Gemini

‘What was injected into me and my twin sister, Miriam? And for what nefarious purposes were our blood used?’ These are probably the thoughts that have been haunting Eva Mozes Kor for the past half-century according to the NAZI Research article we read for class this week. Josef Mengele was the man behind the studies. He was the man who probed twins as if they were lab rats. And what good has come out of his unethical studies? Have we benefited at all from his work? Or as Britt asked in class, is it even ethical for us to cite his work?

To answer these questions, I think it is important to first have a better understanding of what Mengele did in Auschwitz. In class today, someone mentioned whether or not it was even practical to use any of Mengele’s Nazi research today because many of the experiments were conducted with an Arian superiority bias. How do we even know if these experiments were even scientifically structured and reliable? However, after reading some other research on Mengele and his studies, I learned that he was actually working alongside some of the top researchers of that time.

Also, Mengele treated twins very differently from the other prisons at Auschwitz; they were given chocolates and candy (some of them called him ‘Uncle Mengele’), freed from certain punishments, and even sometimes allowed to play sports (Children of the Flames: Dr. Josef Mengle and the Untold Story of the Twins of Auschwitz). But all this changed once Mengele was ready to experiment on them. This “happy” time also seemed like a waiting room at a Doctor’s office. You get toys and games to play with before you go in to see the Dr.

Once they were called upon for experimentation, they were subjected to probably some of the worst treatment during the Holocaust. Everything he did, however, was a secret to the test subjects. Eva and her sister, Miriam, had no idea what was being done to their bodies and for what purpose they were done. Blood was drawn, chemicals were used, measurements were taken, injections were given, and even death was used in research.

In the end, it is still difficult to decide whether or not it is acceptable to use Nazi research today. If we do decide that this research is unethical to cite, does this mean that the victims of Mengele suffered for no cause? I think the decision is up to the remaining survivors. My guess is that they’ll support its use if there’s anyone who can benefit, but really, how are people today supposed to benefit from this research? What sort of useful information did Mengele come up with that is applicable to medical research in this time and age? If his purpose was hidden from his subjects, then where can we find the answers?

Here are some words from a surviving victim of Josef Mengele:
"Dr. Mengele had always been more interested in Tibi. I am not sure why - perhaps because he was the older twin. Mengele made several operations on Tibi. One surgery on his spine left my brother paralyzed. He could not walk anymore. Then they took out his sexual organs. After the fourth operation, I did not see Tibi anymore. I cannot tell you how I felt. It is impossible to put into words how I felt. They had taken away my father, my mother, my two older brothers - and now, my twin ..." (http://www.auschwitz.dk/Mengele/id17.htm)