Mengele diaries sold to Jewish buyer

An American Orthodox Jewish man reportedly bought the diaries of notorious Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele in a controversial auction.

The buyer, who was not named, is said to be a collector of World War II-era artifacts.

News outlets variously reported the value of the sale at between $245,000 and $300,000. The sale was run by the Connecticut-based Alexander Historical Auctions, which did not identify the seller.

Mengele, who died in 1979, was notorious for conducting ghastly experiments on prisoners at Auschwitz. His notebooks were written after the war in South America, where he fled to escape justice.

The sale of the diaries was strongly criticized by some Holocaust historians and some in the Jewish community.