A man suspected of being Dr. Josef Mengele, one of the most infamous of Nazi leaders, who had acted as “selection doctor” at the Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps, was arrested in Brazil today, police authorities announced here.
The man, taken into custody at a health resort at Pocos de Caldas, insisted he was a Hungarian citizen, and said his name is Kolom an Schueller. Police, however, said they believe he was Dr. Mengele.
Dr. Mengele, a physician, was the man who, under the Nazi regime, chose the Jews to be sent to the gas chambers, “selecting” some healthy Jews for labor duty and consigning others to their death. Many concentration camp survivors have described his activities at various trials of Nazi mass murderers.
Mengele was known to have been in hiding in Argentina for some years. However, it had been reported that he left Argentina in May 1960, immediately after the capture there of former S.S. Col. Adolf Eichmann, who has since been condemned to death by the court in Israel which tried him for crimes against the Jewish people and crimes against humanity. Later, Mengele was reported to be in hiding in various countries, including Egypt and Brazil.
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