Joseph Mengele Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Joseph Mengele - Essay Example As a teenager, Mengele proved to be a very brilliant person, and was often praised by his instructors for his great control and self-discipline. He was very delightful, assertive, and good looking. Mengele’s favorite subjects at school included zoology, physics, and biology, but his most favorite subject was anthropology, which is the study of humans. After graduating in 1930 and wanting to make a name for himself, Mengele left the family business and ventured into medicine. This was the beginning of his infamous career. Mengele soon joined the Nazis and immediately applied for the highest position in society, the SS. The SS was an elite squad that controlled Germany’s racial cleanliness and strictly adhered to the Nazi beliefs. In the period building up to WWII and during the war, Mengele was drafted and served as a soldier. In addition to fighting on the battlefield, he was able to practice his medical skills and given power to make choices. Mengele was awarded many m edals during his service, including the First Class, Second Class, and two Iron Crosses, for bravery and courage. Later, after becoming wounded on the battlefield, Mengele was sent back to Berlin to conduct his medical experiments, through which he earned the name â€Å"Angel of Death.† Mengele was recognized as the angel of death, inflicting harm and spreading hate to all, including many innocent Jews who were unlucky to encounter him. â€Å"Usually 70 to 90 percent of all new arrivals had been condemned to die without even a passing glance from their judge and jury at Auschwitz. The handsome officer who held omnipotent sway over the fate of all the camp's prisoners was Dr. Josef Mengele, the Angel of Death† (trutv). Josef was called the Angel of Death for many reasons. One of them was that he would kill large crowds of people without hesitation. Once there was an infestation of lice in the women’s section of Auschwitz camp, and Josef came up with an idea to fi x the problem. He gassed all 750 of the women, killing them in order to solve the lice pandemic without hesitation. He was never reluctant to kill and did not think twice about the human cost of his experiments. He specifically conducted experiments on twins, the procedures of which were gruesome and torturous. These experiments included gutting and removing the reproductive organs of his patients (Auschwitz), and injecting chloroform into the hearts of a set of twins at the same time in order to instantly paralyze and then kill them. His nickname, â€Å"Angel of Death,† suited him very well. He lived up to his title through conducting numerous inhumane experiments. Josef Mengele fled from Auschwitz on January 17, 1945 (Mengele) as the Soviet army advanced toward Berlin. During the first few years of the post-war era, Mengele remained in hiding on a farm near his native Gunzburg. He took on a fake identity and began working as a farm hand. Mengele was kept informed of recent political events through his secret contacts with old friends in Gunzburg. Although he still hoped to conduct his research and experiments, it became increasingly apparent that the Allies would not let such a notorious villain escape. Eventually, he died while on the run in a drowning accident in Brazil, after which the body was checked to