After the end of WWII, Josef Mengele managed to escape Germany. Despite a global manhunt by Mossad and the allies, Mengele would die a free man, 34 years later, in Brazil. Josef Mengele, the doctor responsible for horrific experiments on living human beings in Auschwitz, the man who had selected the prisoners he wanted while sending thousands of others directly to the gas chambers, was considered one of the most wanted Nazi war criminals. Although the German government was aware of his whereabouts he lived undetected in Germany until 1948 and under his own name in Argentina until 1959. It was not until that year that German prosecutors issued an arrest warrant. Mengele first moved to Paraguay, then to São Paulo in Brazil. In particular, the Israeli intelligence service Mossad was after him and twice he only narrowly managed to escape its agents. But who was Josef Mengele? How was he able to go to ground after the end of the Second World War and lead a new life without being recognized? Our documentary reconstructs his life and talk to family members and acquaintances - as well as experts who draw a psychological profile of the so-called "Angel of Death of Auschwitz.”
Thursday, January 18, 2018
Josef Mengele - The Hunt for a Nazi Criminal | DW Documentary
After the end of WWII, Josef Mengele managed to escape Germany. Despite a global manhunt by Mossad and the allies, Mengele would die a free man, 34 years later, in Brazil. Josef Mengele, the doctor responsible for horrific experiments on living human beings in Auschwitz, the man who had selected the prisoners he wanted while sending thousands of others directly to the gas chambers, was considered one of the most wanted Nazi war criminals. Although the German government was aware of his whereabouts he lived undetected in Germany until 1948 and under his own name in Argentina until 1959. It was not until that year that German prosecutors issued an arrest warrant. Mengele first moved to Paraguay, then to São Paulo in Brazil. In particular, the Israeli intelligence service Mossad was after him and twice he only narrowly managed to escape its agents. But who was Josef Mengele? How was he able to go to ground after the end of the Second World War and lead a new life without being recognized? Our documentary reconstructs his life and talk to family members and acquaintances - as well as experts who draw a psychological profile of the so-called "Angel of Death of Auschwitz.”
