1 Captured Adolf Eichmann
STEIN, PETER Z. MALKIN AND HARRY
We got out and started slogging our way through the thick mud and driving rain. My suit was plastered to my body, my shoes began to squeak. The only saving grace, I reflected miserably, was that our...
...Meir produced a blanket from the front, and we threw it over Attila...
...I gave him a shave next...
...There followed a collection of bathroom noises that defied imagination...
...Fear seemed to give way to defiance, then to rage and then, just as quickly, melt into helpless submission...
...Ich bin Ricardo Klement...
...He was utterly rigid, except for hands that kept opening and closing spasmodically...
...The man before us wore dentures...
...There was still no rain, but the wind had picked up and every minute or two there was a flash of lightning...
...Indeed, he had slept only briefly, and very fitfully...
...I wanted to know, as clearly as I possibly could, what he would be experiencing immediately before we met...
...We arrived in San Fernando a litde past 7:15...
...He didn't even hesitate...
...He went on to relate the story of his early rise within the SS, describing how at first he was assigned deadly boring clerical tasks, and so leapt at the chance, in 1935, for a position at the new 'Jewish Museum" being set up at headquarters...
...Instantly he complied...
...The session with Hans seemed to send Eichmann's anxiety level soaring...
...My name is Maxim...
...But there was the purposeful, measured walk, the erect head, the level gaze...
...There was still no rain, but the lightning flashed, the thunder boomed...
...Jawohl...
...His greatest fear, the one that periodically reduced him to paroxysms of anguish and desperation, was that we might do something to them...
...We lay him down on the bed, still fully clothed...
...His height, the circumference of his head...
...Could this drab and dumpy woman be the companion of the man who courted some of the most glamorous and beautiful women of fascist Europe...
...I slid in after, still holding fast, my hand hard over his mouth...
...I don't...
...The small front yard...
...My watch read 7:35...
...It was thundering with an occasional bolt of lightning, but no rain...
...But, oddly, for the same reason, he engaged my curiosity far more than I expected...
...In fact, he continued, "Ich war den Juden continued on page 46 AUGUST 1990 • MOMENT 23...
...It was impossible to imagine anyone less at peace...
...Instantly the doubt began to melt away...
...I stared down at the bony figure beneath the blanket...
...The handkerchief would serve as a blindfold, the goggles would secure it in place...
...My conversations with Eichmann became an almost nightly routine, one that, although increasingly trying for me, he soon came to anticipate as his <?nly chance for comparatively normal discourse...
...It xuill do you no good, you bastard, I told myself as I dragged him toward the car...
...in my dark clothes, only partially obscured by bushes and trees, I might be visible from the house...
...To our surprise, he kept his eyes tightly closed until Hans ordered him to open them...
...Swinging onto Garibaldi Street, we eased to a stop 20 yards before the house...
...Behind black-rimmed glasses, his eyes met mine...
...After every fart was a protracted gurgle...
...We drove in silence, first through the ever more desolate outskirts of Buenos Aires, then onto the rush of the highway...
...No," he corrected, "45326...
...Es war den Auftrag, den ich hatte, " he said evenly...
...I would have to take that into account and go for the right hand...
...I love all children...
...Are you the man who captured me...
...Would he pause at the sight of the car...
...You must believe me, it wasn't something I planned, nor anything I'd have chosen...
...You must mean some children...
...How had supposedly civilized people descended to such depths of barbarism...
...1990...
...Hans's style, his clipped, precise German, his obvious impatience with much of what he heard, his not-too-subtle air of menace must have given Eichmann deja vu...
...Little wonder...
...As I struggled to my feet, hoisting him with me, I eased the pressure on his throat...
...We looked at each other...
...For another ten minutes he continued, until he at last announced he was finished and requested permission to wipe...
...hissed Hans suddenly from within the car, "I think he has a gun...
...demanded Hans again...
...He stopped...
...It did not take long to see that Eichmann loved talking, particularly about himself, and that he had a sharp mind...
...Watch his hands...
...Off to the left lay Route 202, still heavy with traffic, and directiy before us the Klement home—the alias under which Eichmann was living in Argentina...
...How did you come to do what you did...
...For a full day afterward, lying chained to his bed, the left side of his face twitching, he continued not only to refuse food and drink but even use of the toilet...
...I love children...
...I had expected more of this most honored representative of the master race...
...It was the primal cry of a cornered animal...
...After putting fresh sheets and blankets on the bed, which was iron with low, curving side rails, I placed a pair of striped pajamas, a towel, a large, black cotton handkerchief and a pair of dark motorcycle goggles on top...
...Fifteen...
...When it pulled away, there, framed in silhouette by the oncoming headlights, stood Attila...
...It was the name on my passport...
...Abruptly a woman came into view...
...I left the door ajar and walked a few feet away...
...The house was at least 50 yards away, but with the field glasses I felt I could touch it, I stared through the single front window, shutters ajar and framed by white curtains, into the dim interior lit by a kerosene lamp...
...Ich bin Adolf Eichmann...
...Fifteen...
...Momentarily shaken, I quickly recovered...
...For years the question had plagued me, a challenge to my very worldview: How had it happened...
...Following every grunt and torturous wheeze, he would say he was sorry, the apologies growing ever louder to match the noises, until he sounded as if he were addressing a full battalion...
...Working from within, he had always argued for moderation: He was a soldier, in which he Eichmann on trial, took enormous pride, and a soldier is never entirely his own man...
...A minute passed...
...Suddenly Meir appeared...
...His shoe size...
...I placed the mug of juice in his hand...
...What Eichmann enjoyed talking about most was his children...
...On the other side of the road, the two of them separated, the man turning onto Garibaldi Street...
...One was a woman, bundled up against the wet and cold...
...What was I going to do, refuse to answer...
...Ein Laut und du bist tot," spoke up Hans...
...I checked my watch: 7:23...
...My friend, doubled over, the tears streaming down his face, staggered backward into the living room...
...It was Judgment Day...
...We could not let the prisoner dictate the terms of his imprisonment...
...I had imagined he would be defensive, that he would express at least token remorse...
...Aharon produced two pairs of high-powered Zeiss binoculars from the pocket of his heavy overcoat...
...Now that we had actually done it, more than anything else I felt profound relief, like freedom from a crushing weight...
...Directly beneath us lay another set of railroad tracks, and just beyond, as in a fairy tale, was spread out the view with which we had become so familiar through the pictures...
...We found ourselves coconspirators of a sort...
...I was back in Eichmann's room very early the following morning, sitting on the stool at the foot of the bed: He was awake...
...Now," I said, "I want you to use the toilet...
...I checked the luminous hands on my watch...
...Though Eichmann had his name back, I was far from reclaiming mine...
...It meant nothing to us...
...This is the end for you...
...What is your name...
...He simply could not bring himself to believe our repeated reassurances, finding it beyond comprehension that anyone with the power to take such an action would not use it...
...For the first time, Eichmann's blindfold was removed...
...He knew exacdy what he was doing...
...demanded Hans sharply, a master addressing a disobedient dog...
...I could hear his footfalls, regular as ticks of a clock...
...Now—Was ist dein Name...
...Nein, ich liebe alle Kinder...
...H ans was due this morning to begin formal interrogation of the prisoner...
...Almost by force of will I pushed the Adapted, from Eichmann In My Hands by Peter Z, M.ilkin and Harry Stein, Warner Books, Inc...
...Tightening my grip, I abruptly cut it off...
...Where the tattoo with his blood type should have been was a small scar...
...The back door swung open and we stuffed him inside...
...Excuse me...
...Nor, since his arrival, had he accepted anything to eat...
...That's him," hissed Aharon...
...The scar on his chest was just where it should have been...
...How did you know...
...For him, this was a matter of moral responsibility...
...Meir ran around to the front passenger seat...
...Watch his hands...
...Then I waited...
...He had particularly strong feelings for his little boy, the only one of his sons whose childhood years he had been around to share, and whose presence had clearly made his exile infinitely easier to bear...
...I wouldn't have either...
...We fell hard to the ground and tumbled into the shallow ditch alongside the walk way...
...Just a job...
...I studied the area around the house...
...His expression kept changing, his lips, jaw, brow, continually working, apparendy beyond his control...
...There was a pause...
...The low wooden fence...
...A lone bicyclist turned into Garibaldi Street and pedaled through the rain...
...Twenty-five feet between us...
...He was no more than 20 yards away...
...Buffeted by the wind, I tried to stay warm...
...The only saving grace, I reflected miserably, was that our footprints would be washed away...
...Shutting the door behind us, we studied the prisoner for the first time...
...It was too dark to make out his features, only that he wore heavy-rimmed glasses...
...Once again I found myself struggling for self-control in his presence...
...They crossed the road side by side...
...Take off his coat and shirt," snapped Hans in English finally, with sharp contempt...
...Like we just drove them out of the showroom...
...May I begin...
...This I did not want to miss...
...Ich bin Ricardo Klement," came the trembling reply...
...As he put it, "I thought to myself, 'Why not?' I'd have done anything to get away from those files...
...He knew as well as I did to fall silent at the sound of approaching footsteps...
...Aside from considerations of his well-being, there was a clear danger of subtle loss of control...
...The lightning was worrisome...
...Then he wordlessly allowed me to spoon-feed him the egg and place the crackers, one by one, between his lips...
...When decisions were made by those above, and orders issued, they had to be obeyed...
...Was ist dein Name...
...Suddenly, shockingly, he let out a piercing scream...
...Something had been removed...
...The man's system must have been in desperate straits...
...Eichmann didn't seem taken aback in the least...
...I asked...
...Sie kbnnen anfangen...
...I ordered him to eat...
...Could the elegant, strutting Obersturm-fukrer really be reduced to this...
...At Hans's direction I lifted his left arm...
...Within just a couple of minutes, the bolts were coming more frequently and the thunder was far louder, but still it was dry...
...On hands and knees, we struggled our way to the top of the hill...
...I was always repulsed by Streicher and the Sturmer crowd...
...Could HE have evoked such dread1...
...I hesitated a long moment...
...Fully covered now, he lay absolutely still on the back floor...
...I was on my back in a couple of inches of mud, holding him with all my strength, one hand around his throat...
...The point, of course, was not only to be familiar with the movements of Attila—Eichmann's code name—but to place myself in his shoes...
...I was on my back in a couple of inches of mud, holding him with all my strength, one hand around his throat, the other restraining his right hand...
...But the words stayed with me...
...Once we got started, it didn't take long to get down to the very heart of the matter...
...I walked back 40 paces, measuring the distance to the spot where I intended to meet him...
...He lifted the prisoner's feet, and I kept hold of his shoulders and head...
...Then another...
...Regulations or no regulations, it was something I had to do...
...Ten minutes went by...
...I recognized your voice...
...Indeed, everything had taken on an almost surreal quality, like a scene from a biblical epic by Cecil B. De Mille...
...He hesitated, perhaps surprised by the vehemence of the reaction...
...I removed my gloved hand from the man's mouth...
...To one of the side rails, I fastened a pair of handcuffs...
...At the very least I thought there would be bearing, dignity, pride...
...fart, "Entschuldigen Sie...
...Un momentito, senor...
...Was it conceivable that a man who had dictated the fate of millions from chateaux and palaces would be living in a colorless little home lacking even the basic amenities...
...It was soaked through with his spittle...
...Otto Heninger," he said now...
...I leapt at him, grabbing for his right hand...
...I had nothing against the Jews...
...It was a job I had...
...I commanded...
...The street was deserted...
...fart, "Entschuldigen Sie"—Uzi and I could restrain ourselves no longer...
...Following orders, we drove in silence...
...Danke schbn...
...We did not speak—strict orders had been issued in that regard—but I could not take my eyes off that blindfolded face...
...He was making gurgling noises...
...All three of us buzzed around him with measuring tapes like so many tailors fitting a gendeman for a fine suit...
...I love children...
...called Eichmann...
...Sir lieben Kinder...
...Look," he replied evenly, daring to broach the subject himself, "perhaps to you it seems as if I hate Jews...
...My hand was numb, but I held tightly to the glasses...
...As the bus pulled away, two figures could be seen at the curb...
...Was ist dein Name...
...Suddenly, out of the blue, he addressed me...
...Ich liebe Kinder, "he put it to me one night early on, smiling almost dreamily...
...Suddenly I was exhausted...
...Kneeling on the wooden ties, we rested our elbows on the cold tracks...
...But on the other side, she veered off to the left, and he went to the right...
...I could make out a table and some chairs and a door leading into a back room...
...Hans shifted the car into gear...
...Here I was, likely the first soul he had ever encountered—certainly the first Jew—to whom he felt obliged to defend himself, yet he was going about it coolly and with aplomb...
...Toward the close of their first prolonged session, Eichmann asked, the first of many times, whether we were going to kill him and, quite obviously, he did not believe Hans's insistent denials...
...We removed the coat, his jacket, white shirt, tie and shoes...
...Then, off to the left, heading north on Route 202 from Buenos Aires, at once familiar and starding, the 203 bus came into view...
...Everything matched perfectly except the dental information...
...Un momentito, senor...
...According to the reports, Klement usually appeared between 7:20 and 8:00...
...Watching it unfold—fart, "Entschuldigen Sie...
...a newspaper?—and moved from sight...
...Stripped of power, Eichmann seemed a classic weakling, lacking the character even to accept his fate...
...Then, suddenly, a brightly lit bus detached itself from the highway traffic and squealed to a stop...
...We were at the car...
...Eichmann was as cooperative as could be expected, answering all questions put to him with great diffidence, taking to his role as helpless victim as naturally as Hans assumed that of highhanded inquisitor...
...After all, Adolf Eichmann was a human being, someone who walked and talked and breathed exactly as I did...
...The following morning, I carried in his breakfast of orange juice, a hard-boiled egg and crackers on a tray...
...We were on the railroad embankment we had noted on the charts...
...The bus was at the stop now...
...hissed Hans suddenly from within the car, "I think he has a gun...
...This is not to suggest the technique was ineffective...
...Apparently straightforward, yet subtly shading things to his advantage, he distanced himself from the real responsibility, even as he confirmed the record in every particular...
...Over the next few days, we traveled the same route in both directions...
...The following morning my surveillance of the target area began in earnest...
...Was ist dein Name...
...As we lurched forward, we gagged him and covered his eyes with the goggles...
...He stood in the center of the room, still in his overcoat, his eyes obscured by the goggles...
...One sound and you are dead...
...It was one he had used all those years before, as a forest ranger...
...Just past 7:15 p.m...
...Somewhat rested, more my old self than I'd been since my arrival in Argentina, I was seized by powerful feelings of deep loathing and contempt...
...The simple sentence I had been practicing for weeks...
...Ich hatte den Auftrag zu erfullen...
...Could this really be the monster responsible for such horror...
...Begin...
...But that hadn't been the intention at the beginning, not his immediate superiors' and certainly not his...
...Do you...
...I had a job to do...
...Sind Sie der Mann, der mich gefangen nahm...
...I got out, stretched my legs...
...Your SS number," spoke up Hans sharply, "was 45526...
...Twenty...
...Like new," he announced...
...What difference did it make anyway...
...That night, while the rest of the house slept, I sat silently on my stool watching him...
...Yes," I answered, "I'm the one...
...The man was terrified...
...Hans could be right...
...Leading him to the toilet, perhaps 20 feet away, I pulled down his pajama bottoms and helped him to sit down...
...Heavyset and deliberate in her movements, she took something from the table—a magazine...
...Oh God, I wanted to shout at Hans, don't talk to me...
...Instead he talked as if he had spent those years working as a grocery clerk...
...Ich liebe Kinder" he put it to me one night early on, smiling almost dreamily...
...We were 15 yards apart...
...I was never an antisemite...
...As he turned onto Garibaldi, I began my leisurely stroll toward him...
...Yes, he acknowledged, matters had gotten out of control...
...Every so often he would shudder spasmodically, his leg jerking, rattling the chain...
...Not now...
...Beside him was a stocky woman...
...Back at the safe house I led Attila to his room...
...Jawohl, mein Herr...
...I froze, watching, the wind in my face...
...My hand still covering his mouth beneath the blanket, Klement nodded in assent...
...My sole responsibility of the day was to prepare the prisoner's room for his arrival...
...His voice was weak and very raspy...
...Four times the question was asked and answered...
...The great frustration, of course, was that I was forbidden to speak to him...
...But if Eichmann was aware of it, if he even understood that anyone might have reason to find the scene comic, he never let on...
...Eichmann...
...He stood before us in trousers and socks, his hands still working...
...The reference was to the most primitive racist ideologue in the top echelons of Nazism and his venomous magazine...
...Indeed, I was secretly grateful he had created the opening...
...I shot back, unable to help myself...
...Darf Ich anfangen...
...Listening, it was not quite so easy as I had supposed it would be to frame cogent replies...
...I, trying to be discreet if I could not be polite, actually gnawed a gash in my lower lip in a failed effort to keep from exploding in laughter...
...Entschuldigen Sie...
...Copyright Peter Z. MaJkin and Harry Stein, I Captured Adolf Eichmann doubt out of mind...
...The other, a man in hat and light trench coat, seemed almost oblivious to it...
...How did it happen...
...You must believe me," he added suddenly...
...Though his tone was respectful, sometimes frankly obsequious, the obedient child eager to please, he was also canny...
...This was duty...
...For several agonizing seconds, as they crossed the highway, it appeared they were together...
...Good...
...He nodded crisply...
...Silendy we began to take his measurements...
...He took a step backward...
...o n May 11, 1960, Meir and Uzi were up at dawn to test the cars...
...When they returned an hour later, Uzi was soaring...
Vol. 15 • August 1990 • No. 4
