Guez, Olivier. La disparition de Josef Mengele – 2017

In his novel, French author Olivier Guez reconstructs Mengele’s life from the moment in which he arrives in Buenos Aires in 1949 to his death in Bertioga, Brazil, in 1979. The story, while centered on Mengele’s character, is at the same time a detailed account of the political circumstances in Latin America in the fifties and the decades that followed, which made it possible for countries like Argentina, Chile and Paraguay to become a safe haven for Nazi criminals, their sympathizers and collaborators. In this sense, Guez describes how Argentine president Juan Perón warmly welcomes the German fugitives, granting them amnesty in 1949, and allowing them to build up a solid network in Argentina and beyond. The novel follows Mengele’s life among this nostalgic group – with members such as Hans-Ulrich Rudel, Adolf Eichmann, Ante Pavelić, Vittorio Mussolini, Eduard Roschmann, or Gerhard Bohme. It becomes clear that it is ultimately this powerful network, still connected to its overseas accomplices, together with his family’s financial resources, which enable Mengele to escape justice time and time again. Guez follows Mengele’s footsteps as he flees Mossad from Argentina to Paraguay, and from Paraguay to Brazil in the sixties – after the Eichmann trial reawakens international interest in his capture –, up until his death in 1979. Hereby, he depicts an increasingly paranoid Mengele, absolutely dependent on his protectors, who diminish in number through the years. Guez explicitly contrasts this figure with the myth of Mengele as a cunning, invincible supervillain, and the archetype of the cold, sadist, Nazi-monster. The novel consciously distances itself from this sensationalist discourse about Mengele, exploring this figure in a measured and attentive way.

The novel lends itself to reflect not only on the conspicuous figure of the perpetrator but also on less visible and more ambivalent forms complicity and collaboration in acts of political violence aimed, in this case, at perpetuating impunity.

Author of this entry: Sofia Forchieri

Guez, Olivier. La disparition de Josef Mengele. Grasset 2017. Print.