Mengele phantasies. The concentration camp doctor as a cultural symptom

Josef Mengele (1911-1979) is one of the most frequently fictionalised Nazi perpetrators. The figure of the concentration camp doctor who escaped punishment has been the subject of numerous literary texts and feature films, but also of graphic novels and works of art. They often express an abject fascination. In contrast to the thesis of the "banality of evil, " which Hannah Arendt developed with regard to Adolf Eichmann, it can be understood as the "de-banalisation of evil. " The camp doctor is aestheticised, eroticised and sacralised as the "angel of death. " In order to prepare a comprehensive research into this phenomenon, the article gives an overview of the material and analyses selected examples from various media.