It’s hard to believe, but there are actually people who insist that the Holocaust never happened.
A figment of Jewish imagination?
A truth too horrible to comprehend?
Such ignorance has been displayed with regard to other factual events, too. Some people refute the Moon landing in 1969—declaring it never happened—but at least here it was possible (if not plausible) to concoct a lunar walk in some hidden Hollywood studio and pass it off to the world as truth. Who could prove that we did reach the moon?
Not so with the extermination of six million people during World War II. The evidence of this tragedy on an unprecedented scale is far too extensive to dismiss.
The architect of that so-called “Final Solution”, Adolph Eichmann-was sentenced to death on this date in 1961.
Most amazing in this tale of justice is the manner in which Eichmann was finally captured. Arrested by U.S. troops following the war, Eichmann escaped a prison camp in 1946 before he could face a tribunal at Nuremburg. He traveled the Middle East and Europe under an alias until he arrived in Argentina. He was attracted by that country’s lax immigration policies. Indeed, Argentina was a safe haven for many Nazis following the war.
In 1957, a German prosecutor informed Israel that Eichmann was living in Argentina. It was at this point that the Israeli intelligence service, the Mossad became involved. Knowing that Argentina would likely NOT extradite Eichmann, a plan was drawn up to abduct him.
On May 11, 1960, Mossad agents descended on Eichmann as he walked from the bus stop to his home in Buenos Aires. Drugged and flown out of the country, he was taken directly to Israel, where, 3 days later, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion announced to the world that Eichmann was in custody.
Check out this video of the capture and trial of Eichmann—and the background of a monster:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKMFduz3gpU
For its part, Argentina demanded Eichmann’s return, but Israel argued that his status as an international war criminal gave them the right to proceed with a trial, which became the very first televised trial in Jerusalem.
Despite his claims that he was simply “following orders”, Eichmann’s own words, letters and documents sealed his fate, despite his stated remorse within his bulletproof stand.
Fund guilty of all 15 counts, including crimes against humanity, he was sentenced to death. On April 11, 1962, he was hanged.
It is hard to imagine how any human being could evolve into the kind of monster that Eichmann became. His zeal to be received favorably by Hitler (which apparently never occurred) motivated his ruthless extermination of millions of men, women and children.
The cry of the Jewish people is: “Never again”. As the years buffer emotions with the distance that time usually brings, it is important to sometimes re-live the horrible events that scar our past—if only to renew our resolve that such deeds never have even a chance of occurring again.
If you’d like my blog in your box weekdays, let me know: tim.moore@citcomm.com
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
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