THE HIDDEN JOURNALS OF DR. JOSEF MENGELE
DR. JOSEF MEGELE (16 March 1911 - 7 February 1979) German SS officer and a physician at the Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. He earned doctorates in anthropology from Munich University and in medicine from Frankfurt University. In 1940 Mengele was placed in the reserve medical corps, following which he served with the 5th SS Panzergrenadier Division Wiking on the Eastern Front. In 1942, he was wounded at the Russian front and was pronounced medically unfit for combat, and was then promoted to the rank of SS-Hauptsturmführer (Captain) for saving the lives of two German soldiers. In 1943, at the age of 32, he was transferred to Auschwitz. He initially gained notoriety as an SS physician who eagerly supervised the selection of arriving transports of prisoners, determining who would be killed and who would become a forced laborer. But his real infamy came from the inhuman experiments he performed on camp inmates, primarily young twins. For those barbaric experiments, he earned the moniker, "Angel of Death".

Mengele escaped the Red Army, and twice was released from American detention camps when they failed to realized he was a wanted war criminal. After four years in hiding on a farm in southern Germany, his wealthy family bought him the help of former Nazis so he could flee to South America.

Historically important lot of 31 autograph manuscripts, approx. 3,380+ pp. in various formats, largely bound journals, most 8vo. and 4to., Paraguay and Brazil, 1960-1975, some illustrated. All writings are penned in ink in a legible hand, in generally excellent condition.

In 2009 Alexander Autographs, Inc. obtained from an anonymous consignor a manuscript in the hand of Mengele describing, among other things, his theories concerning overpopulation, eugenics, and euthanasia. This manuscript was sold by us to an anonymous client who donated that important writing to a Holocaust-related institution. We have now been consigned the entire balance of Mengele's journals remaining extant. These writings are comprised of autobiographical chapters, diaries, stories, intense philosophical introspections and debates, direct quotations of conversations, political commentary, history, and poetry.

To place these writings in a historical context, one must know Mengele's movements from the closing days of World War II until his death by drowning in Brazil in 1979. Most of his actions were unknown until the recovery of the journals in this lot. These autobiographical journals bear the names of actual people which been altered slightly, and Mengele speaks of himself in the third person, or uses the pseudonym "Andreas", a preventive action undertaken by the doctor in the event these writings should ever be discovered while he was in hiding.

Dr. Josef Mengele was one of the last to leave Auschwitz, in January, 1945. On the night the cease-fire was announced, he headed west and was captured by Americans near Nuremberg. He was moved to several camps and finally discharged in the American Zone under his alias "Fritz Hollmann". At that time, his name was not on any "wanted" list, and Mengele didn't have his blood group tattooed on his arm, revealing him as an SS officer. Mengele spent brief periods with his supportive family, and also hid in the forests around Gunzburg. The wealthy Mengele Family would not, however, take him in, as they feared they would be forced to pay reparations to his victims. Eventually Mengele found employment as a hand on the Lechner farm, which he describes as the "Lehnerfarm" in one of these journals. He described himself to the simple farm owners as a career soldier and a refugee from Gorlitz, and explained that his wife was still in the Russian zone. Mengele would occasionally take time to surreptitiously meet with his wife in remote locations, but she soon tired of this erstwhile arrangement and demanded a change.

Change came soon. In 1949 Mengele told his wife that he would leave Germany to go to South America where he expected he would not be persecuted, and where he could carry on his "research". Through family connections, he obtained a poorly-forged passport and in an initial attempt to flee Germany, is turned back at the border. Mengele writes of resorting to the use of human smugglers to aid in his crossing the Brenner Pass, describing his escape in great detail. He meets contacts on the Italian side, travels to Sterzing, and alludes to meeting with an individual who may have been a family contact. Using an established escape network, Mengele meets with another ex-Nazi and attempts to secure a travel passport. Complications ensue: travel vaccination delays, bribery, and a stint in jail are all described in detail in Mengele's journals, but at the last moment he books passage on a steamer bound for Argentina where he arrives penniless.

After a failed rendezvous with a "Dr. Schott", Mengele secures employment as a carpenter and shares quarters with an engineer. At one point, he treats the man's daughter for scarlet fever…and here the autobiographical writings abruptly cease for a period of eleven years.

From what little other information which has been uncovered, we know that Karl Mengele, Josef's father, sent machinery, tools, saws, milling machines, planers and other industrial machinery to Argentina, and at the same time Mengele moved to increasingly affluent residences and purchased a share in a chemical factory with the aid of a hefty contribution from his family. Mengele was also introduced Hans Ulrich Rudel, the German air ace and a close friend of Juan Peron, the president of Argentina, and married Martha Mengele, the widow of his brother. Within two years, Mengele's life fell apart: Buenos Aires police were investigating him for practicing medicine without a license, the Frankfurt District Attorney's office and Interpol had issued warrants for his arrest, and the Israelis had had kidnapped Adolf Eichmann. Using forged documents (apparently with Rudel's help), Mengele hid in Paraguay until late 1961, and fearing extradition, fled to Brazil.

His autobiographical writings resume during this period, as he writes of being dissatisfied with Gitta and Geza Stammer, a Hungarian couple who became disenchanted with Mengele and suddenly moved, leaving him homeless. He had in the meantime apparently been defrauded of his Argentinean assets.

Relegated to a small house in a Sao Paulo slum, Mengele became a compulsive writer and journalist, spending the balance of his time tending his garden, making furniture, hiking, and studying plants and animals.

Excerpts from Mengele's autobiographical journals have been published by Bundt magazine and by investigative reporters Gerald Posner and John Ware in their Mengele: The Complete Story, a study of Mengele's life with heavy emphasis on the period between his flight from Germany until the confirmation of his death based on the exhumation of his body in Brazil, in 1985.

Very few direct quotations are made from the journals. Bundt reported virtually nothing from the four-year period Mengele spent with the Lechner family, and Posner/Ware only briefly quote or paraphrase several conversations, which are undoubtedly present in our writings. The conversations include Mengele describing his break-out through the American lines, the Nuremburg war crimes trials, his justification of the concentration camp system, and his denial of the vile and cruel conditions at the camps. Indeed, in the entire Posner/Ware report, Mengele's autobiography (only, among our writings) is directly quoted only about twenty times, scattered throughout their work, although our journals formed the basis for the writing of the articles and biography.

As I understand it, neither Posner/Ware nor Bunte made our writings available to any third party, so upwards of 95% of the material in this archive is unpublished. Only approx. five percent of this voluminous archive has been examined by a translator as we have been time-constrained. The following is the briefest outline of the contents of this archive, and certainly cannot be relied upon to capture the documents in their entirety:

1.) Autograph manuscript, 133+pp. 8vo., spiral bound notebook. Pages numbered "1" to "132c." Translator's note: Autobiographical. Mengele mentions four farms in a community, once wealthy long ago. People now attend church, probably out of necessity, which he describes. Mengele describes the local population, and life in general in the country. Talks (you have "describes" a lot in here - 6 times in this graph alone) those who live on one of the farms, who are friendly to tourists and those who pass through. Times are hard after the after the war. He describes duties on the farm, including sorting potatoes and managing stables and barns. He carefully details the interior of the farm house and the habits of those living there. Quotes lengthy conversations with his adopted family. In one conversation, he is told it's all right to discuss the war in Russia, and he mentions being a P.O.W. of Americans. One story mentions his fleeing Bavaria as Russians approach. He writes about himself as the "new guy" looking for one of his old war buddies. He cannot leave the farm as he has no change of clothing. Some poetry at conclusion. (Likely refers to time spent on Lechner Farm)

2.) Autograph manuscript, 103+pp. 8vo., spiral bound notebook. Some pages numbered "133c" to "194." Translator's note: Book is written in two parts: Autobiography and philosophical. First part is obviously a continuation of the above autobiography, returning to post-war life on the farm. He has bought himself a typewriter and uses it to correspond. He has gone into the fields to bring in harvest, mentions "Roosevelt", politics, etc. Second part, written upside-down from the autobiography, concerns genius, one's heart and one's tendencies. There cannot be multiple truths. Comments on the nature of truth, the nature of spirit and a higher existence, and the nature of infinity. It is essentially a back-and-forth with another party (who writes his own responses in the book). Modern man has lost his grip on things. Astronomy and science, more philosophical content. Comments on Chinese. Written like a lecture: "What type of modern curriculum give us the kind of inner strength to proceed?" Goes into teaching principals, etc. Modern thinkers have lost their strength to extract us from the labyrinth we find ourselves in. Nature of infinity. Cosmology. Nature of truth. More poetry at conclusion.

3.) Autograph manuscript, 52+pp. 8vo., heavily annotated, spiral bound notebook, undated. Pages are numbered "193" to "245" Autobiographical. Goes back into his story as "Andreas": describes those who practice medicine in the countryside, a conversation of a female doctor with another, "Dr. Giesler", being with the Americans and being with a comrade between the lines: his comrade is arrested the same day. Discusses the end of the war. Much mention of doctors. (Likely describes his arrest by Americans at war's end) Loose notes includes a quotes by Eichendorff and others, including a Socialist. Discourse on colors.

4.) Four autograph manuscripts, 192pp. 4to., undated. Translator's notes: Snowing for three days. People going to church. Refugees. More autobiographical content: "After the war I worked for a while on a farm in Bavaria…I became a confidante of the farmer and his family…" Describes the farmer's living room, he is very impressed by the family, what they talked about: where human beings come from, how mammals evolved, etc. More descriptions of working on the farm, extensive further conversations are quoted. Discusses peasants and how he is being accepted by the locals. More specific than the earlier account. (Lechner Farm)

5.) Autograph manuscript, 171pp. 8vo., spiral-bound notebook, undated, ca. 1972. Translator's note: Autobiography. Makes contact with "Nino". He is on the run, and is out of his realm. Is asked to help in a medical sense, and cannot deny assistance due his "Hippocratic Oath". Wants to stay out of sight. Has a patient, alcohol overdose. Train station. Observations about importance of having vaccination certificate. Tries to get his papers together in Italy with assistance of a Croatian doctor's intervention. He is jailed and wonders how to provide prisoners with adequate food. He is looking at the sea and the waves. A poem about getting away or escape appears at conclusion, as well as a selection of aphorisms: "Hubris without promethean deeds…" which appear at end of text. Also a graph, possible income vs. expenses. (Mengele's escape from Germany via the Brenner Pass to Genoa. Third person narrative by "Andreas").

6.) Autograph manuscript, a diary, 200pp. 8vo. penned in a lined notebook, paper boards, July 31, 1960 - Apr. 26, 1962. Translator's note: Various commentary: About rainfall, water, sky, clouds, animals, plants, man's relationship to cattle, Chinese Revolution, the evening, swamps, also mentions selection and who rules, who serves. Then writes another novelette: "Mr. Van Bradel's Pants" about the old Slavic blood and what it is to the people who have it. "German-speaking Slavic people…". Mixing Italians, Austrians and Slavs into one race proves ignorance. Then discusses farm hands, their language and how they interact with cattle. The culture of colonialism. How the South American natives have changed: use lipstick and make-up, sexual promiscuity has led to a "dreadful mixing of the races with the northern Europeans…when you start mixing the races, there is a decline in civilization…. " Nature of the indigenous people. North Americans killed all the Indians, South Americans destroyed them by interbreeding. Spends his time doing crafts. Building a wall, reads about rockets and space travel, comments on them and the universe.

We chose passages at random and found 1.) Speculates on nature of German people and their future: "It is absolutely necessary that the German people forget their past or there is no going forward…". 2.) Nature of the Chinese Revolution, its foreign relations and agriculture, and its history. "…Thousands of years of civilization…They have a higher…when you look at it closely they have no practical system to solve problems…and basically they are just lazy…". Another entry concerns eugenics. People don't understand the theory, and are using it incorrectly. Theory of evolution.

7.) Autograph manuscript, 60pp. 8vo., spiral-bound notebook, dated Feb. 4, 1961 in an unknown hand. Translator's note: Random notes. Theory of color (a la Goethe). Lists Galileo, Sibelius, Socrates. Progressive spirit and a new phase of evolution. Human beings and the great apes all experience color. Color in poetry. Uses of different colors. Green. Blue. "Green as a hunter's uniform". "Hair color". "Skin color". "Black people remind us of night time and the dangers of the night…like the raven…the dark soul…". Mengele seems to be playing with his words: "field grey…coffee brown…Disney yellow…". Poems, some not original. Love-related. "We met each other late in life, when we were both bent with pain…". Also a political poem re: nuclear bomb, a poem about the church and modern science trying to bring the dogma and scientific fact together. Different languages of theology. Comments on a textbook of biology. History of the human brain. The "ape man" and how he perceived his environment. The evolution of the ability to think. "The creating forces and their unpredictable actions…evolution is a form of sculpting life…all life has to adapt…". Segues into the view of the world through monotheism. Discusses German people, and how their spirit was influenced by medieval mysticism; they were later deeply dissatisfied by Christian doctrine and therefore always looking for a new vision and leader. Jewish-Christian monotheism. We don't know what life is, what it means. Much philosophical content. Six original poems.

8.) "A Small Journey to the Big Sea" Autograph manuscript, 232pp. 8vo., bound, paper boards, dated Apr. 27, 1961. Possibly a meditation on nature. Describes beautiful landscapes with a river and thick forests. "Modern man doesn't want to enjoy loneliness and the simple life, and I am almost ready to believe that. How else can you explain spas, expensive hotels, and so forth?..."

9.) Autograph manuscript, 112pp. 8vo., spiral-bound notebook, various dates: Aug. 29, 1962, Nov. 24, 1962, Jan. 10, 1969. Translator's note: Content varies, as entries have been made over several periods of time. Lengthiest entry notes he has been in [Paraguay] for four weeks and is starting to feel normal again. Didn't want to move again, he was "repulsed" by the idea. Describes the house where he lives, includes a photo of a shack or workshop, describes surrounding landscapes and mentions livestock he is raising. Comments on Russian space program. Discusses the notion of self and self esteem and forms of self-representation, evolution, Lamarck, natural selection, more. Has moved in with a family. Many sketches of woodworking projects, all German-themed. Poetry. Aphorisms. First draft of a letter he is writing.

10.) Autograph manuscript, 80pp. 8vo., spiral-bound notebook, ca. Oct. 29, 1967. Translator's note: Two distinct monographs. Mentions "Mendel" [Gregor?] and discusses an important speech given in a club. Mentions laborer "Thomas". Contribution of the popes to intellectual evolution. Christian dogma's relationship to science. Modern man and his lack of intellectual dexterity. How he is managing his farm and clear-cutting the land.

11.) Autograph manuscript, 34pp. 8vo., spiral bound notebook, Aug. 18, 1969. Pages marked "1" to "34". Translator's note: Apparently a travelogue, describes the early sunrise, and he is apparently "on the road". Mentions the sites he sees en route, harvesting of the fields, dusty roads, hotels. [We believe this text, as well as the following two manuscripts, describe Mengele's jungle exploration with Bossert, his first vacation in ten years. [This journey brought Mengele out of the depression he had suffered for years and emboldened him to appear more publicly in and around Sao Paulo].

12.) Autograph manuscript, 87pp. 8vo., spiral bound notebook, undated, ca. Aug., 1969. Pages marked "35" to "122". Untranslated, obviously a continuation of the above.

13.) "A trip to the caves with Mu". Autograph manuscript, 31pp. 8vo., spiral bound notebook, undated, ca. Aug., 1969. Pages marked "123" to "154". ["Mu" was Mengele's code-name for Wolfram Bossert] Describes his travels in the jungle, and walking barefoot to a river. Transporting things by horseback into a valley. Sleeping in the forest. A very physically taxing trip, he is exhausted, almost "a dramatic escape through the mountains" [translator]. Burning all kinds of materials to create a fire. They are looking at caves, and he describes one. Describes what it would be like to live in the cave. 13.) It describes a tower in [Germany?], and sets forth its history.

14.) "Das Vorkommando". Autograph manuscript, 40pp. 8vo., spiral bound. Untranslated, bears the signature on cover of "Robert Peter Stammers", son of Geza and Gita Stammers. Translator's note: "Written like a child" A story about a "tower" to Wasserlins[d?]en to Schwarzenberg". On the road between the two locations is the mentioned tower. Not further translated. [We have been unable to locate any town even remotely named Wasserlins[d]en. Actually, the word means "duckweed", an aquatic plant. Schwarzenberg is located between Prague and Braunschweig, very far from Mengele's home. We find one other "Schwarzenberg" related to Mengele: the first Gypsies arrested in Czechoslovakia in 1940 were taken to Lety to build a camp on a Czechoslovakian army base. The contractor for the camp was Schwarzenberg Enterprises, owned by Prince Karel Schwarzenberg, who lived two kilometers away in his castle. He later used Gypsy and Jewish slave labor from Lety and another camp during the war. Undoubtedly, these Roma were deported to Auschwitz where Mengele may have heard this word widely used, and later adopted it for his "story". The only historical reference we find is "Vorcommando Moskau AKA Sonderkommando 7c, responsible for the execution of 4,660 Jews in Russia. We know that in January, 1942 Mengele joined the medical unit of the SS Viking Division and remained with the unit on the front lines in Russia until nearly the end of 1942 when he was reported to the Race and Resettlement Offices in Berlin. Further on, could this text refer in some way to an action he participated in or witnessed?

15.) "The Travelling Circus on the Road". Autograph manuscript, 55pp. 8vo., spiral-bound, pages marked page "41" to "96". Translator's note: Mentions "Geza [Stammers] and her people thought about what they wanted to bring into their new house...". Celebration of Christmas in their home, etc. Possibly a child's story?

16.) "The Big Trip". Autograph manuscript, 70pp. 8vo., paper boards, undated. Translator's note: Description of a journey through the forest, birds, etc. Most likely related to his trip with the Brosserts.

17.) Autograph manuscript, spiral bound notebook, 48pp. 8vo. including two loose poems. Translator's notes: Describes housing for naval students in Bremerhaven, apparently a response to a request or he has been reading a text. Another travel description, dated Oct. 16, 1971. A poem at conclusion is dated June 9, 1973. Writes about literary form, and criticism of pronunciation of German. Drawing of a woman's ovaries near end. Loose poems relate to meeting one's love and the star that greets one at night - very impersonal. Additional sketch of a chandelier with candles, mathematical calculations.

18A.) 1974 Daily diary, Jan. 1 - Dec. 31, one page/day entries, commenced Jan. 1: 365 full-page entries, 380pp. 8vo., hard-bound. Entries very briefly reviewed, at random. Migraines. Talks about classical literature, connection between physical and intellectual work. Writing a difficult letter to "G.E.B." [Geza Brossert]. Refers to his memoirs, and relation to "poetry and truth", weighs his dogs (he had many that "protected" him from capture on his walks).

18B.) Autograph manuscript, 72pp. 8vo., spiral-bound notebook, 1974. Translator's notes: Mengele comments on a recent biography he has read, complains it is superficial, author is inconsequential. He then apparently breaks into autobiographical account. Writes about a theater performance, then complains about the number of unemployed in Germany in 1929-32, the shameful peace after World War I, how his ideology developed, that taxes were too high, too many unemployed, and "those receiving welfare…now we know what we have to do…". Compares Germans to ancient Romans. This all appears to be a conversation between students in Bonn, one of whom is Mengele ("Adreas") and his brother Franz. The students hate the bourgeoisie; Mengele identifies with proletariat. Explains what is needed to be a successful student: personality, studies, etc. He takes a trip in March, 1930 to Munich to a university to become a dentist [Mengele originally planned to be a dentist]. He tries to decide what to study, what lectures to go to. Has a fascination with anatomy. Lectures are overcrowded, but he is a good student. Gerlach and von Frisch are named as professors. Mention of various careers, biology, insects, plants, skin diseases, STD's. No girls allowed in rooms. Describes his room and the décor. Goes out to the bars with his friends to meet girls, even "secretaries" but times are hard. Afraid he could get a girl pregnant. Mentions reading in the fine arts and philosophy. Describes taking a long walk with his friend, meeting a woman "Heidi", what attracts him to her: "German way of life", mentions the importance of a proper diet, less meat and salt.

19.) Autograph manuscript, 22p. 8vo., paper boards, 1975. Translator's notes: Autobiography, written in the third person. Mentions a family raising dogs in the forest, likely describing his own life with the number of dogs he owned.

20.) 1976 Daily Diary, Jan. 1 - Dec. 31, one page/day entries, commenced Feb. 5: 329 full-page entries. Entries not reviewed. Last few pages include financial transactions, with loose notes apparently indicating sums paid to laborers. Should be read as many entries appear emphatic and bear exclamation points.

21.) Autograph manuscript, 125pp. 8vo., spiral-bound notebook, ca. 1961. Translator's note: Remarks on our "spiritual situation", insights that science provided at the dawn of modernity. Humans must make a decision on how to survive in modern times. Metaphysics and scientific insights. Times have changed and we must change our world view. "Revelation" came from our church fathers: the Roman Empire collapsed, but the Church remained, Enlightenment. The differences between humans and animals, evolution of the human race, similarities and differences between apes and man. Increase in world population will kill off wildlife which cannot be domesticated. Progress is never a cultural thing but rather a product of civilization. Natural process of adaptability alone can easily be used with human life - and has significance for the human race. Eugenics has not succeeded in the short run. Must find a solution as if overpopulation continues, the intelligent beings will die out.

Importance of having a university degree, and mentions people he went to school with.

Memoirs as youth - more autobiography. First car, vacation, etc.

22.) Autograph manuscript, 184pp. 8vo., spiral-bound notebook, undated. Translator's note: Autobiography, as "Andreas", in first person. Once again in Bonn, in high school. Difficulty in finding the right curriculum. Mentions 1930 NSDAP elections which "added much to my success". He states that he was immature and alone - "It would have been different if I had listened to Goethe and lived with good families. Would it have been different to have lived with people who were educated themselves, and would it have been different if they would have taken care of me?...".

23.) Autograph manuscript, 186+pp. 8vo., spiral-bound notebook, undated. Autobiography. His ancestry and birth. Describes the body image in antiquity, and the baroque image of the body. Political discussion of German grief and embarrassment from losses in Napoleonic and other various wars. History of his town. An incredibly long discussion of Andreas' heritage, essentially Mengele's "grandiose" family history as he perceived it.

24.) Autograph manuscript, 82pp. 8vo., spiral-bound notebook, undated. Translator's note: Autobiographical. "Even in spite of his suffering, Andreas grew up satisfactorily…and his surroundings got used to his whining…". Fire in the factory. Discussion of his mother and father, and getting married. Women and the nature of marriage. Physical and emotional changes that occur with pregnancy. Discusses relationship between body and soul. Current intellectual situation and need to return to a psychological wholeness, especially in cases of female to male trans-sexuality.

25.) Autograph manuscript, 1977 diary, about 270pp. paper boards (one detached, one lost). Weekday entries are one per page, weekend entries are two per page. Untranslated, virtually all entries are full page, some required Mengele to tip-in an additional page to contain all of his writing.

26.) Autograph manuscript, unbound, 26pp. 4to., undated. Translator's notes: Concerns the "North Queen" which transported Mengele from Genoa to Argentina. Describes night before leaving, and names three people he spoke to about boarding. Makes the voyage with "Hermann". They discuss issues past and present, mention an Italian lawyer who married a German woman. He despairs of practicing his profession overseas. Many things have happened that will shape the future decades. Names an engineer "Pinska" recommended to him. Introduces himself under his alias "Gregor" [Mengele's alias in Argentina was "Dr. Gregor"]. Arrival in Argentina". I have been able to deduce this is Mengele's autobiography covering the period from shortly before his departure from Genoa aboard the North King until his parting with the unnamed engineer, the engineer's ill daughter and Ms. Von Gonlow in Buenos Aires in 1950.This text was most heavily quoted in the 1985 Bunte articles.

27.) Autograph manuscript, unbound, 40pp. 4to., undated. Description of Buenos Aires, some of those prosecuted there, visit to an Indian village. Local animals. Camping in the jungle. Fishing. The philosophy of knowledge and the decline of the West. Description of the house he is living in. Likely two separate monographs.

28.) Autograph manuscript, 19pp, 8vo., spiral bound notebook, 1967. Very brief one-line entries, untranslated. Possibly a payroll or expense journal. One poem. Two brief essays.

29.) Autograph manuscripts (3). Apparently, three additional multi-page manuscripts have been discovered, are presently en route to us, and will be included in the archive. The German titles loosely translate to: "Reflection - Jewish anecdote", "Big City" and "Short Story" Our translator advised: "Page 30 is a reflection on a Jewish anecdote in which an aging father shortly before his death orders his oldest son to climb on a table. He is to let himself fall backwards into the father's arms. Mengele interprets this episode as a Jewish teaching that you can't trust anybody, not even your own father. He keeps debunking this "Jewish" attitude and explains that there couldn't be any mistrust between himself and his son, since his son has no Jewish blood. He uses the Fourth Commandment to explain the trusting relationship between father and son. Page 31: A description how Mengele wakes up to birdsong. It's a beautiful summer morning, he has befriended a particular bird and is able to tell that the bird demands his usual breadcrumbs either from him or his chambermaid. He tries to be cute and dreamy".

Clearly, a vast amount of revealing information remains within these "unknown" writings. They are best described (and analyzed) by type:

a.) Autobiographical chapters: Bundt and Posner quoted from these writing very sparingly. At the time of their discovery, 1985, Mengele's death had just been revealed by the family and the public was clamoring for reasons as to how this "monster" had escaped detection for so many years. There was no "reading between the lines"; only three of four conversations were quoted directly, and all detail as to his daily life, more extensive conversations, activities and thoughts was omitted. Additionally, in the intervening 25 years since these journals were examined, much new information on escaped Nazi war criminals and their movements has come to light: the contents of these journals may in some way further that research.

b.) Diaries: Three years of diaries with full one-page entries per day are included. A random review of only a very few entries has already revealed intriguing content, and undoubtedly this material will reflect Mengele's day-to-day thoughts, emotions, frustrations, anger, hatred and despair in his later days "on the run". They also may offer some Nazi-hunting evidence.

c.) Philosophical writings: Mengele studied philosophy in Munich in the 1920s, coming under the influence of the racial ideology of Alfred Rosenberg. His philosophical and introspective writings within this archive are unexplored and will offer an incomparable insight into the workings of his mind and his beliefs influenced his actions.

d.) Political commentary: Throughout the writings, Mengele occasionally makes reference to past and present political situations, including those in China, America, and Germany. He apparently is very opinionated, and his observations would prove revealing of his character.

e.) Travelogues, stories and poetry: Although to the layman these writings would appear to be superfluous, we feel they would be most interesting if examined and studied by those with a background in abnormal psychiatry. His poetry typically refers to his being "broken down" or "tired", then abruptly changes to describe the joy of flowers and nature. We know that his foray into the jungle proved somewhat of a cure for his depression, so the contents of his travel journals would be insightful. His stories must be more carefully read and analyzed for their hidden meanings.

Taken as a whole and carefully read and analyzed, this archive, the vast majority of which has never been published or perhaps even viewed, offers an in-depth view into the cruelest mind of the twentieth century. Unlike a grouping of static wartime documents or reports, these are intensely personal writings of a desperate man, not penned over a single evening but over fifteen years as he fled his pursuers. They illustrate a remorseless, angry, narcissistic, vain, pseudo-intellectual murderer seeking to leave his mark on the world. In these writing Mengele describes himself - it is our hope that these writings will also describe Mengele.

These writings unfortunatley require more translation and analysis than we are able to afford them. We firmly believe that this grouping should never be "broken up" and scattered world-wide - in the eyes of our fellow historians, that act would be criminal as well. Scholarly institutions or historic collections should obtain these writings not as a "remembrance" of a horrific period of world history, but more as a learning tool for future generations to recognize the psychopathy that spurred the Holocaust so that similar genocides are never repeated.

Any buyer of this lot shall also own the copyright to materials contained within the lot, and may publish from it any and all such materials subject to the following limitation: consignor or his assignee shall have the co-exclusive right to use copies of any and all writings in this lot in any documentary or film about Josef Mengele or any direct relative of Josef Mengele. This co-exclusive copyright shall expire on Dec. 31, 2035, and shall not be transferred or sold during this term by the consignor (or consignor's assignee) to any other party.