Betina Anton is the author of the new book Hiding Mengele: How a Nazi Network Harbored the Angel of Death. A longtime journalist, she is based in Brazil.
Q: What inspired you to write Hiding Mengele?
A: What inspired me to write the book was one of my earliest childhood memories. My kindergarten teacher suddenly disappeared and all the adults were saying the name Mengele. At the age of 6, I didn't know who Mengele was, but I knew that my teacher had done something wrong and that Mengele was someone very bad.
Many years later, I decided that I wanted to write this story and find out more about what my teacher and Mengele had done and why.
Q: How did you research the book, and what did you learn that especially surprised you?
A: It took me six years to research and write this book, which was a long process. I used many sources, interviews in various countries, unpublished documents that were with the Brazilian federal police, visits to the places where Mengele lived here in Brazil and also in Argentina, as well as many reference books.
I found out a lot, no doubt about it. For example, that Mengele did not have a sad and depressed life in his last years, as his son used to say.
From the letters Mengele left behind, you can see that he was someone who enjoyed life: he loved his friends, traveled to the beach and the countryside, went to waterfalls, admired the plants in the rich Atlantic Forest, tended his garden, read his books and walked his dogs. He even watched Brazilian soap operas!
Q: How much did you know about Liselotte Bossert, your former teacher, before you started working on this book?
A: When I started researching this subject, I read Gerald Posner's book about Mengele. There I learnt some things about Liselotte Bossert. But I wanted to talk to her first-hand. It was difficult to get in touch with her and only after some months I found out that she was still alive.
However, she wasn't answering her phone, so I decided to go to her house. She answered because I told her I was a former student. We started talking, and in the middle of the conversation she started threatening me. I got scared of her and even thought I'd give up on the book.
Q: What do you hope people take away from the book?
A: There are many levels of reflection that can be drawn from this story. It connects in many ways with issues we face today. The most obvious of these is the impunity some war criminals still have today.
On the other hand, this story emphasizes the role of the victims, who didn't let the crimes of Mengele and other Nazi criminals go unnoticed.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I'm starting to research the Hamas attack on Israel.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Yes, I'm very excited about the worldwide interest in this book. The book is out or will be out in many languages, including Russian. It makes me very happy that I'll be able to convey this story from the point of view of someone from the German community here in São Paulo. I hope you enjoy reading it!
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
Sounds like a great read!
ReplyDelete