One of the worst, nicknamed "The Angel of Death" , was Joseph Mengele, a concentration camp medical doctor.
In he was still at large. During the second World War, Mengele had performed many experiments on twins, people with heterochromia each eye a different colour , dwarfism and many others with a physical abnormality. The experiments were ostensibly to gain information about genetics and heredity, and intended to "prove" the theory of Aryan supremacy. Mengele had his pick of the prisoners before they were sent to the gas chambers, and treated the whole concentration camp as a potential pool to provide fodder for his experiments.
The horrific experiments were mostly on especially selected children younger than six. They were deadly, conducted without anaesthetic, and were deemed inhuman by any standards. In , Mengele was still at large in Paraguay, near the border to Argentina. He died while swimming in , but this was not finally confirmed until forensic examination in The timing of this novel was therefore particularly critical, and feelings worldwide were running high that this man should be brought to justice; he had escaped the War Trials in Nuremberg partly because people had believed he was already dead.
It was an inspired idea to make the real life Josef Mengele a main character in Ira Levin's fictitious book. Twins were Mengele's main interest.
Because of his obsession with genetics, it was very likely that Mengele would have continued his experiments deep in the South American jungle. Indeed, even as recently as , evidence came to light that he may well have pursued his fanatical experiments undercover. A small town in Brazil, Candido Godoi, has a record number of twins on record; one in 5 births instead of the average one in Additionally, most of these twins are blond haired and blue eyed.
Residents say that Mengele made repeated visits there in the early s, posing at first as a vet, but then offering medical treatment to the women of the town. The first twins were born in , the year in which Mengele arrived in the town. It look very much as if Mengele was putting his theories of Eugenics into practice, and trying to "improve" the genetic quality of the human population. In the novel, Liebermann runs the "War Crimes Information Office" in Vienna, collecting information on Nazi war criminals, helping to find them and helping with their prosecution.
However, Liebermann is elderly, and suffering from lack of funds for his work. Western nations are becoming less inclined to spend more money and effort on tracking down the remaining criminals. He is dispirited and disinclined to listen to any more "rumours".
It had been chaired by the "Angel of Death" , Mengele, himself. They were part of the notorious "Comrades Organization in South America". The young man said he had overheard details of a Nazi plot, which planned the deaths of 94 men world-wide, all of whom had similar jobs, and all of about the same age. It sounded bizarre, as one of the committee of Nazis reportedly said, incredulously, "All of them elderly civil servants, and by killing them we fulfil the destiny of the Aryan race?
Yet it is up to Liebermann to make sense of it, and painstakingly track down the culprits, without any backing from official bodies, either financial or in terms of manpower. Liebermann has old friends whom he calls on for various favours.
One of these is Sydney Beynon, Reuters's senior Vienna correspondent, who has useful access to newspaper records and current reports. Liebermann also enlists the help of the "Young Jewish Defenders" , but they are just as likely to get in trouble with the police themselves.
The puzzling premise makes use of many of Levin's favourite devices, and with skilful writing, the reason stays a secret until roughly halfway through the book. We feel sympathy for the protagonist, an ailing elderly man, no longer with the resources he once had, but with the same dedication and determined commitment to the cause. From then on the action increases in tempo, and the book itself becomes a compelling thriller.
There is even a nice little twist at the end, hinting that perhaps not all the ends are quite so satisfactorily tied up. Is it just crazy? Krieger's one of the boys from Brazil! The premise of the book, not of Archer is that down in South America, the fugitive Dr. Mengele is sending out six men to kill 94 civil servants on precise dates in nine countries.
Renowned Nazi-hunter, Yakov Liebermann receives a mysterious phone call from a twenty-something American boy who went down Brazil to investigate and no big spoiler here is killed. As Krieger would say, schiesse! Despite knowing one of the big twists, courtesy of Malory Archer If there's one thing I've learned in all my years as a spy master, it's that you keep your friends close, and possible genetic clones of Adolf Hitler - closer , it was still a fun read with plenty of twists to keep me interested.
I can see why Ira Levin 's books are perfect for film- the writing is incredibly cinematic; shot for shot sequences of driving, blocking for each dramatic death. The last chapter which I won't spoil , reads like a screenplay or how I imagine one would read. It certainly makes you think- what would a world be like with 94 of these mysterious boys out there Another fine read from Ira Levin When I was in Hebrew school, the teacher had us listen to the first chapter on audiobook, and promised to let us hear the rest.
When he realized that the book had dialog such as "Fucking bitch, I'd like to cut her tits off," he reconsidered his plans. David Rubenstein. Despite the age of this novel 40 years , it is still a great thriller. It is a masterful mystery, where bit by bit, Nazi hunter Ezra Lieberman unlocks a set of clues. He gradually pieces together the details of a terrible conspiracy to kill 94 men, all about 65 years old, around the world.
There they are led by the incredibly evil Josef Mengele, who seeks to bring back a fourth Reich. This novel held me in its grip from the beginning to the very end. Something about Ira Levin's writing style just caught me and didn't let me go until I finished the book. While some people claim that the plot is a bit far-fetched, it did not strike me that way. It does not seem like science fiction at all, simply a slight extrapolation. I never watched the movie that goes by the same title, so I cannot comment on how it follows or does not follow the book.
I did not read this book; I listened to the audiobook, as read by Simon Vance. He does a wonderful job bringing the book to life.
I especially appreciated his reading of the dialog where the speakers tried, unsuccessfully, to modify their foreign accents.
I recall being totally enthralled by the story, reading it during my subway commuting in NY. Director Franklin J. Ira Levin novel Heywood Gould screenplay. Top credits Director Franklin J. See more at IMDbPro. Trailer Official Trailer. Video Sneak Previews Season 1 Episode 1.
Photos Top cast Edit. Gregory Peck Dr. Josef Mengele as Dr. Josef Mengele. Rosemary Harris Mrs. Doring as Mrs. Anne Meara Mrs. Curry as Mrs. Walter Gotell Mundt as Mundt. David Hurst Strasser as Strasser.
Wolfgang Preiss Lofquist as Lofquist. Michael Gough Mr. Harrington as Mr. Joachim Hansen Fassler as Fassler. Franklin J. More like this. Watch options. Storyline Edit. Barry Kohler, a young Nazi hunter, tracks down a group of former SS officers meeting in Paraguay in the late s.
The Nazis, led by Dr Mengele, are planning something. Old Nazi hunter, Ezra Lieberman, is at first uninterested in Kohler's findings. But when he is told something of their plan, he is eager to find out more. Lieberman visits several homes in Europe and the U. It is at one of these houses he notices something strange, which turns out to be a horrible discovery.
If they survive Drama Mystery Sci-Fi Thriller.
0コメント