He who abandons himself is lost

The expression He who abandons himself is lost is Hans-Ulrich Rudel’s motto, recalled as Josef Mengele refuses a proposed move from Brazil to Bolivia. In this scene, the maxim becomes an ironic measure of a fractured alliance: Rudel has withdrawn from Mengele’s life, while Mengele clings to the refuge he already controls.

The Motto in Context

Rudel’s proposal follows news that Klaus Barbie, living in Bolivia under the name Klaus Altmann, is prepared to host Mengele. Gerhard is drawn to the idea of crossing borders and jungles with Mengele to meet Barbie, but Mengele will not go. Nearly sixty, he is unwilling to change countries yet again; he does not know Barbie and doubts he could manage him as he manages the Stammers. The prospect of getting into Barbie’s small car is enough to make him freeze in fear.

Irony and Reversal

The motto appears as Mengele dismisses Rudel’s plan: He who abandons himself is lost. The narration observes that Rudel, at least, has been true to his words. Rudel has not visited since Mengele moved to Brazil and forgot his last birthday; the text also links his interest to commissions from the sale of the Mengele family firm’s equipment in Paraguay, down to the last wheelbarrow. The saying therefore lands against the conduct of its own bearer: the man associated with the maxim has left Mengele behind, while Mengele rejects the risk of relying on a new protector.

Consequence

Mengele refuses to leave Brazil, but will not live alone. The Stammers, who need his share of the proceeds from selling Serra Negra to buy a larger property, take him with them. They move in early 1969 to a building with four bedrooms and more than 8,000 square metres of land, about thirty kilometres from São Paulo, in the municipality of Caieiras. The motto thus accompanies not a change of allegiance by Mengele but his reluctant dependence on the Stammers, as Rudel’s proposed route to Bolivia closes.