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Birth
He was born on March 16, 1911, in Günzburg, Germany. He was the oldest of the three siblings. Karl was born in 1920, and Manfred was born in 1931. -
Childhood
Mengele suffered from his appearance as a kid. He wanted to be an Aryan but wasn't. His father was the founder of a company that produced farm machinery. Because of this, his father was a pretty wealthy man. His father's wealth would later help him to escape Germany. -
Supporting The Nazis
Before they gained power, Mengele did not originally agree with the National Socialist German Workers' Party - German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP. (Nazis) -
Joining the Stahlhelm
In 1931 Mengele joined the Stahlhelm at the age of 20 -
Pre - War
In 1935 Mengele earned a PhD in physical anthropology from the University of Munich. After acquiring a PhD, he worked with Dr. Otmar Von Verschuer. Dr. Otmar and Mengele both supported the Nazi Racial Theories. -
The Stahlhelm Payed Off
In June of 1940, after his hard work in the Stahlhelm, Mengele would work for the SS Race Settlement Main Office. -
Getting Sent to Battle
In June of 1941, Mengle was sent to Ukraine to battle as a soldier. -
Saving Soldiers
In 1942 Mengele saved two German soldiers from a burning tank. This act and his time serving the eastern front, earned him the Iron Cross, first and second class. -
Chief Doctor
In 1943, Mengele was appointed the Chief Doctor at Birkenau (Auschwitz II) by the SS and Heinrich Himmler. -
At Auschwitz
When the Jews arrived at Auschwitz, Mengele was there to assist them, determining who would be sent to their death immediately and who was deemed "fit enough" to survive at the camp. Often, whilst Mengele was making his selections he would whistle along to Nazi approved Classical Tunes. (Like some of Hitler's favorite composers: Wagner, Beethoven, and Bruckner.) -
The Experiments
Mengele would often pull aside Jewish, Gypsy, and Roma Twins, which were the main target for his experiments. Mengele would inject his "Patients" with everything from Petrol to Chloroform. A Minority of twins survived, and death was the intended result of most experiments. He experimented on over 1500+ Twins. He killed so many people that he was nicknamed the "Angel of Death" -
Fleeing Auschwitz
In January of 1945, Mengele fled Auschwitz because of a soviet Union invasion that was drawing closer. He escaped through the Reschen-Scheisdeck-Merand Route. -
Life after the war
Following the war, Mengele returned to his hometown, where his family and friends believed he was simply an ordinary army soldier. -
Post - War
Sometime in 1952 Mengele arrived in Buenos Aires with sets of false papers and started to illegally work as a doctor. He continued to practice medicine as a doctor under the name Helmuth Gregor-Gregori -
A Bounty
After Hitler's bounty of one million dollars, Mengele was the Nazi fugitive with the highest price on his head. The West German Government offered 60,000 marks or 15,000 dollars for him. 15,000 dollars in 1950 is equivalent to 210,000 dollars today. Shortly after, an Argentine warrant was issued for his arrest in June of 1960. -
Skipping away from Death
Mengele first escaped imprisonment by working as a farm stableman. Whenever Mengele was discovered by a country that wanted him imprisoned or dead, he would move away. In 1961, he moved to Brazil under the name Wolfgang Gerhard and met up with one of his old Nazi friends. -
Death
He died on February 7, 1979, near São Paulo, Brazil at 67. It was believed that he died of a stroke whilst swimming. He was a highly trained doctor and decorated war veteran. In June of 1985, Brazilian police dug up his body.