1 June 1962
Adolf Eichmann, the "architect of the Holocaust," was executed in Ramla, Israel. His actions resulted in the deaths of 6 million people.
The problem with Eichmann was precisely that there were many like him, and many were neither perverts nor sadists – they were and are terribly and horrifyingly normal (H. Arendt, “The Banality of Evil”)
Eichmann was born in 1906. He worked as a gasoline pump installer. In 1932, he joined the NSDAP and the SS. In 1938, after the Anschluss of Austria, he was transferred to Vienna. On his orders, 150000 Jews were expelled from Austria in 1,5 years.
From 1939, he headed the "Jewish Department" in Berlin. From 1941, he monitored the schedule and occupancy of trains transporting people to ghettos and concentration camps. He monitored the effectiveness of the deportation and extermination of Jews.
He served as a minutest at the Wannsee Conference, where measures for the "final solution to the Jewish question" were discussed. He recorded the discussions and decisions regarding the murder of 11 million people. A copy of the document was preserved in the archives of Martin Luther, who was imprisoned in the camp, and was seized by the Americans.
In 1945, Eichmann was captured by the Americans under an assumed name. He escaped. He worked in Germany as a lumberjack and chicken farmer. In 1950, he left for Argentina, working as an electrician. In 1957, a prisoner in the camps discovered his whereabouts and informed the Israeli authorities.
On May 11, 1960, Eichmann was kidnapped by Mossad agents. His trial began on April 11, 1961. On December 15, he was sentenced to death, found guilty of atrocities against the Jewish people and humanity. On the night of June 1, 1962, Eichmann was hanged.
The New Yorker journalist Hannah Arendt followed the trial. Her courtroom reports formed the basis for her book "The Banality of Evil": in the context of "the moral collapse of an entire nation," the perpetrators of mass murder are not only "supervillains" but also the most ordinary people who simply wanted to "do their job well":
Half a dozen psychiatrists pronounced him "sane." "At least, much more sane than I was after talking to him!" exclaimed one of them ("The Banality of Evil")
