Mengele’s Apprentice

Review

“Mengele’s Apprentice is by Roberta Kagan. This book is a little deceptive as I though it was about one young man who ended up working for Mengele. This book is actually three different stories of survivors, although they may be based on true stories, they are all fiction.

The first story is about a young man who worked very hard to become a physician in spite of his poverty. He was picked on by bullies in school and was shy and stuttered. He was very intelligent and encouraged by his parents to aspire to becoming a doctor. He becomes the assistant to Mengele and thought this would help his resume later in life. He greatly disliked his work with Mengele and wondered how to get out of it. On his one leave, he returned to Berlin to try to decide what to do. Here he met Gisele who was simply trying to stay alive and who also had been told that her father was Josef Mengele. He falls in love with her and wants to marry her and take her back t Poland with him; but is afraid she would say no. Gisele is not above using him to get closer to her “father”. What will happen when they return to Auschwitz?
The second story is a continuation of The Children’s story which is book one in the series. Now, the family is placed in the ghetto where Shoshana finds that she enjoys music, singing and dancing which are all very much against her Hasid raising. Her parents disown her and send her out on her own. She must leave her twin sisters behind. When the ghetto is sent for resettlement, her parents and sisters are in the first set of trains. Shoshana asks to be on that train where she can at least see them. She and her friend, Ruth, are picked up out of the train line by Ruth’s ex-boyfriend, a German officer. He knows the train is going to death at Treblinka. He ends up taking Ruth, Shoshana and her sisters. Instead of going to Treblinka, he is taking them directly to Auschwitz where he thinks they may have a chance.

The third story is Gisele’s story of how she ended up in Paris in a house of ill-repute and became involved with Dr. Satan before making her way to Berlin where she manages to ensnare Dr. Ernst into marriage. Now she is on her way to Auschwitz as a doctor’s wife.

The book is very good; but I wanted to know more about Ernst and how he makes his way in Auschwitz. I want to know more about the twins. Maybe book three will tell.” – Amazon Reviewer