Adolf Eichmann

Adolf Eichmann (Solingen March 19th 1906 - Jerusalem June 1st 1962) is a civil servant of high ranking of the Nazi Germany and a member of the S ( Schutzstaffel ) to the row of Obersturmbannführer (Lieutenant-colonel) . It was responsible for the logistics of the Final solution ( Endlösung ). It organized in particular the identification of the victims of the final solution and their deportation towards the concentration camps.

Youth

Born on March 19th, 1906 with Solingen in Germany, Adolf Eichmann is the son of an industrialist Eichmann' S Memoirs (Excerpts) and business man, Adolf Karl Eichmann, and of Maria born Schefferling. In 1914, after the death of Maria, the Eichmann family moves with Linz in Austria. During the First World War, the father of Eichmann serves in the army Austro-Hungarian. At the end of the war, it turns over to Linz and takes again the reins of the family business. The Eichmann young person leaves the school (Realschule) without diploma and began the training from the Mécanique which it will also give up. In 1923, it started to work for the mining company of his/her father. Of 1925 with 1927, it works as salesman for Oberösterreichische Elektrobau AG, then it works like regional agent of the Vacuum Oil Company AG, a subsidiary company of the Standard Oil until the Printemps 1933 where it turns over to Germany.

Adolf Eichmann marries Vera Liebl on March 21st, 1935. The couple will have four wire, Klaus, born in 1936 with Berlin, Horst Adolf born in 1940 with Vienna, Dieter Helmut born in 1942 with Prague, and Ricardo Francisco born in 1955 with Buenos Aires.

It has its first contacts with the party Nazi when it joined the movement of the Wandervogel, nowadays classified in the ideological current of the anarchism of right-hand side, which maintains the turbid relations with the medium Antisémite. To 26 years, in 1932, it is invited with his/her father with a meeting of the Austrian Nazi party, on the invitation of Ernst Kaltenbrunner, an old family friend. Strongly impressed, this episode will determine the engagement of Eichmann in the National-socialisme.

NSDAP with the S

According to the council of Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Eichmann joined the Austrian S on April 1st 1932 in the capacity as S Anwärter . It is fully integrated into the S in November like S Mann under number 45326. It is used then part-time in the Allgemeine-SS as Salzburg

When in 1933 the Nazis reach the capacity, Eichmann returns to Germany and request its integration full-time in the S, which are accepted, and in November it is promoted Scharführer and is integrated into the team of administration of the concentration camp of Dachau.

In 1934, it chooses to make a career in the S requires its transfer in the Sicherheitspolizei which starts to become a powerful organization and fear. It there is actually transferred in November and is promoted Oberscharführer . It is then assigned at the command center of the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) with Berlin where it is quickly noticed by its superiors who still promote it with the row of Hauptscharführer in 1935 then with that of S Untersturmführer in 1937.

This same year, it is sent with its superior Herbert Hagen in Palestine, then under British mandate, to study the possibility of a massive emigration of the German Juif S towards this region. They unload with Haifa, but obtaining only one transit visa, they go until the Cairo where they meet a member of the Haganah, but the subject of the discussion is still nowadays badly known. The meetings which they had provided with the Arab chiefs could not take place because of prohibition of Palestinian territory. In their report/ratio they disadvised an emigration with large scales of the German Jews as much for economic reasons that not to contradict the policy of the Reich which recommended not to let a Jewish State be created in Palestine.

In 1938, after the Anschluss , Eichmann is sent in Austria to organize the security forces S with Vienna. For this action it is promoted S Obersturmführer . At the end of this same year it is indicated by the command S to form the Zentralstelle für jüdische Auswanderung , the central Bureau for the Jewish emigration, which with the responsibility of off-set and expel the Jews of Austria. For this task, he studies the Judaïsme which it fascine and develops a deep anti-semitism then.

Years of war

At the beginning of the Second world war, Eichmann is promoted S Hauptsturmführer and was made a name at the office of the Jewish emigration. It was made there many contacts with the leaders of the movement Zionist with which it works to accelerate the Jewish emigration since the Reich .

Eichmann goes back to Berlin in 1939 after the formation of the central Office of safety of the Reich (RSHA). In December 1939, it is indicated with the head of RSHA Referat IV B4 , the section of the RSHA which deals of the Jewish businesses and the evacuation. In August 1940, it publishes the Reichssicherheitshauptamt: Madagaskar Projekt which envisaged the deportation of the whole of the Jewish population of Europe in the French colony of Madagascar. At this point in time it obtains the rank of S Sturmbannführer and a year later it reaches that of Obersturmbannführer .

In 1942, Reinhard Heydrich invites Eichmann to take part in the Conférence of Wannsee where the Nazi Germany decides Final solution and Eichmann is named “administrator of transport”. It with the load of all the trains which transport the Jews towards the camps of died in Poland. During the two following years, Eichmann assumes its role with zeal and declares that he would laugh “while jumping in has tomb, because I have the feeling to have killed five million Jews. Here are which gives me much satisfaction and pleasure. ”

Its work is noticed and, in 1944, it is named in Hungary to organize the deportation of the Jews and sent 400 000 Hungarians of all confessions in the gas chambers Nazis.

In 1945, Heinrich Himmler, Minister of Interior Department and Reichsführer S, orders the stop of the exterminations and the destruction of the evidence of the final solution. Eichmann refuses the orders and continuous to off-set and assassinate the Hungarians. He also endeavors to avoid integrating the combat units, having been named one year before Untersturmführer of reserve of the Waffen-SS.

Eichmann flees the Soviet projection and joined Austria where it finds Ernst Kaltenbrunner.

After the war

At the end of the war, Eichmann is captured by the American army to which it is presented in the form of “Otto Eckmann”. Beginning 1946, it escapes from the American prisons and hides in Germany during several years. In 1948, it obtains a residence permit in Argentine, but does not use it immediately. In 1950, it arrives in Italy and takes new alias, Ricardo Klement, which it will not change any more until its capture. With the assistance of a monk franciscain who attends the archbishop Alois Hudal, it obtains the 1^er June 1950 a humane passport of the international Croix-Rouge as well as an Argentinian visa. The July 14th 1950, Eichmann unloads with Buenos Aires where he will exert various manual trades. It also makes come with him his wife and her two sons. It will have a third wire after his wife had joined it in the suburbs of Buenos Aires.

The capture

During the Years 1950, many Jews get busy to find the Nazi criminals in escape, and Eichmann belongs to the first on the list. Déclassifiés documents show that the Ouest-Allemand government as well as the CIA know, since 1952 (1958 for the CIA), the pseudonym under which Eichmann hides ( Klement ), but do not reveal it for reasons of State. It seems that fear was that Eichmann denounces Hans Globke, then member of the government of the chancellor Konrad Adenauer. In 1954, Simon Wiesenthal, one of these hunters of Nazis , receives a postcard of one of its contacts in Argentina, well-known at the time to shelter many former heads Nazis, who says to have seen this dirty pig of Eichmann and which contains more precise information: He lives in Buenos Aires and works for the company of water . It seems that this information (inter alia) collected by Wiesenthal made it possible to the Israelis to locate Eichmann in Argentina. There exists however a controversy concerning the exact role of Wiesenthal since the Jerusalem Post revealed in its edition of the May 7th 1991 the existence of a manuscript not published of Isser Harel, directing Mossad at the time of the capture of Eichmann, which implies that the intrigues of Wiesenthal would have failed to compromise the removal of Eichmann and prevent that of Joseph Mengele.

The other main actor of the hunting launched against Eichmann is Lothar Hermann, an survivor of Dachau, which emigrates in Argentina in the years 1950 with all its family. However, his/her Sylvia daughter maintains a relation with Klaus, the oldest son of Eichmann. Remarks of Klaus concerning the past Nazi of his father, as well as the reading in 1957 of an article concerning the Nazi criminals taken refuge in Argentina (whose Eichmann), put Hermann on the track. He sends his daughter then to inquire at Eichmann (which is made still call Klement), and she obtains mouth even of Adolf the confirmation of the suspicions of his father. This one prevents Fritz Bauer, the prosecutor of the Hesse. Bauer not relying on the German justice which still counts many ex-Nazis in its rows, directly prevents the Israeli authorities which contact Hermann. Mossad then locates precisely Eichmann and, thanks to the indications of Hermann who continues to supervise it, it erects scaffolding a plan of removal. The Israeli government finally approves in 1960 this plan which is carried out shortly after.

Eichmann is removed in full street by a team of agents of Mossad the May 11th 1960 and, the 21, it is transported until in Israel on a scheduled flight of El Al. This action, contravening the international laws, raises the anger of the Argentinas authorities.

The Israeli government first of all denies to be implied in this removal and claims that it is the fact of civil volunteers Jewish hunters of Nazis. David Ben Gourion, then Prime Minister, announces the capture of Eichmann to the Knesset the May 23rd 1960. This advertisement is acclaimed upright by the deputies present. To know the details of the capture of Eichmann, one can refer to the work of Isser Harel the House of the street Garibaldi .

The Eichmann lawsuit

Eichmann appears with Jerusalem for fifteen counts of indictment the April 11th 1961. One can gather the counts of indictment in four categories:

crimes against the Jewish people (criminal charges 1-4);
crimes against humanity (5-7, 9-12);
war crimes (8);
participation in a hostile organization (13-15).

Exceptionally, this lawsuit was chaired by three judges instead of a jury like wants it the normal Israeli procedure. Moreover, the prosecutor is not other than Gideon Hausner, then Minister for justice.

This lawsuit caused an international controversy and a gigantic agitation. The televiewers of the whole world discovered on line Eichmann in a cage of glass armor-plated listening to an interminable procession of witnesses describing his role in the transport of the victims of the Holocauste. The only line of defense of Eichmann was to affirm not to have done anything other but “to follow the orders”.

Declared guilty for all the criminal charges, he is condemned to died the December 15th 1961 and hung by the penitentiary agent Shalom Nagar shortly after midnight the May 31st 1962 in the court of the prison of Ramla. There remains officially only condemned to civilian death ever carried out by Israel.

It is claimed that its last words were: “Germany Lives. Live Austria. Live Argentina. It is the three countries to which I was closest and I will not forget them. I was to obey the rules of the war and my flag. I am ready. ”. However, the torturer of Eichmann does not mention any word. According to its memory: " There were only Eichman and me. I was held with one meter of him and looked at it right in the eyes. He refused that the eyes are bandaged to him, and he still carried to the feet of the slippers to ordinary squares. I drew the lever and it fell while being balanced at the end of the corde.". It is probable that Eichmann did not pronounce any word, because it passed its captivity to compile a document of 1300 pages entitled " False Gods" who held place of last words and was made public by the Israeli authorities on February 29th, 2000.

Its body was incinerated and its ashes dispersed in the Mediterranean. The dispersion of ashes in the sea was one of the last wills of Adolf Eichmann, Israel accepted dispersion of ashes, but only beyond territorial water of the Hebrew State.

The case Eichmann

For more than forty years that Eichmann died, the historians have not ceased speculating in its life and its action. The most crucial question being to define its exact responsibility in the implementation for the final solution. The majority affirm that it knew exactly what it did and knew the consequences of its acts. Nevertheless, some, whose his/her sons, estimate that it was méjugé and that it made only its duty of German soldier.

A third and very discussed analysis is made in particular by Hannah Arendt, Jewish allemande exiled with the the United States at the time of the rise of the Nazism in the Années 1930 and which covered the Eichmann lawsuit for the magazine The New Yorker . In its work Eichmann in Jerusalem which compiles its chronicles of this lawsuit, Arendt concludes that Eichmann showed neither anti-semitism nor mental health disorders, and that it had acted of the kind during the war only “to make career”. It describes it as being the personification even of the “Banalité of the evil”, being based on the fact that with the lawsuit it seemed to feel neither culpability nor hatred and had a personality all that there is of more ordinary. It widens this observation with the majority of the Nazi criminals, and this whatever the row in the chain of command, each one carrying out conscientiously its small work of civil servant or soldier more worried like each and everyone by its advance than by the real consequences of work. Many went further in this reasoning while affirming than each one, for little that the good conditions are met, the good orders, the good incentives given to the good moment, can commit the most odious crimes, but Arendt itself refused this interpretation. On this subject, one will be able to read the book of the professor Stanley Milgram: Obedience to Authority ( Tender with the authority ).

Quotations

“ the regrets does not make any good, to regret things is useless, the regrets, they are good for the children. ”
“ I made my duty, in accordance with the orders. And one forever reproached me for having missed my duty. ”

Sources

See also: Amorce=Personnes in relation to Eichmann, Heinrich Müller, Martin Bormann, Theodor Dannecker, Aloïs Brunner, Herbert Hagen

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