Lot 579

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Description:

(1911 - ca. 1980) Nazi "doctor" who plied his trade at Auschwitz, he was the most brutal and detestable of all the camp doctors. It was Mengele's decision as to whether camp inmates would be used as forced labor or sent directly to the gas chambers, and he as well performed hideous experiments on inmates, especially twins. After the war, Mengele fled to Argentina where he avoided capture until his death. A.L.S., 1p. 4to. on Feldpost military letterhead, Auschwitz, Dec. 1, 1944, to his wife, Irene. Aware of teh threat of approaching Russian forces, Mengele seeks a way to avoid capture by joining a combat unit. He writes, in part: "...In case of the possibility of my transfer I also had to wait...I requested to seek at the meeting with Zoller in Berlin my release to a combat unit. Apparently, he sought it without success. I therefore believe that I won't get away from here quickly, at least until spring, but then we could at least use the few months for togetherness...This time you are really allowed to decide freely and even in the eventuality of an unfavorable case I won't cause any difficulties! You know that I love you very much and I am looking forward to currently-imagined togetherness..." Mengele signs the letter with his pet name "Butz", and also executes signs his name his name and rank "SS-Hstuf. [Hauptsturmfuhrer] J. Mengele" in the return address space on the integral cover, adding "Auschwitz o/s K.L. SS-Revier". He signs "Mengele" again as part of his wife's name in the address space, "Frau Irene Maria Mengele". With Dec. 1, 1944 Auschwitz postal hand stamp and Auschwitz Feldpost stamp. Shows original mailing folds, else very good.Along with several other Auschwitz doctors, Mengele transferred to Gross-Rosen concentration camp in Lower Silesia on 17 January 1945. He fled Gross-Rosen on 18 February, a week before the Soviets arrived there, and traveled westward to Zatec in Czechoslovakia, disguised as a Wehrmacht officer. Irene Mengele refused to flee to South America with her husband in 1949, and the couple divorced in 1954.

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March 31, 2020 10:00 AM EDT
Chesapeake City, MD, US

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