Execution of Adolf Eichmann - Cruel Nazi Organizer of the Holocaust & Murderer of Millions.
...Eichmann's significant role as one of the architects of the "Final Solution" of Europe's Jews, began to emerge in the late forties. From the early fifties, rumors proliferated claiming that he was in South America, as the intelligence services of Western Germany and the United States had already learned with certainty. But it was thanks to the determination and persistence of a number of individuals resolved to expose the true identity of "Ricardo Klement," that agents of Israel's Mossad launched a hunt ending with Eichmann's capture on the 11th of May 1960.


After seizing Eichmann close to his Garibaldi street home in a suburb of Buenos Aires, his captors rushed him to a place of concealment. Under interrogation, Eichmann admitted his true identity and signed a document giving his consent to stand trial in Israel. Eleven days later he was clandestinely flown to Israel.

Two days after Eichmann's arrival, on the 23rd of May 1960, the Prime Minister proclaimed that Eichmann had been captured and was in Israel. The news stunned and amazed public opinion in Israel and worldwide.

The security measures were enormous because the Israeli government feared Eichmann that could commit suicide. Eichmann's cell was three by four meters in size. A guard sat in his cell around the clock, and behind the cell door a second watched his colleague through a peephole. Another guard stood behind the exit door. Lights were on in the cell day and night, and a police doctor examined Eichmann twice a day.

The trial, which attracted the attention of the public worldwide, began on the 11th of April 1961 in Jerusalem.
Hundreds of journalists came to Israel from every part of the world to cover the trial.

The defense depicted the accused as "a small cog in the state apparatus," lacking influence upon the planning and operation of the murder machine. The judges noted the determination of Adolf Eichmann to continue at all costs the deportation of Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz especially towards the end of 1944, on the verge of the collapse of the Third Reich, even in opposition to the views of his superiors.
Throughout his cross-examination, prosecutor Hausner attempted to get Eichmann to admit he was personally guilty, but no such confession was forthcoming. Eichmann admitted to not liking the Jews and viewing them as adversaries but stated that he never thought their annihilation was justified. When Hausner produced evidence that Eichmann had stated in 1945 that "I will leap into my grave laughing because the feeling that I have five million human beings on my conscience is for me a source of extraordinary satisfaction", Eichmann said he meant "enemies of the Reich" such as the Soviets. However, during later examination by the judges, he admitted that he had meant the Jews, and said the remark was an accurate reflection of his opinion at the time.

The trial terminated on the 15th of December 1961 with the reading of the verdict, whereby Eichmann found guilty on most of the articles of the indictment, was sentenced to death. He was 56 years old when he was executed by hanging at the Ramla prison during the night between the 31st of May and the 1st of June 1962. In his final moments, Eichmann expressed his unwavering love and loyalty to Germany and Argentina. After his body was incinerated, his ashes were scattered at sea outside Israeli territorial waters.

The trial revolutionized the status and importance of Yad Vashem - the World Holocaust Remembrance Center - as the institution that provided the groundwork of research for the team preparing the trial. The Eichmann Trial broke down the reluctance of many Israelis and Jews to approach the Holocaust, due to the powerful impression left by the personal testimonies of over a hundred witnesses who were called upon to recount their experiences during the Holocaust. Echoes of the trial finally attracted attention and awareness to the Holocaust survivors, who had hesitated prior to the trial, to tell their personal stories, owing to a reluctance and an absence of openness among many native-born Israelis.

There were no tears shed for Adolf Eichmann.



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