"We would have to sit naked in the large room where we first entered, and people in white jackets would observe us and write down notes. They also would study every part of our bodies. They would photograph, measure our heads and arms and bodies, and compare the measurements of one twin to another. The process seemed to go on and on."
-Eva and Miriam Mozes
-Eva and Miriam Mozes
Many medical experiments were performed on those who arrived at camp. The camps were used as a great opportunity to explore the medical field and experiment freely on subjects. One significant figure was Doctor Josef Mengele who was also known as the "Angel of Death". He was physician and SS captain at Auschwitz who was considered ruthless and brutal. Many prisoners recall seeing him around the selection ramp. Mengele was fascinated with the study of twins. He with the help of other medical professionals performed many lethal experiments on his test subjects. The twins who were selcted were put in special barracks to be examined and experimented on. Usually, one twin served as the control group while the other had to endure the experiments. Many of Mengele's test subjects died from the experiments or were murdered afterward with a lethal injection of phenol to the heart. The corpses of them were then used to conduct autopsies and comparative analysis of the internal organs. Mengele was also interested with people with different eye colors the disease Noma, a type of gangrene and dwarfs.
- Josef Mengele, SS physician at Auschwitz