ia_2011_d_nash

=D. Analysis (500-650 words) Tips]=

In some ways, Mengele's career can be considered useful. It gives us as the reader and to the historian a vantage point into the conditions of Auschwitz. He 'hung a batten between the goalposts of a football pitch and those approximately 1000 children who were not the required height were sent to the gas chamber.’[1] the career of this man also gives us an insight into the callousness of Nazi Eugenics,[2] from his deranged and pointless experiments. 'Ephraim Reichenberg said that his brother had "a beautiful voice and sang once for the Germans." But his own voice was very poor and Mengele wanted to know why one twin had a melodious voice while the other did not. He conducted crude surgery on the vocal cords of both children that impaired their speech.' [3] This shows the ruthless and scientific approach that Mengele followed, where his curiosity and thirst for scientific knowledge left two boys in a terrible state. Finally, we learn of the pseudo-science that was sweeping across Germany, because of the ethnic prejudices the Nazis had forced onto the people of the Third Reich. ‘They pompously examined parts of the skeletons [in] high-sounding scientific terms…as if the two victims represented an extremely rare medical phenomenon. They abandoned themselves completely in their pseudo-science.’ [4] Concerning the sources used in this essay, there is a tremendous amount of value which can be drawn from them, such as massive collections of eye witness accounts, Interviews from psychiatrists who have expertise in evaluating the human mind.

In other ways, Mengele's career has its limitations to the historian and students studying him. For example, the aforementioned sources have their own limitations. Being all eye-witnesses accounts from survivors of a Holocaust, means that the although it is possible every statement is the truth, we know for a fact that some things just didn't happen. '...an immense square chimney built of red bricks tapering towards the summit. I was especially struck by the enormous tongues of flame rising between the lightning rods...I tried to realize what hellish cooking would require such a tremendous fire.... faint wind brought the smoke towards me. my nose, then my throat were filled with the nauseating odor of burning flesh and scorched hair.'[5] Considering the rest, which have been produced by authors striving for mass publication and sales, and don't give a balanced view on the subject. Unfortunately, such an interesting man has captured the media''s attention and vilified ever since his man hunt began in the 80s. It is a shame that more reliable evidence can not be found on the man, as this is one of his greatest limitations. Also, we must realise that Mengele is not the defining factor in understanding Nazi Eugenic policies. His career is aimed mainly at the Jews and the camp inmates of Auschwitz; whilst really the policy applied to a group known as the 'Undesirables' or the 'Untermenschen' (subordinate races). We should look to the T4 Programme[6], the Law for the Protection of Hereditary Health[7] and clinics such as Spiegelgrund[8] to really receive a rounded conclusion on Eugenic policies.

[1] Arrest warrant and indictment issued in Frankfurt am Main on January 19, 1981, by the Landgericht 22. Strafkammer (State Court Number 22), file number (22)50/

[2] 'In the subculture of medicine as a whole there is a split between what you have to do and any emotion you might have; between doctors who take a strictly scientific approach and the medical doctor who cares for patients. In Germany this split was evident in the euthanasia program for mental patients, which preceded the concentration camps.' Flora Schreiber, 'The Satanic Dr. Mengele' The New York Times Syndication, May 4, 1975

[3] Posner, Gerald L., and John Ware. //Mengele: the Complete Story//. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1986. ISBN 0-8154-1006-9 "// Auschwitz: May 1943-January 1945 . //" 45. Print.

[4] Nyiszli, Miklos. //Auschwitz: a Doctor's Eyewitness Account//. New York: Arcade Pub., 1993. ISBN 1-5597-0202-8, 132. Print.

[5] Nyiszli, Miklos. //Auschwitz: a Doctor's Eyewitness Account//. New York: Arcade Pub., 1993. ISBN 1-5597-0202-8, 23. Print.

[6] see appendices x

[7] see appendices y

[8] see appendices z