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=> Eichman...

Eichman...
Posted by Jeff (Guest) jeff@attoz.com - Monday, December 26 2005, 22:26:11 (CET)
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I found this on wikipedia, and I have a few questions for you all:

" discovered that Eichmann was in Argentina and began an effort to locate his exact whereabouts when, through relentless surveillance, it was confirmed that Ricardo Klement was, in fact, Adolf Eichmann. The Israeli government then approved an operation to capture Eichmann and bring him to Jerusalem for trial as a war criminal. He was kidnapped (against international law) by a team of Mossad agents on May 11, 1960, as part of a covert operation. He was flown aboard an El Al airliner from Argentina to Israel on May 21, 1960.

For some time the Israeli government denied involvement in Eichmann's capture, claiming that he had been taken by Jewish volunteers. Eventually, however, the pretense was dropped, and then prime minister David Ben Gurion announced Eichmann's capture to the Knesset (Israel's national legislature) on May 23, 1960, receiving a standing ovation in return. Isser Harel, head of the Mossad at the time of the operation, wrote a book about Eichmann's capture entitled The House on Garibaldi Street; some years later a member of the capture team, Peter Malkin, authored Eichmann in my Hands, a book that contains fascinating insights into Eichmann's character and motivations, but whose veracity has been attacked.

Eichmann's trial in front of an Israeli court in Jerusalem started on April 11, 1961. He was indicted on 15 criminal charges, including charges of crimes against humanity, crimes against the Jewish people and membership of an outlawed organization. As part of Israeli criminal procedure, his trial was presided over by three judges instead of a jury. Gideon Hausner, the Israeli attorney general, personally acted as chief prosecutor.

The trial caused huge international controversy as well as an international sensation. The Israeli government allowed news programs all over the world to broadcast the trial live with few restrictions. Television viewers saw a nondescript man sitting in a bulletproof glass booth while witnesses, including many Holocaust survivors, testified against him and his role in transporting victims to the extermination camps. During the whole trial, Eichmann insisted that he was only "following orders."

Convicted on all counts, Eichmann was sentenced to death on December 15, 1961, and was hanged a few minutes after midnight on June 1, 1962, at Ramla prison, officially the only civil execution ever carried out in Israel.

His last words were, reportedly, "Long live Germany. Long live Austria. Long live Argentina. These are the countries with which I have been most closely associated and I shall not forget them. I had to obey the rules of war and my flag. I am ready."[Citation needed]

His body was cremated and ashes scattered at sea, so that no nation would serve as Adolf Eichmann's final resting place.
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Eichmann analysis

In the forty years since Eichmann's death, historians have speculated on certain facts regarding his life. The most important question is how responsible Eichmann was for the implementation of the Holocaust. Most agree that Eichmann knew exactly what he was doing; however, some "Eichmann Defenders" (his son included) state that he was unfairly judged and that he was only doing his duty as a German soldier.

A third - and highly controversial - analysis came from political theorist Hannah Arendt, a Jew who fled Germany before Hitler's rise, and who reported on Eichmann's trial for The New Yorker magazine. In Eichmann in Jerusalem, a book formed by this reporting, Arendt concluded that, aside from a desire for improving his career, Eichmann showed no trace of anti-Semitism or psychological damage. She called him the embodiment of the "banality of evil," as he appeared at his trial to have an ordinary and common personality, displaying neither guilt nor hatred. She suggested that this most strikingly discredits the idea that the Nazi criminals were manifestly psychopathic and different from common people. (Many concluded from this and similar observations that even the most ordinary of people can commit horrendous crimes if placed in the right situation, and given the correct incentives, but Arendt disagreed with this interpretation.)

Eichmann's involvement with the SS Underground Group ODESSA is also a mystery, as there is evidence that Eichmann had contact with the group but did not actively participate in ODESSA activities. Rumours also abound as to whether or not Eichmann personally knew Josef Mengele and whether or not the two war criminals ever worked together in South America. Mossad was convinced that Eichmann was a contact for Mengele and had planned to conduct a dual-capture operation in 1961 had Eichmann revealed Mengele's whereabouts.

A footnote to Eichmann's SS career focuses on the point as to why he was never promoted to the rank of full SS-Colonel, known as Standartenführer. With Eichmann's record and responsibilities, he would have been a prime candidate for advancement, yet after 1941, his SS record contains no evidence that he was ever even recommended for another promotion. Many have speculated that Ernst Kaltenbrunner may have seen Eichmann as a dangerous man, rising through the SS ranks, and had curbed his SS career to prevent Eichmann from becoming too powerful."


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This is all new to me. I guess I should buy a book on post-WW2 history. My main question is: How could Israel abduct a man against international law and try him in court, and then murder him?

Granted, he was a terrible Nazi and all that...but are exceptions to be made in International law because of terrible people?

I guess I'm just surprised that they rejected his "just following orders" defence but they use those same arguments when Israeli soldiers kill innocent Palestinian civilians...do they not?

It's odd...it's almost as if we are encouraged to forget history. Very eerie...

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