A Brief History
On May 31, 1962, the nation of Israel hanged Nazi Holocaust organizer Adolf Eichmann, one of history’s most evil people, for war crimes. Eichmann had been living in Buenos Aires, Argentina and living the good life as a Mercedes-Benz supervisor until he was kidnapped by Israeli secret agents.
Digging Deeper
During World War II Eichmann had joined the SD (Security Service) and worked as the head of “Jewish Affairs” coercing Jews into leaving Germany or facing relocation to Jewish “ghettos.” In 1941, the German “solution” to the “Jewish problem” was to move Jews to extermination camps and work camps where they would be executed en masse or worked to death. Eichmann became a key figure in the bureaucracy that made this system work. This program extended to other countries occupied by Germany and resulted in perhaps 6 million (the number is disputed) Jews murdered by the Nazi’s.
As the SD was absorbed into the SS, all SS officers were wanted by allied authorities for possible war crimes trials. Eichmann was among those rounded up by Americans, although he was using an alias at the time. When it became apparent that his cover was blown, Eichmann escaped to Austria with a new false identity. With the help of a Catholic bishop Eichmann got yet another new identity and used the International Red Cross to move him to Argentina.
In 1952, Eichmann moved his family to Argentina to live with him where he became a supervisor for Mercedes-Benz. He made the blunder of giving an interview to a journalist and provided many personal documents with the idea that the information would be used for a biography about Eichmann. Instead, the articles that appeared in Life magazine and Der Stern caught the attention of Israeli Nazi hunters.
Eichmann was staked out and observed until the Israelis were sure of his identity, then he was kidnapped and taken back to Israel. The kidnapping was conducted by the Shin Bet branch of the Israeli Mossad, their secret service. Eichmann was drugged, dressed as a flight attendant, and flown to Israel on an El Al flight.
Argentina was furious when news of the kidnapping went public, and anti-Semitic demonstrations were held. Argentina even appealed to the United Nations as they claimed their sovereignty had been violated. Many people around the world agreed, as did some nations, but to no avail. Meanwhile, Israel put Eichmann on trial, convicted him, and hanged him on May 31, 1962, unrepentant to the end.
The same team that kidnapped Eichmann also attempted to locate Dr. Mengele, believed to be living in Buenos Aires at that time, but Mengele had previously relocated and was not found until after he had died. Fugitive Nazi’s are all elderly or dead now, and soon there will be none for the Nazi hunters to chase. Until they are indeed all gone, rest assured there are people looking for them.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Arendt, Hannah and Amos Elon. Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil (Penguin Classics). Penguin Classics, 2006.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="2443 http://www.crackedhistory.com/?p=2443">28 Comments
Sounds like… he got what he deserved! — DAVID WARDLE
Appears that his ego got him captured
He got what was coming to him
I agree with Heather H. His ego got to him! Shouldn’t have been so personal with that journalist. He deserved being captured, regardless.
This is one way to get revenge for the people
Mossad; It’s Never an Accident.
If only they would’ve caught Mengele too! But it still is interesting how they managed to find him in Argentina.
You can run but you can’t hide.
Can’t believe he was helps by a catholic bishop…what does that say about the catholic church
way to confident in something that doesn’t rely totally on confidence.
It is shocking that the Red Cross helped him escape after he was responsible for so many murders! I can’t imagine how hard it is for the Nazi Hunters to find them but I’m glad they are still at it!
That is crazy how many people he slaughtered. That is what he deserved was to be killed and nothing less than that for what he did. He is a sick man.
It seems that this guy thought he had escaped receiving any punishment for the horrible things he did. Good to see that justice was eventually served.
Justice always somehow prevails
in this topic i am curious why he was held by the church… sick to me
Nazi Hunting sounds like a D list movie. I understand they need to pay for there crimes but after a long long long time it just becomes a glorified contest on who can find and execute the most war-criminals it does nothing for the people who were effected.
I think it’s funny that he got what he deserved. He probably thought that he was living the dream and getting away free until they kidnapped him.
Bad things happen to bad people i really think karma is real , and as bad as i know people feel he got what he deserved i wish death on nobody.
When a person believes what he did was right even though everyone else sees it as horrible you know there is something wrong.
Just shows how big of cowards they are. They could stay and kill so many but had to run away to foreign countries to avoid prosecution.
There must have been something seriously wrong with him for him to think it was okay what he did. Funny though that karma got him.
He actually believe what he did was right??
This was an interesting read! I never knew about this taking place.
I didn’t know Eichmann was kidnapped and then taken back to Israel.
That’s good that Israel has their secret police to hunt down Nazis.
Why would people try to defend this man? He deserves to answer for his crimes. As does anyone that took part in the Holocaust.
I didn’t know there were Nazi hunters it kind of makes me wonder about that old man I took care of at the nursing home, I don’t know much of his story just what was in his chart.
I would never support this man! He sounds horrible.