Mengele: The COmplete Story

by Gerald L. JPosner and John Ware

Paperback

Published January 1, 1986

Reviews

[Don Best · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw a reference to Gerald Posner in an article and it lead me to this historical search for this book about the Auschwitz "Angel of Death" Josef Mengele. Credit also to co-author John Ware. It is an extensive history of Mengele beginning with his pre WWII adolescent life to his death after more than three decades of avoiding capture by mainly Israeli, American and West German authorities. Aided by a substantial community of German immigrants, many post war II that were sympathetic to the Nazi goals and anti semitic, in Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil the book details Mengele's life in hiding. Much of it from documentation available after his death. And the on and off again of attempts to track him down depending on the political priorities, the help he secretly received from his father's manufacturing company and in later years a source for opportunists to cash in on reward money. Maybe more revealing is the toll it took on a man on the run always looking over his shoulder while deceiving himself he did not really do the crimes he was accused of by survivors of the atrocities of Auschwitz. It is not an easy read but details one aspect of the dismantling of post WWII Nazi Germany for history archives.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting, basically a record of him being a paranoid wreck flitting around south America. It's disgusting how many people helped him and how many times he escaped because people were lazy and sloppy.