered that people when their body temperature reaches 25˚C (77˚F). However, Russians took longer to lose consciousness than other nationalities. Some people were revived from unconsciousness with sun lamps. Unfortunately, others were warmed using hot tubs and died from the shock of a sudden change of temperature.
Contrary to popular belief, he was not the highest-ranking doctor. Dr. Eduard Wirths held that title. There were around thirty physicians total. They were responsible for going around the camp and selecting people to experiment on. Mengele was called the “Angel of Death” or the “White Angel,” as he decided who would live and who would get gassed.
Twins
Mengele was interested in twins because they allowed him to trace disease origin. However, they were treated slightly differently that the other prisoners, as they were allowed to keep their clothes and hair. They were questioned and tattooed when they were discovered. Mengele attempted to treat the children kindly outside of experimentation, earning him the nickname “Uncle Mengele.” They were allowed to attend classes and play soccer until they were carted off for experiments.
Experiments were a daily occurrence. Each twin was required to give blood every day. It is estimated that ten cubic centimeters worth of blood was drawn every day. This was especially harmful to the very young twins. They would lay side-by-side and be examined and compared. Then, painful experiments would ensue. These included:
· Blood transfusions from one twin to another
· Eye drops/injections to try to create blue eyes
· Disease injections
· Spinal taps
· Organ removals, castrations, and amputations
· Autopsies
Procedures were often done without anesthetics. Many twins were subjected to separation. When twins were killed, the other twin wasn’t notified. This left the survivors wondering where their life companions had gone.
Genetic Abnormalities
Heterochromia
Mengele exhibited high interest in studying high color. He expressed particular fascination in heterchromia, a condition that leaves people with different colored eyes. Once people were killed, he gathered their eyeballs and studied them. He worked with Karin Magnussen to study eye pigmentation. He wanted to discover a way to artificially change eye color as a means of obtaining the Aryan ideal of blue eyes.
Dwarfs
The Ovitz family of Romania was comprised of seven dwarf siblings. Before they arrived at Auschwitz, they traveled Europe as a musical group. When they arrived at the concentration camp, they were spared from the gas chamber. Mengele was interested by their condition and treated them with good living conditions but subjected them to ophthalmology, dermatology, dermatology, and gynecology exams. They survived to see Auschwitz’s liberation in 1945.
Hypothermia
Hypothermia experiments were used to recreate the conditions of the Eastern Front. Mengele wanted to know two things: how long it takes to freeze to death and how to best resuscitate a hypothermic person. People were forced to sit in icy vats. It was discovered that people when their body temperature reaches 25˚C (77˚F). However, Russians took longer to lose consciousness than other nationalities. Some people were revived from unconsciousness with sun lamps. Unfortunately, others were warmed using hot tubs and died from the shock of a sudden change of temperature.