Secluded in the forests of southern Brazil, the village of Cândido Godói is home to an extraordinarily high number of twins — nearly 1000 percent more per capita than the global average. What's more, atypically for Brazil, many of the twin sets are blond and blue-eyed. While few observers make much of this curious phenomenon, Argentine historian Jorge Camarasaf, author of "Mengele: The Angel of Death," claims it's the result of secret medical experiments by infamous Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, who fled to South America after World War II? Is there any truth to the notion? (Watch a National Geographic report about the Brazilian town full of twins)
Sorry, conspiracy theorists, nothing to see here: Sure, the whole thing "sounds pretty freaky," says Harmon Leon at True/Slant. But "according to baptismal records" the surge of twin births started back in 1927, "long before Mengele could meddle his Nazi hands into Brazilian fertility." Plus, the fact that the high twin birth rate continues to this day basically rules out "the Nazi doctor connection."
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