An incredibly powerful, engrossing story, eloquent and very well written, and it actually brought tears to my eyes. Neal Bascomb does a wonderful job telling the story of how a rather motley group of people (mostly Holocaust survivors) spent years tracking down Eichmann and bringing him to justice. My personal favorite is Shalom Dani, the forger, who escaped from a Nazi concentration camp by fashioning a pass out of toilet paper. He also forged papers that helped free his mother and siblings. However, his father perished at Bergen-Belsen.
It amazes me that with all that they had suffered at the hands of the Nazis, they were able to maintain control and not harm Eichmann in any fashion, even though I'm sure they wanted to. Eichmann comes across as incredibly repulsive and creates what could only be called a poisonous atmosphere that affects his captors and everyone else around him.
Several years ago, I saw a PBS documentary about Eichmann's trial. It gave some details about his capture, but nothing like this. "Hunting Eichmann" concentrates, obviously, on the hunt for Eichmann, his capture, and his transportation to Israel for trial. In contrast, the trial is rather lightly covered. Eichmann's argument that he was just following orders fell on deaf ears. That didn't work for his compatriots at Nuremberg and it didn't work for him in 1961. I really don't understand how his family can defend him. It's like his poisonous nature was contagious.
Some quotes from the book:
"Harel stood before his men, and they went instantly silent. 'You were chosen by destiny to guarantee that one of the worst criminals of all time, who for years has succeeded in evading justice, would be made to stand trial in Jerusalem,' he began, saying each word deliberately, his voice firm, much as he had during the speech he had given before they had left Israel. 'For the first time in history the Jews will judge their assassins, and for the first time the world will hear the full story of the edict of annihilation against an entire people. Everything depends on the action we are about to take.'”
"That someone who looked like a postal clerk, someone so average in appearance and temperament, could have been responsible for killing millions of Jews was a horror in and of itself. Harel later described the feeling he had that night. 'The sight of that miserable runt, who had lost every vestige of his former superiority and arrogance the moment he was stripped of his uniform and powers of authority, gave them a feeling of insult and profound scorn. Was this the personification of evil? Was this the tool used by a diabolic government? This nonentity, devoid of human dignity and pride, was this the messenger of death for six million Jews?'"
"Directly after Eichmann’s plea had been heard, Gideon Hausner, the forty-five-year-old attorney general, a man of stout figure and hooded blue eyes, began his opening speech. He had the flourish of a man who knew he was speaking for history.
'When I stand before you here, Judges of Israel, to lead the Prosecution of Adolf Eichmann, I am not standing alone. With me are six million accusers. But they cannot rise to their feet and point an accusing finger towards him who sits in the dock and cry: “I accuse.” For their ashes are piled up on the hills of Auschwitz and the fields of Treblinka and are strewn in the forests of Poland. Their graves are scattered throughout the length and breadth of Europe. Their blood cries out, but their voice is not heard. Therefore I will be their spokesman.'"
"On Friday, December 15, 1961, Judge Landau asked Eichmann to rise and delivered the sentence:
'For the dispatch of each train by the Accused to Auschwitz, or to any other extermination site, carrying one thousand human beings, meant that the Accused was a direct accomplice in one thousand premeditated acts of murder...Even if we had found that the Accused acted out of blind obedience, as he argued, we would still have said that a man who took part in crimes of such magnitude as these over years must pay the maximum penalty known to the law...But we have found that the Accused acted out of an inner identification with the orders that he was given and out of a fierce will to achieve the criminal objective...This Court sentences Adolf Eichmann to death.'
"It was the first — and to this day only — sentence of death by an Israeli court."
Highly recommended.
