The Boys from Brazil is a 1976 thriller novel by American writer Ira Levin. It was made into a film of the same title that was released in 1978. Liebermann makes sufficient progress in his investigation that the ODESSA ends the operation and recalls the six Nazi operatives sent to kill the men. Infuriated, Mengele resolves to complete as many of the killings as he can on his own and travels to the United States.

Liebermann manages to work out who the next intended target is - a man named Henry Wheelock who lives in Pennsylvania - and travels there to warn Wheelock that his life may be in danger. However, Mengele reaches Wheelock first, kills him, and then encounters Liebermann. Liebermann is shot by Mengele; before Mengele can kill him, Liebermann manages to free the Wheelock family's attack dogs, who restrain Mengele. When Wheelock's 13-year-old adopted son, Bobby Wheelock, one of the Hitler clones, arrives to this scene, Mengele pleads for him to join Mengele in his plans and tells the boy about his parentage. The boy, deeming him insane, instead orders the family's attack dogs to kill him, and makes a deal with the injured Liebermann that he will call for help right away as long as Liebermann promises to never disclose that the boy ordered the dogs to kill Mengele. The plan is thus halted, but 18 Hitler clones have already lost their fathers.

Liebermann destroys the list of the 94 clones so that a younger Nazi hunter will not be able to kill what may still turn out to be harmless boys, declaring that morality demanded that they not stoop to the Nazis' level by killing children. However, the book ends with one such cloned boy, an amateur artist, drawing a scene of someone moving large numbers of people much as Hitler had.

Reviews

The New York Times called it an "appallingly inventive plot."

In a 2011 review for The Guardian, Sophia Martelli wrote: "Although the book is now fairly dated, at the time of publication the inclusion of real or near-real characters (Mengele's nemesis Liebermann is a conflation of Nazi hunters such as Simon Wiesenthal and Serge Klarsfeld, who attempted to capture Mengele in South America) must have added a chilling dimension. What scares today is Levin's premise based on biological engineering: in the 1970s, although scientifically possible, Mengele's plan belonged firmly in the realm of fiction; now it's not nearly so far-fetched."

Adaptations

In 1978, the book was adapted into a movie directed by Franklin J. Scaffner, written by Levin and Heywood Gould, with Gregory Peck, Laurence Olivier and James Mason starring. The movie was well-received, and was nominated for three Academy Awards.

In 2025, Netflix ordered a miniseries adaptation from Peter Morgan, with Jeremy Strong leading the cast as Yakov Liebermann.

References

  • Official entry at IraLevin.org
  • An Interview With Ira Levin’s Son As ‘The Boys From Brazil’ Turns 48 (Forbes.com)