Josef Mengele was one of the most monstrous figures to emerge from the horrors of the Holocaust. But what set him on the path to his particular brand of barbarism? Using unpublished documents, expert reports, and survivor testimonies, Mengele’s early years are explored. An early adopter of Nazism, his university years and study of eugenics, honed his abhorrent theories about racial supremacy.

It was only after being injured on the Nazi front lines that Josef Mengele was deemed unfit for service and sent to work at Auschwitz concentration camp. It was here that he began to conduct his barbaric experiments, many using children. His apparent glee at selecting which inmates would live or die led to his nickname of the Angel of Death. Despite his crimes, how was he able to escape justice?

After the war ended, Josef Mengele was able to enjoy a long fugitive life. As this history documentary reveals, he managed to evade the Allies seeking Hitler’s top officers. He lived as a German farmhand before fleeing to South America, aided by Nazi sympathizers. How was the most wanted Nazi criminal in the world allowed to die a free man on the beach of Bertioga in Brazil?