Josef Mengele: The True Story of His Escape and Death in South America

One of the most notorious figures in the machinery of death during the Holocaust was Dr. Josef Mengele, known to the world as the “Angel of Death” of Auschwitz. 

Mengele was the SS physician who decided the fate of every new arrival at the camp — who would be sent immediately to the gas chambers, and who would be spared, temporarily, for forced labor or medical experimentation.

Born in 1911 in Germany, Josef Mengele studied medicine, joined the Nazi Party, and was later assigned to Auschwitz, where he became responsible for some of the most horrific human experiments ever conducted — as well as overseeing mass exterminations in the gas chambers.

The Escape from Europe

In January 1945, as the Soviet army approached Auschwitz, the Nazis evacuated the camp in a death march, killing thousands along the way. About a week later, Mengele was seen at the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria. From there, he vanished — fleeing to South America under a false identity.

For decades, his whereabouts remained a mystery.

The Hunt for Mengele

The search for Josef Mengele became an international obsession. Intelligence agencies, Nazi hunters, journalists, and independent investigators all pursued him relentlessly.

He managed to evade capture for 35 years, constantly changing locations and names. After the capture of Adolf Eichmann in 1960, Mengele became the most wanted Nazi war criminal in the world, but somehow remained one step ahead of his pursuers.

At one point, the Israeli Mossad came very close to finding him — but at that time, Israel was deeply involved in the case of Yossele Schumacher, a Jewish boy who had been abducted by relatives.
Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion reportedly decided that the government’s limited intelligence resources had to focus on that domestic issue, rather than on pursuing Mengele abroad.

Hiding in Brazil

According to most reports, Mengele lived under the alias Wolfgang Gerhard in Bertioga, Brazil, protected by a network of Nazi sympathizers who provided shelter and financial support. He reportedly lived quietly, working as a veterinarian and using forged identity papers.

On February 7, 1979, at the age of 68, Josef Mengele drowned while swimming in the ocean near the Brazilian coastal town. He was buried in the local cemetery in Embu das Artes, near São Paulo.

At the time, his death went completely unnoticed — even the authorities were unaware of who he truly was. For years afterward, Nazi hunters continued searching for him, unaware that he was already dead.

Discovery and DNA Confirmation

It was only six years later, in 1985, that his remains were discovered after a joint investigation involving American, German, and South American authorities.

Even then, doubts lingered. To confirm the identity, DNA tests were ordered in 2002. The process was complicated — members of Mengele’s family refused to provide blood samples for comparison — but eventually, sufficient genetic evidence was obtained.

The results were conclusive: The remains indeed belonged to Josef Mengele, the Angel of Death of Auschwitz.

Ongoing Controversy: Where Did He Really Die?

Despite the DNA confirmation, debate continues over where Mengele spent his final years. Some years ago, Time Magazine published an article citing researchers who believe that Mengele did not die in Brazil, but rather in San Bernardino, a resort town in Paraguay inhabited largely by ethnic Germans with pro-Nazi sympathies.

According to this theory, he lived and died there in secrecy, and was later reburied in Brazil under a false identity to conceal the truth.