Dr. Josef Mengele Letters to Wife
1944 April 26, First page - Letter from Josef Mengele at Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp to his wife, Irene.
Tan letter with cursive handwriting in German using pencil. Dated April 26, 1944 at the top right corner. At the center, a pencil drawing of the First Class War Merit Cross appears.
Name/Title
Dr. Josef Mengele Letters to WifeEntry/Object ID
2010.1.1Scope and Content
1944 April 26, letter from Josef Mengele at Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp to his wife, Irene.Context
Dr. Josef Mengele (1911-1979) was a Nazi "doctor" at Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland who performed heinous experiments on inmates, and specifically inmates who were twins. Mengele, known as the Todesengel or "Angel of Death" conducted medical experiments on over 3,000 twins where he tested sterilization methods, inflicted wounds, and performed unnecessary surgeries for research purposes. In addition, Mengele and other Nazi "doctors" believed in the Nazi agenda that was antisemitism. Because of this, Mengele's hatred towards Jews manifested itself in the inhumane procedures he executed. Furthermore, the procedures were not performed with safety, care, or sanitized instruments or environment. This letter was written by Josef Mengele to his wife, Irene, on April 26, 1944 while Mengele was stationed in the Auschwitz concentration camp. The medal Mengele describes, the Kriegsverdienstkreuz or War Merit Cross, was created in 1939 by Adolph Hitler to replace the non-combatant Iron Cross. The medal had two grades, 2nd class and 1st class, and was awarded with swords and without swords. The version with swords that Mengele received was awarded for service above and beyond the call of duty, though not necessarily in direct combatCollection
Dr. Josef MengeleCategory
Letter
Philatelic Material