Josef Mengele - Experiments, Facts & TV Shows - Biography
Josef Mengele

Josef Mengele Biography

(1911–1979)
Updated:
Original:
Josef Mengele was a Nazi doctor at Auschwitz extermination camp who selected prisoners for execution in gas chambers and led medical experiments on inmates.

Synopsis

An ardent Nazi, In 1943 Josef Mengele was appointed by Heinrich Himmler to be chief doctor at Birkenau, the supplementary extermination camp at Auschwitz, where he and his staff selected incoming Jews for labor or extermination and where he supervised medical experiments on inmates to discover means of increasing fertility (to increase the German “race”).

Fact Check

We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us!

MORE STORIES FROM BIOGRAPHY

Joseph-Goebbels-9313998-2-402
Person

Joseph Goebbels

Joseph Goebbels served as minister of propaganda for the German Third Reich under Adolf Hitler — a position from which he spread the Nazi message.

  • (1897–1945)
Albert-Einstein-9285408-1-402
Person

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was a physicist who developed the general theory of relativity. He is considered one of the most influential scientists of the 20th century.

  • (1879–1955)
Adolf-Hitler-9340144-1-402
Person

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was the leader of Nazi Germany. His fascist agenda led to World War II and the deaths of at least 11 million people, including some six million Jews.

  • (1889–1945)
Hermann-Goring-37281-1-402
Person

Hermann Göring

Hermann Göring was a leader of the Nazi Party. He was condemned to hang as a war criminal in 1946 but took his own life instead.

  • (1893–1946)
Heinrich-Himmler-9339448-1-402
Person

Heinrich Himmler

Heinrich Himmler was the commander of Adolf Hitler's Schutzstaffel, and later of the Gestapo in Nazi Germany. After World War II, he committed suicide to escape capture.

  • (1900–1945)
Osama-bin-Laden-37172-1-402
Person

Osama bin Laden

Osama bin Laden is a terrorist extremist who planned the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and is intent on driving Western influence from the Muslim world.

  • (1957–2011)
Wernher-von-Braun-9224912-1-402
Person

Wernher von Braun

Wernher von Braun was a German engineer who worked on rocket technology, first for Germany and then for the United States.

  • (c. 1912–1977)
Eva-Braun-201295-1-402
Person

Eva Braun

Eva Braun was the mistress and later the wife of Adolf Hitler. Braun and Hitler killed themselves on April 30, 1945, the day after their wedding — a decided alternative to falling into the hands of enemy troops.

  • (1912–1945)
Franz-Boas-9216786-1-402
Person

Franz Boas

Franz Boas was a German-born anthropologist who founded the relativistic, culture-centered school of American anthropology that dominated 20th century thought.

  • (1858–1942)