The Last Nazi: The Life and Times of Dr. Joseph Mengele

by Gerald Astor

The definitive investigation into the life and unspeakable crimes of the Nazi "Angel of Death" explores how he rose to power in the Third Reich and how he evaded capture since World War II

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Holocaust, World War II, War

305 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Gerald Morton Astor, a native of New Haven, grew up in Mount Vernon, N.Y. After his Army service in the Second World War, he received a bachelor’s degree from Princeton. He was the picture editor of Sports Illustrated in its early years and worked as an editor for Sport magazine, Look, The Saturday Evening Post and Time.

Besides his accounts of the Battle of the Bulge and the air war in Europe, Mr. Astor wrote of World War II in books including “The Greatest War: Americans in Combat, 1941-1945,” “June 6, 1944: The Voices of D-Day,” “Operation Iceberg: The Invasion and Conquest of Okinawa in World War II” and biographies of Maj. Gen. Terry Allen, a leading combat commander in both North Africa and Europe, and the Nazi medical experimenter Dr. Josef Mengele.

He also wrote “The Right to Fight: A History of African Americans in the Military” and “Presidents at War,” an account of presidents’ evolving assertion of authority to take military action in the absence of a Congressional declaration of war.

Mr. Astor edited “The Baseball Hall of Fame 50th Anniversary Book” and wrote a biography of the heavyweight champion Joe Louis, “And a Credit to His Race.” He collaborated with Anthony Villano, a former F.B.I. agent who recruited informants from the Mafia, in “Brick Agent.”

Reviews

[Jill H. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had a hard time deciding where to rate this book because I just couldn't quite grasp if the author had solid information about the subject's escape and life in South America or if he nit-picked pieces from other works or exaggerated on popular myth. (My apologies to the author). The narrative just didn't quite ring true to me and I kept getting the impression that it was written to appeal to the public and not to provide the truth.

Dr. Joseph Mengelé, the "Angel of Death" at the Auschwitz death camp was a notorious figure and one that actually got away when Germany fell. He, like many fleeing Nazis, ended up in South American from where it was very hard to extradite individuals. Usually the only choice was that taken by the Mossad against Adolph Eichmann......snatch him off the streets and spirit him away to face justice.

The history moves right along until the escape to SA (half-way through the book) and that is when it started to fall apart in my opinion. Conflicting information, people appearing and disappearing who were providing funds to Mengelé for no particular reason, ad infinitum. Secret services from the Allies seemed to always just miss him when they went to strike and he moved around freely among several countries. Somehow, it all didn't seem quite plausible. Maybe it was just me but I was not impressed with the research or veracity of the information. Others may feel differently.

[Luis Hernández Cano · Rating 3 out of 5]

En términos generales me pareció un buen libro, muy buena bibliografía, aunque tengo duda de si todo lo que se describe haya sido verdad, se me hace difícil creer que este cuate haya sido capaz de hacer todas esas atrocidades y ser una persona normal, ningún ser humano en completas facultades mentales haría algo así. oh si??? (no tengo que olvidar que eran nazis). Hace unos años tuve la oportunidad de estar en Auschwitz y Birkenau y relataban los guías todo lo que los nazis le hacían a los judíos ahí dentro y obviamente surgió el nombre de Josef Mengele y al leer este libro y enterarme de que nunca fue capturado me dió coraje, en fin se me puso la piel de gallina (otra vez).
El libro se titula el Último Nazi pero creo que definitivamente sigue habiendo personas con esas creencias antisemitas muy arraigadas en su ser. Algo parecido vivimos ahora con nuestros paisanos en gringolandia, y si de alguna forma los que ahora poblamos la Tierra olvidamos lo que pasó aquellos años tendremos que sufrir las consecuencias de repetir la historia.

[Kayla]

Gerald Astor's book The Last Nazi is about what is known to be one of the best known Nazi's that was never captured and found until after his death. Joseph Mengele was a doctor during the holocaust for Adolf Hitler at the Auschwitz Concentration camp. This book simply talks about Mengele's past and how he grew up, his horrifying experiments, and how he was never found until the 1980's. Mengele was brought up in a wealthy, but strict Catholic home. He went to school and then was part of world war two in Auschwitz and was named the chief doctor for that concentration camp. He was nicknamed "Angel of Death" for all of his horrifying experiments. If you were not being worked to death or being killed, you were being experimented on. Usually, it was twins or people with disabilities that were being experimented on and if not killed, nearly killed. Mengele was never found alive, he was found dead in the 1980's when his remains were tested. This book overall was a great factual book. It wasn't something I would recommend for a "just to read", but it's defiantly the go to book for facts about Joseph Mengele.

[Aasinathena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its too descriptive.

[Krisley Freitas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Narrativa bem fluida, contando das raízes da família Mengele até a morte de Josef. Destaque para o período da Segunda Guerra com muitos relatos de pessoas que viveram nos campos de concentração (médicos e prisioneiros) e descrições de diversas experiências realizadas nos campos.

Para preencher as lacunas da história o autor abusa de lendas, boatos e especulações. Às vezes perde a imparcialidade, tirando conclusões especulativas e sem embasamento. Esse tipo de livro sempre vem com dezenas de páginas de Notas e Referências Bibliográficas detalhadas, indicando capitulo por capitulo, página por página as fontes pesquisadas. Mas neste livro só há alguns títulos numa Bibliografia de duas páginas e meia.

O autor faz várias afirmações falsas, por exemplo, afirmando que:
-Heydrich tinha ancestral judeu. pag 35 (Isso é muito especulado, mas nunca provado);
-Himmler “começou a aceitar quase todos os voluntários” na SS.pag 35 (O que ele mesmo desmente logo em seguida dizendo que era rastreado a linhagem paterna e materna do candidato ao longo de 150 anos);
“[Hoess] assim como Hitler, só passou cinco anos na cadeia” Pag 53. (Hitler foi condenado a cinco anos, mas ficou preso por menos de um ano).
- Ao citar um habitante falando que os norte-americanos destruíram Dresden, ele diz “Na realidade foram os britânicos que destruíram Dresden” pag 287. (Assim como na maioria das outras cidades alemãs os bombardeios foram efetuados durante a noite pelos britânicos e durante o dia pelos norte-americanos).

Há algumas traduções erradas, como a mensagem do portão de Auschwitz que diz “o trabalho liberta”, foi traduzida como “o trabalho traz felicidade” pag 63. (Não sei se essas traduções foram do autor passando para inglês ou da tradutora passando para português).

Ainda não entendi a necessidade de repetir umas quatro ou cinco vezes que Himmler foi criador de galinhas.

[David Brennan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a little embarrassed to be as captivated in the story as I was. My introduction, you could call it, to Mengele occurred some years back when I read Lucius Shepard’s short story “Mengele” which envisioned a Mengele that continued his diabolical work in remote South America.
The first two thirds of the story were unbelievable. It was as vivid a recollection of the Holocaust during World War II that I can think of. This includes Schindler’s List. Astor had a way of making it seem like you were there watching the horror unfold. It’s impossible to comprehend. I wonder if survivors of those camps could even comprehend what was happening.
The last third, the flight of Mengele, dragged a little bit. Or I guess the logistics of everything was a little dizzying. There seems to be a lot that is unknown as far as who helped him and how he was able to evade capture for so long. Somehow these aiders and abettors are just as bad as Mengele to me. I think there is this sense that World War II ended in 1945. And it’s true that Germany is one of the premier nations, ironically, of the post-World War II world order. How can all of these people that were involved in the 12 years of misery enforced by the Third Reich just move on with their lives? How can they be apologists and equivocators? It’s maddening.
Astor ends like all war media ends: with a warning. If it happened once, it can happen again.

[Richard Lowy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Last Nazi: The Life and Times of Dr. Joseph Mengele offers a disturbing deep dive into the warped mind of a man whose experiments, despite their grotesque scale, yielded nothing of scientific value. What struck me most in this book was the sheer futility of Mengele’s so-called research. His fixation on twins, deformities, and genetic “purity” was driven entirely by ideology rather than legitimate science. None of his experiments advanced human understanding—they served only to validate a delusional and perverse belief system.

Reading this, I was struck by how Mengele justified his actions under the guise of scientific progress, when in reality, his work was nothing more than pseudoscience weaponized to dehumanize and destroy. His obsession with proving racial superiority led to experiments so methodologically flawed and ethically bankrupt that they accomplished nothing but unimaginable suffering. For me, this book underscored the dangers of allowing ideology to masquerade as science, and how unchecked power can corrupt even the basic principles of logic and inquiry. It’s a stark reminder that the legacy of Mengele is not one of discovery but of destruction—a chilling testament to what happens when science is perverted for hate.

[Evelyn Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought the book was good in detail. But it was very hard to read as graphic as it was putting down how Joseph and his crew brutally tortured and murdered so many senselessly. I mean, there is no name to describe the atrocities that he done throughout the war to innocent people all because they were Jewish! He deserved all the suffering he got towards the end of his life and in hell or wherever he is beyond this life!

[Thorin Raa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me pareció muy impactante en verdad me gustó como se revelaron detalles de todo lo sucedido alrededor de los Nazis

[Pedro Pablo Dominguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting approach to a dark historical figure. The best part is realizing that, at the time, the morality of Mengele´s experiments and procedures where not unique of the Nazi regime.

[Lesa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Terrifying, terrible and, scary that it could happen again.

[Valerie Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't age well in some phrases, but with the current American political climate, this is all too chilling and apt.

[Frederik · Rating 4 out of 5]

J´ai lu in livre équivalent á ce livre par un historien danois. C´est un livre terrifiant qui révèle le pire dans l´humanité.. ce qui surprend est le fait que les danois et les américains avaient les mêmes points de vue sur les mentalement malades que les nazis dans les années 20 et 30. Les nazis ont juste ajouté quelques mythes sur "la race nordique" á laquelle ni Hitler ni Mengele appartenait, ce qui souligne l´absurdité totale de la mentalité nazie.

Monsieur Mengele a payé cher vivant incognito en Amérique du Sud en se cachant pour le reste de sa vie. A la fin du jour, on ne peut échapper la justice.

[Abduco Chimpo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gerold Astor gives an interesting insite in Dr Josef Mengele's life from early childhood, to his death. Whilst I enjoyed much of the first half of the book (about the experiments at Auschwits), I found it slightly hard to comprehend/understand his message about Mengele's dissapearance. Some sentences were very wordy, and sometimes I didn't know what point he was making. Overall, I found this book very interesting content wise, but on occassions hard to read/understand.

I would recomend if you are interested in Mengele and his associates.

[Fishface · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating history, not only of the life of Joseph Mengele, but of the history of eugenics. Barely scratches the surface of the crazy-ass ideas that have been taken seriously by science in the past. Makes you wonder which of the ones we believe in now will wind up in the same intellectual Dumpster.

[OtteloLee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un libro sencillo de leer pero que la investigación periodística del autor sobre el final del libro deja muchos vacíos sobre el real desenlace del Doctor Mengele al escapar de Alemania. Igualmente la descripción del proceder maquiavélico del Dr en Auschwitz es escalofriante.

[Damián]

Otro de los personajes ineludibles de la 2ª Guerra Mundial.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Al terminarlo quedé como con un vacío por dentro. Es simplemente uno de los mejores libros que he leído. Super, super, super completo.