He was portrayed by Jesper Christensen, who also portrayed Mr. White in the James Bond films. The agents are left with no choice but to bring Vogel to their apartment and plan a new extraction. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive email correspondence from us. [98] When Wolfgang Gerhard returned to Germany in 1971 to seek medical treatment for his ailing wife and son, he gave his identity card to Mengele. It was a rare moment of triumph near the end of an unimaginably painful journey. [76][77] He met with his son Rolf (who was told Mengele was his "Uncle Fritz")[78] and his widowed sister-in-law Martha, for a ski holiday in Switzerland; he also spent a week in his home town of Gnzburg. Helen Mirren on action roles and spying in The Debt - BBC News Martha and her son Karl Heinz followed about a month later, and the three began living together. SS physicians assigned to the concentration camps, including Auschwitz, played a special role. The movie drowns the deeper questions it raises in a sadistic procedural, an endless circular motion of fight scenes whose only justification is themselves. "The Debt" weaves a tangled web of lies and deceptions around a seemingly heroic raid in 1965 carried out by three agents of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency known for more ability than it exhibits here. In the case of "The Debt," it is definitely the latter. In the first phase of his experiments, Mengele subjected pairs of twins and people with physical handicaps to special medical examinations that could be carried out on the living organism. [c] The Stammers later bought a bungalow in the Eldorado neighborhood of Diadema, So Paulo, which they rented out to Mengele. In 1965,Mossadagent Rachel Singer arrives inEast Berlinto meet with fellow agents David Peretz and Stefan Gold . Every action success, screw-up, lie has momentous weight: The psyches of tens of millions hangs in the balance. [34] As part of his duties, Mengele made weekly visits to the hospital barracks and ordered any prisoners who had not recovered after two weeks in bed to be sent to the gas chambers. The Debt begins in 1997, in Tel Aviv, where Rachel (Helen Mirren), the agent who allegedly brought Vogel down, is one of her countrys heroes and newly celebrated in a book by her daughter, Sarah (Romi Aboulafia). The Debt, by contrast, explores nothing, preferring to stake out positions through stock characters declaiming expository dialogue. [19] Nazi Germany attempted to obtain this new territory by attacking Poland and the Soviet Union, intending to deport or kill the Jews and Slavs living there, who were considered by the Nazis to be inferior to the Aryan master race. [58] Alex Dekel, a survivor, reports witnessing Mengele performing vivisection without anesthesia, removing hearts and stomachs of victims. [14] (Both of his degrees were revoked by the issuing universities in the 1960s. The victims corpses were sent to Hirt as material for his skeleton collection, which was intended for use in anthropological studies that would demonstrate the superiority of the Nordic race. 1966. At a publishing ceremony, Rachel, her cheek conspicuously scarred, is asked to read aloud the chapter in which she and Vogel have their final, bloody confrontation a task she performs dutifully but with evident discomfort. He was next assigned to the SS-Rasse- und Siedlungshauptamt ('SS Race and Settlement Main Office') in Pozna, evaluating candidates for Germanization. [83], Mengele's name was mentioned several times during the Nuremberg trials in the mid-1940s, but the Allied forces believed that he was probably already dead. Here the Mengele figure is called Dieter Vogel and played by Jesper Christensen as a Hannibal Lecterlike evil genius who can instantly read Jews minds and press the exact buttons to make them irrational with hurt and rage. (There is no one better than Mirren at signaling discomfort with her eyes.) Origin [106] Other aliases used by Mengele in his later life included "Dr. Fausto Rindn" and "S. Josi Alvers Aspiazu". He performed deadly experiments on prisoners at the Auschwitz II (Birkenau) concentration camp, where he was a member of the team of doctors who selected victims to be killed in the gas chambers,[a] and was one of the doctors who administered the gas. Then there's an ingenious operation, which I will not describe, to spirit him out of his clinic and into captivity. More than half of The Debt is set in East Berlin, where young Rachel is now Jessica Chastain, Stephan is played by Martin Csokas, and Davids avatar is Sam Worthington. [67] He eventually escaped from Germany on 17 April 1949,[68][69] convinced that his capture would mean a trial and death sentence. Its Munich-meets-Fast and Furious (Fast and Fuhrerious?). Mengele also began selecting dwarves and persons with physical peculiarities (including inborn disabilities and the developmental defects that appear in dwarfism) from the Jewish transports brought to Birkenau for extermination, from the Jewish Theresienstadt Family Camp in Birkenau, and from the so-called Mexico (Sector BIII). As soon as the examinations of a given pair of twins or dwarf were finished, Mengele ordered them killed by phenol injection so that he could go on to the next phase of his experiments, the comparative analysis of internal organs at autopsy. Ten thrillers that channel Jason Bourne | The Spectator The cinematography by Ben Davis is un-flashy but fluid; the editing by Alexander Berner perfectly judged. The Auschwitz doctor who couldn't 'do no harm' - BBC Future The Debt (2007) - Plot Summary - IMDb And now, justice calls. SS physicians assigned to the concentration camps, including Auschwitz, played a special role. In close collaboration with the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Anthropology, Genetics, and Eugenics, he studied the phenomena of twins, as well as the physiology and pathology of dwarfism. Minutes into the movie after a rousing flashback in which Hollywood It Girl Jessica Chastain (as young Rachel) gets to show off some nifty Krav Maga moves one of the three present-day Mossadniks has an unhappy encounter with a truck. [105] His body was buried in Embu das Artes under the name "Wolfgang Gerhard", whose identification Mengele had been using since 1971. (Not all that high-minded: The harsh neo-Israeli gutturals that pass for period Hebrew produce a distractingly comic effect, like a funeral fedora worn slightly askew.). The software that cloned Drake and the Weeknds voices is easy to useand impossible to shut down. [90], Despite having provided Mengele with legal documents using his real name in 1956 (which had enabled him to formalize his permanent residency in Argentina), West Germany was now offering a reward for his capture. Auschwitz-Birkenau: Nazi Medical Experimentation. He has been a long-time employee of the German Military History Research Office (MGFA). In no time, its apparent that Vogels will to live is diabolical, and that even the mighty Mossad is overmatched. There's a strange fillip of senior-action payoff in a Ukrainian hospital at the end, but by then you may be too worn out to harvest its moral significance let alone admire the twist ending. In January 1942, he joined the 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking as a battalion medical officer. The story deals with retired Mossad agents Rachel (Mirren), Stefan (Wilkinson) and David (Ciaran Hinds), and a 1965 mission that won them renown. [115] They found a coded address book and copies of letters sent to and received from Mengele. )[15] In a letter of recommendation, VonVerschuer praised Mengele's reliability and his ability to verbally present complex material in a clear manner. Photo: Laurie Sparham/?Miramax Film Corp. All Rights Reserved. David had been investigating the man at Stefan's request and, according to Stefan, killed himself out of fear that the lie would be exposed. Dr. Lothaire D. Voegele, MD | Aiken, SC | Thoracic Surgeon | US News Many subjects died from complications. Contribution to Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation, 1998 - 2023 American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise. She said, I delivered a beautiful big blonde girl, but Mengele ordered that my breast be bound so that, as he said, We can see how long a newborn baby can survive without food. After watching her baby suffer for several days, a female Czech doctor gave Elias a syringe with an overdose of morphine to end the childs agony. A lie I have lived with for thirty years. The Mengele-at-large myth turns up in more complicated form in the new thriller The Debt, a remake of an Israeli film in which the doctor is used to explore/exploit the way Jews tend to live and re-live the capture of Nazis in their fantasies. He used this document to obtain a West German passport using his real name and embarked on a trip to Europe. This password will be used to sign into all. {{start_at_rate}} {{format_dollars}} {{start_price}} {{format_cents}} {{term}}, {{promotional_format_dollars}}{{promotional_price}}{{promotional_format_cents}} {{term}}, As supporters pray, Kim Pegula's father shares her words: 'I will continue to fight', Prayer and healing vigil for Bills and Sabres co-owner Kim Pegula scheduled for Saturday, WGRZ meteorologist Elyse Smith exiting station after three years, DeAndre Hopkins Watch: Receiver posts on Instagram, 'Who says I wanted to leave? Amazon.com: The Debt : Sam Worthington, Helen Mirren, John Madden David smashes a glass plate over Vogel's head and repeatedly beats him, only to be stopped and restrained by Stefan. In the original film, Gila Almagor played the lead female Mossad agent, and the inimitable Mirren is a worthy successor to Almagors prowess. Now Rachel must travel to Kyiv to conclude what they should have done 30 years ago. If the rest of the year keeps up at this pace, podcasting will be in a good creative place. [26][27] Prisoners were transported there by rail from all over Nazi-controlled Europe, arriving in daily convoys. [116] German authorities alerted the police in So Paulo, who then contacted the Bosserts. Film considers time and space subjectively. Continuing newspaper coverage of his wartime activities, with accompanying photographs, led Mengele to relocate again in 1960. Following his recovery, he was transferred to the headquarters of the SS Race and Settlement Main Office in Berlin, at which point he resumed his association with VonVerschuer, who was now director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics. Shortly afterwards, the West German, Israeli, and U.S. governments launched a coordinated effort to determine Mengele's whereabouts. [84] Irene Mengele and the family in Gnzburg also alleged that he had died. Goaded by Vogel and distracted by sexual tension, his captors drop their professional guard and screw up. Every so often, several dozen Jewish men and women prisoners were brought in. Before the war, Mengele received doctorates in anthropology and medicine, and began a career as a researcher. Laurie Sparham/Focus Features In 1942, SS-Hauptsturmfhrer Prof. Dr. August Hirt, chairman of the anatomy department at the Reich University in Strasbourg, set about assembling a collection of Jewish skeletons under the auspices of the Ahnenerbe Foundation. What was the official certification given to The Debt (2010) in Italy? The plan goes awry leaving them stranded in East Berlin with Vogel aka The Surgeon of Birkenau. The film jumps timelines between 1997 and 1965, when a trio of photogenic Mossad agents are tasked with capturing Dieter Vogel (Jesper Christiansen), a notorious Nazi officer, uncreatively. Scientifically interesting anatomical specimens were preserved and shipped to the Institute in Berlin-Dahlem for more detailed examination. Organs and even complete heads of children were preserved and sent in jars to institutions including the Medical Academy in Graz, Austria. In the ensuing shootout, David sacrifices his chance to escape in order to collect the compromised Rachel. What If a Whole Stand-up Special Were About Peanut Butter? hide caption, With: Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson, Ciaran Hinds, Jessica Chastain, Sam Worthington, Marton Csokas. But the connections run deeper than that, a theme that recurs in the film. The best geopolitical thrillers to watch Rachel Brener is one of 3 young Mossad agents team who caught "The Surgeon of Birkenau" - a Nazi monster who was never brought to trial in Israel. What Shows Have Been Renewed or Canceled. [48] In his 1986 book, Lifton describes Mengele as sadistic, lacking empathy, and extremely antisemitic, believing the Jews should be eliminated as an inferior and dangerous race. Josef Mengele held a Ph.D. and a medical doctorate. The hangar doors of an airplane that has just landed open, revealing a woman and two men standing silently at the hatch. He next worked as a salesman for his family's farm equipment company, Karl Mengele & Sons, and in 1951 he began making frequent trips to Paraguay as a regional sales representative. Based on entries in Mengele's journals and interviews with his friends, historians such as, Institute for Hereditary Biology and Racial Hygiene, Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics, "Ultra-Orthodox man buys diaries of Nazi doctor Mengele for $245,000", "Scientists Decide Brazil Skeleton Is Josef Mengele", "Revisiting Mengele's Malignant "Race Science", "Wiesenthal Center Praises Acquisition of Mengele's Diary", "In the Matter of Josef Mengele: A Report to the Attorney General of the United States", "Mengele an Abortionist, Argentine Files Suggest", "Discovery, development, and current applications of DNA identity testing", "Why One Auschwitz Survivor Avoided Doctors for 65 Years", "Remains of Mengele Rest Uneasily in Brazil", "Nazi doctor Josef Mengele's bones used in Brazil forensic medicine courses", "The Ethical Legacy of Nazi Medical War Crimes: Origins, Human Experiments, and International Justice", "Bemerkungen zum Lebenslauf von Josef Mengele unter besonderer Bercksichtigung seiner Frankfurter Zeit", "Historical Analysis of 20 Name Files from CIA Records", "Skeletons in the Closet of German Science", "How Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele cheated justice for 34 years", "His secret out, Rolf Mengele talks about his father", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Josef_Mengele&oldid=1151778207, This page was last edited on 26 April 2023, at 05:19. To kill Rachel and her Mossad team (failed).To escape from them much as he can for deny his terrible war crimes against humanity (failed). Dieter Vogel Through November 1944, SS doctors undermined their efforts through selection, which sent the sickest prisoners (only Jews after August 1943 . This stuff plays to the strength of cinema, underlining the details of each strategy and the dangers it involves. And now I understand that I must tell the truth. Mengele was promoted to the rank of SS-Hauptsturmfhrer ('captain') in April 1943. He is Vogel (Jesper Christensen), the notorious Surgeon of Birkenau, who conducted unspeakable procedures on his captives. Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site. He was also interested in people with different-colored irises and in the etiology and treatment of noma (water cancer of the cheek). Their mission is to capture Nazi war criminal Dieter Vogel (Christensen) - infamously known as "The Surgeon of Birkenau " for his medical experiments on Jews during World War II - and bring him to justice in Israel. [16] The American author Robert Jay Lifton notes that Mengele's published works were in keeping with the scientific mainstream of the time, and would probably have been viewed as valid scientific efforts even outside Nazi Germany. Thirty years later, the secrets the Agents share come back to haunt them. On Mengeles orders, children suffering from noma were put to death in order for pathology investigations to be carried out. Out of the blue, David appears in Tel Aviv and commits suicide. The Debt (2010) - Plot - IMDb They were so easy to victimize, so weak . Josef and Martha were married in 1958 while on holiday in Uruguay, and they bought a house in Buenos Aires. The killing of prisoners was also accompanied by research into the changes that occur in the human organism as a result of starvation in particular, liver atrophy (braune Atrophie). [44], Mengele's research subjects were better fed and housed than the other prisoners, and temporarily spared from execution in the gas chambers. [54] Nyiszli recalled one occasion on which Mengele personally killed fourteen twins in one night by injecting their hearts with chloroform. The unidentified previous owner, who acquired the journals in Brazil, was reported to be close to the Mengele family. All rights reserved. Eight of the photographs include Mengele. Turns out she needs that Krav Maga, too: Vogel, nicely played by Danish actor Jesper Christensen, is a piece of work straight out of a Boys' Own World War II comic. [88], In May 1960, Isser Harel, director of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, personally led the successful effort to capture Adolf Eichmann in Buenos Aires. Gerhard persuaded the couple not to report Mengele's location to the authorities by convincing them that they themselves could be implicated for harboring a fugitive. While the psychological depth of the older characters is deftly portrayed, Chastain as the young Rachel is too much of an incomprehensible cipher to carry a story of this weight. Film raises weighty moral issues - The Catholic Leader The couple bought a farm in Nova Europa with the help of an investment from Mengele, who was given the job of managing for them. The third, David (Ciarn Hinds), unheard of since the sixties, has just turned up, too, looking dark, distraught, in a panic. Prisoner doctors / Camp hospitals / History / Auschwitz-Birkenau Nevertheless, Rachel finally feels compelled to travel toKiev, where she investigates the journalist's lead and identifies the asylum. That's intriguing for us, because "The Debt" does a splendid job of showing key early sequences in detail. [55], Mengele's eye experiments included attempts to change the eye color by injecting chemicals into the eyes of living subjects, and he killed people with heterochromatic eyes so that the eyes could be removed and sent to Berlin for study. Kremer ordered most of them killed by phenol injection. The Debt is adapted by British screenwriter Matthew Vaughn (with Jane Goldman and Peter Straughan) from the award-winning 2007 movie Hahov, which probed the morality of Mossad's pursuit of escaped Nazis a tender topic for the State of Israel and for Jews worldwide ever since the abduction and prosecution of Adolf Eichmann. [16], On 28 July 1939, Mengele married Irene Schnbein, whom he had met while working as a medical resident in Leipzig. The SS physicians who carried out pseudo-medical experiments in Auschwitz included: Carl Clauberg experimented with sterilization in the camp. Aware that the publicity could lead to his Nazi background and wartime activities being discovered, he took an extended business trip to Paraguay and was granted citizenship there in 1959 under the name "Jos Mengele". The official reason was that he was shot as he attempted escape while being held by his Israeli captive (kiddenappers) in a safe house somewhere in Europe. [124] In 2011, a further 31 volumes of Mengele's diaries were soldagain amidst protestsby the same auction house to an undisclosed collector of World War II memorabilia for US$245,000. The patients were isolated in separate barracks and several afflicted children were killed so that their preserved heads and organs could be sent to the SS Medical Academy in Graz and other facilities for study. [21][22], In June 1941, Mengele was posted to Ukraine, where he was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class. As it turns out, at least two of them are also racked by guilt. [74] Files released by the Argentine government in 1992 indicate that Mengele may have practiced medicine without a license while living in Buenos Aires, including performing abortions. Josef Mengele - Wikipedia Rachel poses as a woman consulting the ex-Nazi gynecologist, who is now in Buenos Aries. Tel Aviv, Israel. Settling A Tab? The results of the X-ray sterilization experiments were unsatisfactory. See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs. [9] In January 1937, he joined the Institute for Hereditary Biology and Racial Hygiene in Frankfurt, where he worked for Otmar Freiherr vonVerschuer, a German geneticist with a particular interest in researching twins. The term surgeon is used in the movie The Debt to describe the character named Dr. Dieter Vogel, who is based on the real-life Dr. Josef Mengele.
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