Eichmann Before Jerusalem: The Unexamined Life of a Mass Murderer

610 Pages·2014·4.83 MB·English

by  Bettina Stangneth

THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK
PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF
Translation copyright © 2014 by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House LLC
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House LLC,
New York, and in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto, Penguin Random House
companies.
www.aaknopf.com
Originally published in Germany as Eichmann vor Jerusalem: Das unbehelligte Leben eines Massenmörders by
Arche Literatur Verlag AG, Zurich–Hamburg in 2001. Copyright © 2011 by Arche Literatur Verlag AG,
Zurich–Hamburg. Copyright © 2014 by Bettina Stangneth Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are
registered trademarks of Random House LLC.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stangneth, Bettina.
[Eichmann vor Jerusalem. English]
Eichmann before Jerusalem : the unexamined life of a mass murderer / by Bettina Stangneth ; translated from
the German by Ruth Martin.
pages cm
ISBN 978-0-307-95967-6 (hardcover). ISBN 978-0-30795968-3 (eBook).
1. Eichmann, Adolf, 1906–1962. 2. War criminals—Germany—Biography. 3. Holocaust, Jewish (1939–
1945). I. Title.
DD247.E5S7313 2014
364.15′1092—dc23
[B]
2014001031
eBook ISBN: 9780307959683
Jacket photographs: Yad Vashem Archive
Jacket design by Oliver Munday v3.1
For Dieter, the guiding star on my journey through the night.
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Selected Cast of Characters
Introduction
“MY NAME BECAME A SYMBOL”
1 The Path into the Public Eye
2 The Postwar Career of a Name
3 Detested Anonymity
INTERLUDE
A False Trail in the Middle East
EICHMANN IN ARGENTINA
1 Life in the “Promised Land”
2 Home Front
3 One Good Turn
THE SO-CALLED SASSEN INTERVIEWS
1 Eichmann the Author
2 Eichmann in Conversation
A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY
A CHANGE OF ROLE
Eichmann in Jerusalem
AFTERMATH
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Notes
Sources
Select Bibliography
Index
A Note About the Author
A Note About the Translator
Selected Cast of Characters
These are some of the less familiar people associated with Adolf Eichmann (aka
Otto Heninger on the Lüneberg Heath and Ricardo Klement in Argentina) in the
postwar period.
Principal Participants in the Sassen Discussions
ALVENSLEBEN, LUDOLF VON: Himmler’s former chief adjutant; higher SS and
police leader; after the war, the highest-ranking Nazi in Argentina
FRITSCH, EBERHARD: Head of Dürer Verlag from 1946, publishing Nazi texts and
owning a bookstore that became a focal point for Nazis in Argentina; publisher
of Der Weg—El Sendero, the most extremist postwar Nazi magazine
LANGER, DR.: Former SD officer from Vienna; other details unknown
SASSEN, WILLEM: Dutch Nazi collaborator and member of SS journalist corps;
propagandist, correspondent, author, and ghostwriter for Nazis in Argentina;
organizer and host of the interviews and discussion group with Eichmann
Adolf Eichmann’s Family
EICHMANN, HORST ADOLF; Dieter Helmut; Ricardo Francisco: Younger sons of
Adolf and Vera Eichmann
EICHMANN, KARL ADOLF: Adolf Eichmann’s father
EICHMANN, KLAUS: Eldest son of Adolf and Vera Eichmann
EICHMANN, OTTO: Adolf Eichmann’s brother; with Robert, organized and
supported the defense in Eichmann’s trial
EICHMANN, ROBERT: Adolf Eichmann’s stepbrother; a lawyer who organized and
supported his brother’s defense, 1960–62; large portions of the Argentina
Papers were stolen from his office
EICHMANN, VERA: Adolf Eichmann’s wife; postwar, she used her birth surname,
Liebl
Involved with Eichmann’s Escape from Justice and Journey to Argentina
FREIESLEBEN, HANS: SS member who arranged a hiding place for Eichmann on
Lüneberg Heath
FULDNER, HORST CARLOS: German-Argentine SS member; helped Nazis escape on
behalf of Juan Perón
HUDAL, BISHOP ALOIS: Roman bishop and Hitler sympathizer who helped falsify
identity papers for Nazi fugitives, including Eichmann
KRAWIETZ, NELLY: Sister of SS member Kurt Bauer; hid Eichmann on his escape
from a prisoner-of-war camp; later visited him when he was in hiding on
Lüneberg Heath
KUHLMANN, HERBERT, AKA PEDRO GELLER: Former member of SS panzer corps;
traveled from Europe to Argentina with Eichmann; in 1953, was guarantor for
Eichmann’s apartment in Chacabuco Street; worked at CAPRI
SCHINTLHOLZER, LUIS (ALOIS): Austrian SS officer involved in 1938 pogrom in
Innsbruck and war crimes in Italy; helped Eichmann escape Germany
Members of the Dürer Circle and Other Associated Nazis in Argentina
HAGEL, HERBERT: SS member; former secretary to the gauleiter of Linz; employed
by CAPRI
HEILIG, BERTHOLD: Former NSDAP district leader in Brunswick; worked for
CAPRI in Tucumán
KLINGENFUß, KARL: Worked in Nazi Foreign Office’s “Jewish Department”; head
of German-Argentine Chamber of Commerce until 1967
KOPPS, REINHARD, AKA JUAN MALER: Prolific writer, fanatical Nazi, and rival of
Sassen’s; worked for Dürer Verlag in the early days of Der Weg
LEERS, JOHANN VON: SS officer and prominent ideologue employed in the Ministry
of Propaganda; in Argentina 1950–54; wrote for Der Weg
MENGE, DIETER: SS member; Luftwaffe pilot; in Argentina became a scrap-metal
magnate; Sassen’s patron
NEURATH, CONSTANTIN VON: Son of Germany’s former foreign minister; with
Rudel, founder of Kameradenwerk, a fund to assist fugitive Nazis legally and
financially; from 1958, director of Siemens Argentina S.A.
OVEN, WILFRED VON: Press adjutant to Goebbels in the Ministry of Propaganda;
author of a book on Goebbels, published by Dürer Verlag
PFEIFFER, FRANZ WILHELM: Wehrmacht colonel and rumored guardian of Nazi
gold; owner of the rabbit farm in Joaquín Gorina managed by Eichmann; friend
of Sassen and Rudel
POBIERZYM, PEDRO: Polish Wehrmacht soldier; did business with Nazis in
Argentina, including Dieter Menge and Willem Sassen
RUDEL, HANS-ULRICH: Luftwaffe bomber pilot, the most highly decorated
serviceman under Hitler; with Neurath, founded Kameradenwerk, a fund to
assist Nazis legally and financially; friend of Fritsch and admirer of Sassen, who
ghostwrote Rudel’s books, published by Dürer Verlag
SCHWAMMBERGER, JOSEF: SS member and camp commandant in Krakow, 1942–
44; employed by Siemens Argentina S.A.
VOLLMER, DIETER: Close colleague of Fritsch who worked on Der Weg; returned
to Germany in 1954 but remained in contact with Dürer
VÖTTERL, JOSEF: Member of the criminal and border police with
Einsatzkommando 10A of Einsatzgruppe D; fled to Buenos Aires but moved
back to Germany in 1955; found employment with BfV; returned to Argentina
in 1958
Connected to Eichmann’s Pursuit, Arrest, and Trial
AHARONI, ZVI: Mossad agent who found out Eichmann’s Argentine address and
positively identified “Ricardo Klement” as Eichmann
BAUER, FRITZ: Attorney general of Hesse, 1956–68; prosecutor of Nazi war
criminals; located Eichmann in Argentina and provided the information to
Israeli authorities
FRIEDMAN, TUVIAH: Holocaust survivor whose family was murdered; Nazi hunter;
creator of the Haifa Institute for the Documentation of Nazi War Crimes
GENOUD, FRANÇOIS: Swiss financier, Hitler admirer, and dedicated Nazi; profited
from the commercializing writings of Nazis such as Martin Bormann and
Joseph Goebbels; involved in a deal to sell Eichmann’s writings for profit and to
finance Eichmann’s defense
HAREL, ISSER: Head of Mossad, 1952–63; author of a controversial account of
Eichmann’s capture
HAUSNER, GIDEON: Israeli attorney general, 1960–63; led the prosecution of
Eichmann