Dr. Mengele’s Victim:
Why One Auschwitz Survivor Avoided Doctors for 65 Years
Sixty-five years ago, infamous Auschwitz doctor Josef Mengele removed Yitzhak Ganon’s kidney without anesthesia. The Greek-born Jew swore never to see a doctor again — until a heart attack last month brought his horrific tale into the open.
He is a thin man. His wine-red cardigan is a little too big, and his legs are like matchsticks in his brown pants. Yitzhak Ganon takes care of himself. He’s freshly shaven, his white mustache neatly trimmed. The 85-year-old sits on a gray sofa, with a cushion supporting his back. He is too weak to stand by himself, but he still greets a guest in German: “Guten Tag.”
Speaking is hard for him. “Slowly, Abba,” his daughter Iris says, and brings him a glass of water. Her father has never in his life complained of any pain, she says.
