Hans Wilhelm König was an SS doctor assigned to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp

Auschwitz concentration camp

Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. König was a medical service officer who often observed the experiments of Josef Mengele

Josef Mengele

Josef Rudolf Mengele , also known as the Angel of Death was a German SS officer and a physician in the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. He earned doctorates in anthropology from Munich University and in medicine from Frankfurt University...

, reporting to various medical firms and authorities in Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

.

König joined the Allgemeine-SS in the mid to late 1930s, converting over to the Waffen-SS

Waffen-SS

The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...

once World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 began. There are no records of König ever having served in combat, and the first significant mention of him in Nazi records occurred in September 1944 when he was assigned to Auschwitz.

Initially, König worked at the main camp hospital at Auschwitz I. Here, he was known for experimenting with electro-shock therapy

Electroconvulsive therapy

Electroconvulsive therapy , formerly known as electroshock, is a psychiatric treatment in which seizures are electrically induced in anesthetized patients for therapeutic effect. Its mode of action is unknown...

 on male cap inmates. He soon received an internal camp transfer, and was next assigned to the Birkenau camp where he became a medical liaison to Josef Mengele http://en.auschwitz.org.pl/h/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=19&Itemid=16&limit=1&limitstart=2.

In her post-war memoirs, Eva Mozes Kor

Eva Mozes Kor

Eva Mozes Kor is a survivor of the Holocaust who, with her twin sister Miriam, was subjected to human experimentation under Josef Mengele at Auschwitz. Both of her parents and two older sisters were killed at the camp; only she and Miriam survived...

gives specific mention of König, specifying that he was often with Mengele during the latter's experimentation on twins.