Eichmann Interrogated: Transcripts from the Archives of the Israeli Police [Paperback]

Adolf Eichmann (Editor), Jochen Von Lang (Editor), Claus Sibyll (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1984

As head of the Gestapo's "Jewish Evacuation Department," Lieutenant Colonel Adolf Eichmann (1906-1962) was the driving force in the impoverishment, deportation, and extermination of millions of Jews. In 1945 he escaped with a Vatican passport and fled to South America. In May 1960 the Israelis located and kidnapped Eichmann from Argentina, and brought him to trial in Israel, where he was convicted and hanged, his remains cremated and scattered. For nearly a year prior to his trial Eichmann was interrogated by Captain Avner W. Less, a German Jew whose father and numerous relatives perished in Nazi concentration camps. Eichmann Interrogated is a superbly edited condensation of their 275-hour exchange, representing ten percent of the 3,564-page total. Amid his lies, distortions, evasions, half-truths, and startling admissions, Eichmann fully acknowledges the reality of the Holocaust while attempting to minimize his central role in its execution. As his life from traveling salesman to mass murderer unfolds, Eichmann's defense becomes a chilling self-indictment and a warning of Evil's often unassuming visage.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, German (translation)

Product Details

• Paperback: 293 pages
• Publisher: Random House Inc (P); 1st Vintage Books ed edition (June 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394723805
• ISBN-13: 978-0394723808
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,569,897 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just a normal man??, December 4, 2000

By 

[e-mail] (Mountain Ash, South Wales) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eichmann Interrogated: Transcripts From The Archives Of The Israeli Police (Paperback)

The Israeli agents involved in his capture couldn't believe that such an unremarkable man could be the one with the blood of six million Jews on his hands - This book reveals how he could! This is one of the best books I have read in a long time, not (I agree) everyone's cup of tea but definately mine! Once started I couldn't put the thing down. I was locked to it with disbelief at the way Eichmann could rationalise all his actions (almost justify them) and distance himself from the end product of the conveyor-belt he claimed to be....just the transporter of! I know others have written not particularly savoury reviews of this book, but if you are in any way interested in the Holocaust then reading of the bringing to justice of one of it's most notorious perpetrators will be time well spent. Highly recommended...............Fascinating!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating first-hand examination of his defense., May 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Eichmann Interrogated: Transcripts From The Archives Of The Israeli Police (Paperback)

This book is essentially one extended interview (the actual sessions spanned almost a year). Eichmann acknowledges his role in the SS, yet he denies the most horrific charges against him. He presents himself as a soldier first, and spins out a defense that is a combination of: (1) his repeated, mantra-like claim of loyally following orders; and (2) his insistence that his responsibility was "relocation/emmigration," and he knew nothing about the subsequent exterminations. Most disturbing (and galling) is his constantly blaming events on others, such as other Nazis who had testified against him. He claims that because the British were blocking Jews from entering Palestine, he was forced to resettle Jews elsewhere, leading to the Final Solution. Eichmann is repeatedly confronted by evidence (documents and testimony) that contradict him. It is interesting to read his denials and spin. Also maddeningly frustrating. The historical notes are good, although I would have appreciated a bit more historical background.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Words From an Engineer of the Final Solution, August 3, 2003

By 

Matthew P. Arsenault (SW Michigan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eichmann Interrogated: Transcripts From The Archives Of The Israeli Police (Paperback)

In many works attempting to discuss the minds behind the Nazi Final Solution, the reader is harnessed with the task of sorting facts from assumptions and interpretations that too often color an otherwise accurate book. However, Eichmann Interrogated allows the reader to study the words of one of the most notorious actors of Hitler's plans for genocide and mass murder. While reading the transcripts of Eichmann's interrogations at the hands of Israeli police, I attempted to try and understand what would cause Eichmann, a man who in his earlier years had a fascination for Jewish culture, to turn evil and attempt to destroy a whole race of people. Although the transcripts don't provide an answer to such a complex question, they did provide a means to study Eichmann. Through out the interrogation, Eichmann consistently denied his role in carrying out the Final Solution. Rather than admit to any actual killings of Jews, Eichmann stuck to a story which maintained that he was simply a soldier following orders, and even then, his only task was to ensure that the trains containing the Jews were running accurately. I found it also interesting to read that Eichmann claims to have provided alternatives to the wholesale slaughter of the Jews, such as exportation of all Jews to the African island of Mauritius, or the strangely Zionistic support for the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. Although the truth about Eichmann and his motivations will never be clear, the transcripts of his interrogation, although possibly filled with lies, provides an interesting historical document for those wishing to learn more about the psychology of the engineers of the Final Solution.