Kish Mahoney Holocaust Literature

Life Comparison of Moshe and Tibi Offer to Josef Mengele

Moshe and Tibi Offer (AKA: Miki and Tibi) were born twins, the youngest of 4 boys to a family of wealth and privilege (Lagnado and Dekel 30). Their parents owned a large estate that manufactured liquor from the fruits of their expansive farm. Similarly Josef Mengele (AKA: Beppo) was the eldest of 3 sons who's parents owned a farm equipment manufacturing factory which he worked overseeing shipments to the factory (Lagnado and Dekel 29). Both the twins and Mengele were privileged to escorts by horse and carriage to and from their destinations.

Moshe and Tibi were 13 on arrival to Auschwitz where they were they experienced their first encounter with Mengele (Lagnado and Dekel 31). This was both a blessing as well as torture as the remainder of their family members were exterminated on arrival. Both boys were experiment on by Mengele but Tibi was the one to suffer the most at the hands of the Angel of Death. Tibi would suffer being paralyzed and castrated before he disappeared never to be seen or heard from again which traumatized his twin brother Moshe for the remainder of his life (Lagnado and Dekel 71).

With word the Russians were ready to liberate Auschwitz Moshe was taken on what they called  the death march to Mauthausen (many of the twins did not survive this march), the same camp that Dr. Mengele transferred to in order to prevent capture by the Russians (qtd. In Children of the Flames 100). Moshe reported that he stayed at this camp for 2-3 weeks before being transferred to another camp by train, during the transport he was pushed out of the train car into a field, and was rescued by a German man that hid him in an attic in his barn (Lagnado and Dekel 100). Moshe nearly starved to death in the attic after the German was killed during the night by gunfire, but after 4 days of no food or water he was again rescued but this time by American Soldiers (Lagnado and Dekel 101). The Americans took him to Austria where he was seen by a Doctor, was given food, and an American uniform to wear. Mengele knowing that the war was coming to an end shed his SS uniform for the garb of a Wehrmacht soldier and fled Mauthausen himself. He was captured shortly after and became a POW for a few months but due to an altered ID card he was released and fled to South America in 1945 which began his life on the run and many aliases, according to Lagnado and Dekel (103).

Moshe recalls, After the war I was only 15 and I experienced his first mental breakdown and was hospitalized for 2 years  (qtd. In Children of the Flames 169-170). According to Lagnado and Dekel, while in hiding Mengele began a successful carpentry business and eventually bought into a lucrative farm machinery business with the financial assistance of his father (170). After being released from the hospital at age 17 Moshe was married and his wife died giving birth of their daughter. He returned to the hospital with his infant daughter and was institutionalized again after the loss of his wife (Lagnado and Dekel 175). Mengele was married prior to the war and had a son but following the war his first wife divorced him. According to Lagnado and Dekel, In 1958 while still in hiding Mengele remarried but this marriage would not last long, as shortly after they were married he was arrested and released, his father passed away, and finally the hunt to capture the Angel of Death increased (176). His new wife quickly became unhappy with such a lifestyle and returned to their homeland without her husband. Mengele was devastated after being abandoned by both of his wives (Lagnado and Dekel 176).

Moshe went to school and became a chemist working for a film laboratory then was recruited to work for a prominent Israeli television company according to Lagnado and Dekel (210). He remarried and he and his second wife had five daughters and one son. Mengele on the other hand had all of his credentials revoked from the University of Frankfurt (Lagnado and Dekel 210).

Moshe stated that he never forgot or stopped mourning the loss of Tibi his twin brother, according to Lagnado and Dekel (210). Mengele lost his father and both of his brothers, but the loss of his youngest brother Lobo was the most difficult. They became estranged due to Mengeles abrasiveness and tantrums during their communications together. When Mengele discovered that Lobo was dying of cancer he tried to mend their broken relationship in a letter but it was too late his brother never responded (Lagnado and Dekel 214-215).

Moshe said,  Happy occasions are the worst time of the year due to all of the people who are no longer here to share them with me  (222). In a weird twist of fate Mengele felt abandoned by the remaining living family members as no one sent him birthday cards or letters from Germany. Moshe admitted to being physically abusive to his wife and children the same as Mengele was verbally abusive, critical, and intrusive towards his family members especially his son, according to Lagnado and Dekel (223-224).

Both Moshe and Mengele complained of difficulty sleeping, nightmares, feeling broken-down, nervous, sick, and alone, according to Lagnado and Dekel (112, 224, and 234). This goes to show that despite the difference in lifestyles of both these men the scars of Auschwitz had a trickledown effect for both. Though their nightmares were of different scenes, their pain of different origins, their fears of totally different sources, and they were both lonely but for totally different reason. One man was beat and tortured as a child and end up physically abusing those he loved the most. The other claimed to never have personally killed anyone but ultimately was responsible for the loss of millions of lives but he never felt a thing for those lives lost.

References:
Lagnado, Lucette Matalon, and Sheila Cohn Dekel. Children of the Flames Dr. Josef Mengele and the Untold Story of the Twins of Auschwitz.                              New York: Penguin (Non-Classics), 1992. Print.
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Angel of Death Josef Mengele
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Mengles Children