He young spy agency chased down the worlds most notorious nazi. Good evening everybody. Welcome to the National World war two museum. Im the associate for the media and Education Center here at the museum. First and keeping with the tradition i would like to recognize any were front veterans, holocaust survivors, if your president please stand and wave. Its always a pleasure to honor you. This is your museum. Even if there is no one here we should still clap. And also, to take this moment to recognize any veterans or active duty personnel, also stand or wave to be recognized, thanks so much for carrying on the great legacy with the world war ii generation. I would like to welcome all of you to the special evening. Acclaimed, author, neil is here to describe his works on icommon. He also did a webinar with almost 3000 students earlier today as part of our twoweek family Holocaust Education program which has been very well received so far. A fantastic program. Tonights program is part of our most recent special exhibit which i hope many of you were able to see in the last hour or so while you were here. Operation now. This is currently on display here at the hall of democracies, junior exhibition hall. This is presented here, a wonderful coproduction with several of our esteemed partners. The museum of the jewish people in israel. The secret intelligence service, so for those of you if you havent been able to see the exhibit yet its open until january 5th. And we encourage all of you to come and tenth if you havent seen it yet. This exhibit tells the story of the daring capture of one of world war iis most notorious war criminals. He was the head of the two after the war he vanishes, and nobody knows where he is. We will tell us more on how it seem of asian from israel entail Insurance Agency captured him and brought him back to israel where he stood trial for his crimes. In his, work neil bascomb has presented this true story as gripping as it was a spy thriller or any spy novel that you might read. So many of our Staff Members have been raving about it. Students really enjoyed the webinar review, we are really sad to have you. Neil is a award whening New York Times bestselling author. Im focused on true stories of adventure and achievement. The story he tells about ive been captures both. And its one that i think fits very squarely with the museums. Mission its our goal to present lesser known stories like this one from the war, and its particularly meaningful to see that social connections that our visitors are making to the story. Im happy to introduce writer has brought the store to. Life he has one honoring so many minimum and the criminals that didnt get away with atrocities committed during the war. Without further ado, i would like to bring on to the stage author, neil bascomb. Good evening everyone, one of the staff asked if i get nervous speaking. With a audience like this. The truth is theres probably a small part of me that gets nervous, but after those 3000 middle schoolers i think i can handle this crew here tonight. I have written a lot of different books about vast different kinds of subjects. Mutiny in the black sea. Roger breaking the four minute mile. Ive written about the sabotage of the nazi bond program. My most recent book is about the david and goliath kind of story, and people often ask me, how did choose these subjects . I dont quite understand. My wife rather ungenerously says that i picked them based on where i want to travel next. I dont think thats necessarily true. I look for stories about people doing things that we think are impossible. Stories of ordinary people being put in extraordinary situations and coming through. It i ask myself to questions, before i start a. Book the first question is do i have something you to say but the story . The story about adolf ike men and his capture. The story was largely missed. Mid. It was largely involved by people involved in the operation. If you took his word, for it he heard that i commend was in argentina. Everything went swimmingly. Nothing went wrong. It was a perfect operation from start to finish. And that couldnt be further from the case. So gathering together all the various agents, and everyone involved in the operation, collecting our cavil information i was able hopefully to tell the story in a faithful way to whats actually happened. The second question i ask is does the story have some importance . I think of all the books that i have written, this has the most important things to say. Mainly about memory and the importance of justice. Now i came to the story in college actually. I was living in luxembourg. And studying history, there and economics in my junior year, and didnt have much money as most juniors and college to. Not so i walked. Dogs very glamorous job. I walked dogs for extra cash. One of the people who was my client turned out to be a holocaust survivor. She had a little yuppie but who is terrible. But she was a lovely person. She would bring me home for tea and after we got to know each other she told me she was a survivor. She told me she never really spoken but what happened to her during the war. She never felt able to tell her story, until i mint was captured. Until the story came out about the holocaust after. For her give her a sense of permission to tell the story. So i thought leader as it turned to be a fulltime writer this incredible spy story actually has a remarkable impact on history. Thats why i told the story of Adolf Eichmann. ,,,. In order to emigrate, them push them out of germany. By the time 1938 comes, the idea of immigration is forced deportation. He has been charged as soon as germany annexes austria, he sent to austria, he sends a note to a friend. Quote unquote, they are finally in my hands. Theyre finally in my hands. So we have this idea of Adolf Eichmann, i dont know if there are any hanna rink fans over here, who wrote about the trial, sort of argue that Adolf Eichmann was essentially just a cobb in the wheel of this nazi machine, and he didnt necessarily have any demonic vent towards jews or otherwise. That can be further from the case. He was committed to his job absolutely. By 1944, he had become, as he titled himself the master of the jews. The operational master of the execution of the holocaust. Whenever germany invaded a country, he would go in. He would target the jewish population. He would generally start with the other regions, need, cities and then work his way into urban centers. Move the jews into camps and then send the jews to extermination camps. His masterwork he called it was hungry, in 1970, for living in hungry by the time, six months later when he was finished with his work, 450,000 of them have been sent to their deaths of the camps. Thats Adolf Eichmann was. When the war was up and his superiors were saying we need to stop killing the jews. We need to use them as bargaining chips now that the war has gone sour, Adolf Eichmann continued his work. You continued his work to such a level that he had been called by kinder and ordered to be stopped. That was Adolf Eichmann. Remember this. Look. The power of that face, and the determination on it because it will look later in the presentation. When the war was over, Adolf Eichmann escaped. He ran. He went to northern germany and worked their, his name was largely unknown by the allies and in fact during the trials, when the name Adolf Eichmann was presented wrote on the side, Adolf Eichmann. Despite the massive amount of power that he had over the jews, and a relatively low ranking colonel, people didnt know who he was outside of germany largely. It wasnt until the trials of it wasnt entirely clear that his name became something important. So he skips to northern germany. Remains there. And then by 1950, he begins to make his way down through, germany and to austria, into italy, thanks to the help of many members of the Catholic Church heading out in monasteries along the way. Gets himself on any boat to argentina. This is actually the fast port that he used to escape europe, and actually found this in the Argentinian Court system. Almost 50 years after he used it. You notice here the name ricardo. Thats the elites he took on. People often ask me why argentina . Why did he go there . The country was a haven for escaped nazis. Largely because one prone wanted to use them bolster and help his state. One, prone just to give you the idea of who won prone is, he said that the nuremburg trials would force the atrocity of justice thats who he was. He was provided i. D. S, passports, job, money, a whole life when he arrived in argentina. Eventually brought his wife, via, and his three sons to argentina with him and was living free. So lets move on to the people who were actually involved in bringing him to justice. The first person i would like to mention, one of the important ones is this individual here. Simon. Now we all have this idea or many of you may have simon as this important, famous, historic nazi hunter. But imagine someone whos in the in 1945. He was the former architect. He had no police experience. He stumbled out of a concentration camp with less than 100 pounds, he was a big, guy more than ten feet all six feet tall. You had a very keen member of all the guards names, all the various details of the camp, but he was determined to go after these war criminals. One of the chief people on the list was Adolf Eichmann, and he did three important things of the course of 1945 through 48. Those three things were, when he determined that Adolf Eichmann was still alive. Or that he wasnt, more accurately doug. Adolf eichmann and the eichmann family petitioned the government that eichmann had died on the Eastern Front. He proved that that was not the case. The second thing that he did was he collected documents and evidence about what eichmann it did to the jewish people during the war. Evidence that was disappearing in many respects. And the third thing that he did was he discovered a photograph of eichmann. It, off despite only being Lieutenant Colonel believed in his heart that he would be sought after after the war. And so he made it his mission to never be photographed. So that there was no evidence of what he looked like when he was on the run. He made a mistake of having an affair and taking a picture of with one of the vigil seems having an affair with. Simon, and in romeo agent found this woman and found a photograph. But it all comes to not really. 1940, 1950, they were the only two people going after these war criminals, trying to find them, both of them largely gave up by 1950, collected their documents, put it away their proverbial garages, me eichmann was free and nobody was looking for him. 1957. Eichmann is in argentina. Hes working from the dam and then he over the course of time, he drinks a, lot smokes a lot, hes at the german club determining i would happily die in my grief knowing that in the air. He was upright even within the German Community. He works as a rabbit firmer. Starts a laundromat. His sons are there. They are living in a small little house on the outskirts of minus iris. It turns out that sylvia herman, this young lady here on the left. She finds herself dating a young man named Nicholas Eichmann and 90 57. Now again, this eichmann name, though to and friedman, is a need to be sought after the world doesnt know that nearly. So nothing sought a bit. Sylvia is dating eichmann, she invites them over to her house with her mother or father. He was blinded while and person. Escape germany before the war began. Left and began a new life in argentina. Nicholas is having dinner and he doesnt know that soviet is half jewish, and declares a dinner, but he believes its plate that our conversation its too bad that the germans can finish off the jews during the war. My father and my son, and sylvia of course, you can imagine how long that relationship lasted, after, that although nothing was said during dinner. It was quietly taken in that the relationship was over. A year passes. And your passes and sylvia is reading the paper to her father as she did. The german newspaper to her father. They come across this story about this west german prosecutor from the state of has. Doctor brits bower. For its bower is the only individual within the German Justice system thinking about pursuing war criminals so he decides in order to gather momentum in that effort his which published a list of top ten more criminals he was to go after. And on that list is Adolf Eichmann. So sylvia is reading this newspaper report to her father and comes across the name eichmann, and theres a hesitation. Theres a stop. And they began to have this conversation about whether or not it is possible that Nicholas Eichmann is the son of Adolf Eichmann. There are few things that soviet knows. One is that nicholas never invited soviet to his house. Second, nicholas had said that his father is a high ranking officers during the war. Actually just to. Thats what they talked about. So they have a suspicion. So they decide whether they want to do . Theyre going to write a letter to doctor fritz bauer. The letter is this marvelous and you have here. And in that letter, they centrally say, we read your newspaper article. And we believe that Adolf Eichmann maybe living here in when us iris. You can imagine what sylvia and thought after that. That spies would come leaping out of the woodwork and sees him and capture him at the end of the day. But this letter goes all the way to west germany, and he and fritz bauer receives, it and the question is what is he going to do with it. He cant go to anyone in his government. Half of the west German Government largely was made of foreign nazi officials. Heat sides i can choose interpol, but intervals not interested. He can go to the americans with this information and does at one point. The american cia in the archives in d. C. Sent back a letter saying we are not in the business of apprehending war criminals. So fritz bauer says ok no one is going to help me. So he writes a letter back to sylvia and her father. And in that letter he includes the photograph of Adolf Eichmann, he includes details about what he looks like, what he sounds like, describe by many people as you saw in the photograph. This large, wonderful presence. And he says sylvia in the letter, basically, go find him. Go see if you can determine with extra percent accuracy that that is Adolf Eichmann. You will find one of the worst war criminals in history. You this young 18yearold, and her blind father. Whats incredible in the stories that they actually do it. They are now living outside of when its a race, they take a train into the city. And eventually determine where nicholas is living. Sylvia goes as was written, and a pretty little dress, to the door in this neighborhood to this two bedroom, small, rather ramshackle house and knocks on the door. And who answers but ricardo clementa . Adolf eichmann. And you can imagine, so he invites her in. Nicholas isnt there, and theyre having a conversation. He cant determine one way or another this person, youll see in this presentation wet Adolf Eichmann looked like by the time he was captured. They almost look like two different people. So he couldnt she couldnt quite tell one way or another if it was him. She asked him who he was and he said im necklaces uncle, im living here. Thats where the conversation and and then suddenly Nicholas Eichmann comes in. You can imagine your exgirlfriend showing up at your house. Thats bad enough. Even worse is that you know your father is a four criminal, and is living under a alias. But Nicholas Eichmann not being terribly bright grabs sylvia and pushes her around the house and says i will be right back father. I can always tell if the audience is paying attention. Whether they get that were not. Sylvia determines well this is very likely Adolf Eichmann. Again, another letter finds its way across the sea to dr. Power. He determines no have enough information. Im going to do something about. This american wont help me, my country wont help me. No Current Organization will help me. Ill go to the people who should care about these were criminals. I will go to the israelis. So he doesnt actually fly there. You can base this information through back channels, and it reaches this individual here. Its a hero. Visceral was a very powerful individual within the israeli government. He was essentially the same thing as being the head of the cia and fbi simultaneously. Again, a very powerful individual but his job was to protect the state of israel from its neighbors. His job wasnt to pursue more criminals. Look into the past, find justice. So he feels like i cant just soup this under the rug like most of the world has, the world, holocaust i will send a police investigator. In normal police investigator. To argentina to determine if this information is accurate. A from, was very will meeting, he had no experience working overseas and most importantly, didnt speak a lick of spanish. So he sends mr. Huffman under all the way to argentina. Is there for a few weeks. He goes to his house. Does it really spent much time in surveillance. He just goes and looks at the house. He sends a report back to isser harel, quote unquote, theres no way that Adolf Eichmann could live in such a wretched little house. And the investigation is over. Its tabled, shelves, put in a drawer. Isser harel is done, hes done his job, lets move on from it. Well over the course of researching a book, anyone who has researched history, were you cant find a fact. And this fact is, doctor fritz bauer was delivered a second source in 8 59. Just a few months after this. The second source that determined some exact information that sylvia and her father had written, where eichmann was living, where he was, working what name he was living under. It also had information like where he lived in argentina, with jobs he was given, how much he made. Everything that you would need to know. It syncs perfectly with what sylvia had found. We now know that this came from the west German Security services, but the information prior to that when i was writing this, that was not available. Regardless of that, fritz bauer is now in a fury. He has had this information for about 18 months, where eichmann is living. He doesnt know if eichmann is going to stay there or if he is going to be tipped off. This time, he gets on a plane personally and gets in a room with isser harel and the attorney general of israel, and says, sticking his finger at the report, you must go after Adolf Eichmann. He is here. Go. He is so convincing, that isser harel is kind of a little bit ashamed into acting right now. He feels compelled to do something. It cannot deny now that this is Adolf Eichmann and that this is where he is living. What does isser want to do . He was to kill him. He wants to send an agent to buenos aires. He was to arrange a car accident, assassinate him quickly and quietly and be done with him. This individual here, and many of you may recognize him, the head of the israeli government, has a very different idea when he conveyed this information. David bengurian sees an opportunity here to make an affine history. Why he wants to go after eichmann. He wants to capture him and bring him back to israel and put him on trial. He wants to remind the israeli israel why the state of israel needs to exist and remind the world what happened to the jewish people during the holocaust. This information that the world and the teachers are not teaching, that the world was a put away. This is what happened, and it must be exposed. So a mission is put together to go after eichmann. After all of this happens, by 1960, a shin bet interrogator, not much investigative experience at one of the top mossad interrogators. He is sent to argentina, make sure that eichmann is still there, and the team will be spent, he speaks spanish. When he gets there, he discovers that Adolf Eichmann is now gone. He is no longer living in the neighborhood and cannot find him. Not only do they need to capture them, detain him, and get him out of the country, they need to find him again. This operation is happening in argentina, thousands of miles away from israel, in a country that is not terribly favorable to the jews, that has a large nazi community, for lack of a better word. The mossad right now is a fledging committee. This is a mission way beyond their scope. This is a tremendous risk. This man who was more dogged than any of the people who are sick, the one he was sent in that tracking down eichmann and goes in his truck. They do not with 100 accuracy know if this was eichmann. He needs photographs. This was in the exhibit. And i had never seen outside of my book. He would take photographs and go to the neighborhood. In a house in this place that was an even more remote place, but you cannot get close enough. Eventually he gets his camera and walks up to the fence around the property where he lives and this is one of the photographs that he takes. Imagine how close he was. They ultimately determine that this was Adolf Eichmann by the shape of his ears, of all things. By the shape of the side of his face. There is actually a study that the mossad put together, and it was determined almost like examining a fingertip, this is with 100 accuracy that this is Adolf Eichmann. A team is assembled. A team is assembled out of a spy movie, almost, in some respects. They have a master forger, an operations person, two strongmen responsible for capturing him, a forwarder, someone very good strategy and practical precision, and strong men who are responsible for capturing eichmann, and front men and a front woman to stay in the safe house. This team is the top of the top of the mossad. The number two at the mossad, and all of the top individuals went on this mission. Isser harel, the number one man in the mossad also went on this mission. You can imagine the cia director going on a rendition. They arrived in argentina and put together the team. This is the house on garibaldi street, but you see what the photograph what you see with the photograph. May 11, 1960. After weeks of surveillance, they grabbed him, capture him, and rushed to a safe house with his blindfold here. That is two thirds of the book. I do want you to read it. I do want to tell you a conclusion, in a long conclusion as it is, two sort of important episodes that i think are thematically important and fairly dramatic. When i was researching this story, and i spent a lot of time in israel. I would interview these Mossad Agents. Getting Mossad Agents to a moat, is very difficult. I would ask them how do you feel. When you were you scared . They would talk about this operation, the night of the capture, like they had just gone to the drycleaning. It was terribly frustrating. They remembered exactly what happenned, but there was no emotion. They were professionals. I would speak to them about the 10 days they spent with eichmann. Their faces changed. At one point, one broke into tears. Just the emotional weight of that 10 days in the safe house. It was a weight that was sort of a combination of immense pride, pride of going to argentina and risking everything and grabbing him and successfully detaining him and bringing him and having him in the safe house. This man who perpetrated such atrocities against the jewish people. A sense of wow, we did this. And also the horror of living with this person, of bathing him, of feeding him, of watching him 24 hours. Of speaking to him. He was, from the very moment of capture, rather sniveling. He gave up who he was within less than one hour of interrogation. He was completely compliant. As one of the agents sort of half joked. If i asked him to pick the nails out of the floorboards, he would have. He just was wearing dirty underwear and he was scrawny and pale. He was a devout human being. The horror of living and being and staying with this individual, was terribly wrenching for them. The second part is about the sacrifice, framed throughout the story. Getting eichmann out of argentina. They cannot walk him. They had plans for a ship. This was possible and doable, of course, but it would take weeks. If there was news of eichmann being captured in argentina, this ship could be stopped at any point in time. They need to get him out by airplanes as quickly as possible. There is the national airlines. The problem is that it did not fly to argentina and has no service. Isser harel took a look at his calendar and saw that right around this time was the one 150th anniversary of argentinian independence from spain. Not that isser harel could give a lick about argentinian independence, but i gave him an opportunity, it gave him a roos, to bring a delegation of israeli diplomats to argentina to celebrate this great event. These diplomats would come off the plane, and on the play would come the Mossad Agents and eichman and they would fly safely back to israel with Adolf Eichmann. Everything went consummately with this circumstance. After 10 days in the house, they have a new id made by the forger. He is coming on the plane. He drugged and even more compliant. They put him in the back. They are ready to go. They are ready to take off. The plane taxis toward the runway, and i like to preface this by saying that these were employees. The mossad did not have an airplane crew with pilots and stewards and mechanics and navigators and radio men. Who knew how to command such an aircraft. What they did have were these individuals who now and again, they would all sort of assemble together and be involved in bringing someone maybe secretly. They called them selves the dirty business crew. They were not told anything. They thought they were involved in a Democratic Mission to go to argentina. They thought that they would arrive to buenos aires to dance and tango and have a nice dinner and get on the plane a few days later and fly back home. 24s after arriving, hours before theyre set to leave, they are told that they are bringing back Adolf Eichmann secretly. Everyone needs to be on time. You can imagine the fear involved. Being suddenly thrust into this very dangerous mission. Again, as i said, everything is going well. They are taxing to the runway. They are told by a traffic control, stop. You cannot take off. There is this remarkable conversation in the cockpit, at this moment. This is the pilot, a veteran of the 48 war. Isser harel was also in the cockpit, and they are having a chatter about what to do. Isser harel who is marvelous at his job and had a backup plan for a backup plan for a backup plan. Never in his wildest imagination did he think that he would be on the edge of a runway ready to take off and will be told to stop. He panics and says lets just go. The direct quote is, lets test the prowess of the Argentinian Air force. Are there any argentinians here . I am sorry. The pilot says, maybe we should take a breath and figure out what is happening. What do they want . I do not have an photograph i do not have a photograph, but the navigator turns in his seat. The navigator is still alive and was a huge man. About six foot five. Very thin. You can imagine him in this cockpit. Small now, even smaller. Then he turns to the agent and says i will go. I will go. And isser harel says thats wonderful. You can go. But if things go bad or if you are not back soon we are going to leave. I will take off without you. You will be left with a bag and you wont want to be left with that bag. And he says i will go. He told me as he walked down the steps that airplane, on the tarmac, that he felt like his heart was thinking into his shoes and he wasnt sure if he could do it. He wasnt sure if he could go. Then he reminded himself that many of his family had died in the holocaust, thought to himself that this was the sacrifice he had to make. This was the sacrifice he needed to take for what happened. So he goes. Thats the end of it. Thank you. No. Youre still listening. Okay. So the plane ticks off. What ends up happening is nothing. A whole night of nothing. They forgot a signature and theyre piece of paper and he went into the office to sign the flight planted he was back on the flight. It seems like a insignificant little glitch, right . In this whole operation. Let me tell you just a little bit about what happens afterwards. So normal flight plan from beunos aires to brazil and then brazil onward. He says very clearly i dont want to stop in brazil. What if it comes out that hes been captured. We cant stop there. We have to fly all the way into africa. I want to go all the way into africa, and stop in the car, senegal. From there i feel safe that we can and we need to leave south america. So and mechanics and crew, this was planned beforehand, made it clear that this aircraft had never made that distance of a flight. And they largely stripped of the things down. And, so they move in they fly out. If they had tested the promise of the Argentinian Air force they would have used a lot of fuel. The fact is that we are flying in and coming into the side of the coast of senegal. The lights are flashing. The alarms were going. They were running out of fuel as it was. One of the assad agents joked at a time theyd go up and down the aisles and ask if anybody had a light. We need fuel. When they landed onto the tarmac at the plane ran out of gas. So you can argue, i can argue, if he hadnt gone to check out what happened. We have made that risk. That plane very well may not have made it to senegal. He wouldnt have made it to israel. He would have never stood trial given the opportunity to survive, this individual here to testify their experience in the holocaust. The eichmann trial was exactly what did linger, and it with a massive success in terms of a learning that israel media to exist, and in the holocaust. Eichmann was trial, convicted, and again if you remember what he looked like in the war, and that proud uniform and what he looks like here anne 15 years later, to remarkably different individuals. Hes convicted. Hung. Cremated. His ashes were spread at sea to ensure that there was no memorial for him. And all those individuals, for years, for decades, were not able to tell the rules and what happened. Their experience and their stories. So im very proud to be one of those telling that now. Thank you all very much. [applause] so im more than happy to take questions as long as they are easy ones. Does anybody have easy question . Yes sir. I have three easy ones for you. First, did israel have the Death Penalty at the time of sentence or did they make a special exception for him . They made a special exception. And it was a massive controversy. It was a massive controversy wont even try him in israel. They believe that the west german state should try him, or some other body, meet again he was going to do that. In the fact that they were willing to do the bat test Death Penalty was also [inaudible] can you speak to his escape from germany into italy . You mentioned that he had stayed in the Catholic Churches, was their complicity there or did the Catholic Church is not know who he was . It is a very murky world during that period of what were called the move not see red lines. They were well organized, well orchestrated. We the Catholic Church. To say complicity complicity is a big word. Theres no evidence that the pope for instance had a meeting and said we should help the nazis escape. In fact, i would say that the converse of that is true. But there were many individuals high up as bishops who were fervent nazi sympathizers. And those individuals are the ones who helped put together the nazi red lines. But the fact is that perot and his inch inseam helping prank scientists and industrialists to argentina. And this a very good book by individual who is a argentinian journalist. And the name is skipping but if you want to read more about that thats a very good. Book finally, could you speak to how the nazi hunter had determined that eichmann had not died on the Eastern Front . The determination that eichmann had not died on the Eastern Front is i guess for lack of a better term the affidavit saying that he had died there. Was written by the cousin of his wife. It seemed rather dubious to anyone involved. And other people within eichmanns command were interrogated and interviewed and said theres no way that he could have been on the Eastern Front at that time. In fact, he was in berlin up to the lee stages of the war and that escaped south. Im curious about ten days in the villa. He said it was a safe house. They were delayed. They had to keep him there. During the time, did neither the German Community norths Family Reason alarm . South, its a very good question. Well one, eichmann couldnt really go to the police or the government at that time and it clear that her husband was a war criminal. She didnt feel safe in doing that despite the vent of the government that would have been a step too far. What ended up happening, the sons, of course knew that their father with almost complete certainty that their father had planned classes in the ditch. There were three adult sons at this point. They put together, they were sort of neonazis in their own right. They partnered with this group of semi fascists called the coral. Talk sort of young, so my fascist is complicated. They put together a search to try to find they were unsuccessful. Nicholas at one point says that they got to the airport 30 minutes after the departure. I find no evidence of that. But the family was definitely looking, and there were elements within the community, particularly in the ex that nazi community who are worried about this because they were worried about themselves. The government themselves were not part of that. You acknowledged at the beginning that a court of hunting down eichmann in your words was the pursuit of justice. Why do you think that there are so many similar me with a Critical Role in the whole cost even as recent as 25 years ago were walking free . The people just forget . The history of nazi hunting after eichmann was captured, fritz bauer was very successful after the eichmann capture in putting together trials in west germany for a number of war criminals and those responsible through the camps. Back after a certain period of time, that was very successful. But after a bit of time, sort of interest level on pursuing that kind of waned. You could say that the rise of the cold war had a significant aspect to that. Simon, who played a role, albeit tangential to the actual capture of Adolf Eichmann because of my side couldnt speak about what they had done. There was a vacuum in a sense. Simon, whether purposely or not, step and i wont get into that stepped into that vacuum and became the nazi hunter. He for a number of years was very successful in keeping that momentum going, but again that wayne. Still across the, day there were a number of people walking free. There were Government Agencies looking for them. Theres even now still operation last chance. Which essentially says that justice has no time limit and we will still pursue those individuals. The last cap yet i would say to that is that you know, there were a lot of people harboring these individuals like eichmann, other high government officials for their own ends. We all did it. America did it. It fouls. Their books, papers about this. The number of individuals particularly in Security Services, government here. Britain did. It individuals and governments that, it i mean everybody did it. So there is a lot of sort of push back on that. So its a complicated answer for a complicated world. We will take this last question from facebook. Can you elaborate on the aid the catholic monasteries gave eichmann on his escape to argentina . As i mentioned before and ive got a little more detail, essentially what happened was eichmann as he made his way through germany, through the alps, he would need places to stay where he would feel secure. So those were largely monasteries. When he arrived in chabot, he stayed in a monastery there, under the protection of the head of the monastery there. He felt protected and safe. This is largely assembled and put together by the argentine in government. Since the specific individuals who happened to be nazi sympathizers, in italy, switzerland and germany. Do you have a question . Sorry. Was there any contrition on the part of his family . The question was was there any contrition on the part of his family . Some i wish i had a short answer for that. A few things, one, he had to know in many senses what her husband did. She knew at least he was in hiding. She went after it was announced that the Security Service had captured him and was brought back to israel, she went and sued the israeli government. Tried to sue the israeli government. To have her husband returned. To argentina. That was a failure, of course. Israel does not bend on that. The suns were, one of the sons i tried to interviewed him before, because i wanted to find information and i thought telling part of the story was important. I was told by a very well connected argentinian journalist in one of syrias, not to go looking for him. A, it was dangerous and be, i would never find him. He was a neonazi, still living on the ground, outside of one of fires. So he was not contrite. I spoke to dieter and nicholas, who lived on the swiss german boulder, to try to talk to them about what happened, what they thought of their father essentially told me that their father had done nothing wrong. And then the phone was hung up. Now, actually, i commit had a son, a final son when he was living in argentina, who was very young when his father was captured. He is now a professor in germany. I connected with him and he still lives under the name of his dad. I was curious about, hes very up front that he thought his father was in essence a monster and had perpetrated hideous actions and thought he deserved everything he got. And i asked him, why would you keep your last name . It must be a tough road to ride, being named like that in germany. And he said, rather, pointedly, that he felt like that was a small burden for the heinous thing that his father had done. Which i found pretty remarkable. Thank you for the question. Weeknights this month were featuring American History tv programs as a preview. Thursday night, caroline would you, help from the Virginia Center for several more studies discusses black prisoners of war in the confederacy. She talks about the treatment of those prisoners and how many were enslaved, including those born free in the north. Watch thursday at 8 pm eastern and enjoy American History tv every weekend on cspan 3. Up next on history bookshelf, senator chris dodd talked about his book letters from nuremburg. A fathers narrative for the quest for justice. Their fathers the senators father was a prosecutor of the nuremburg trials of nazi leaders after world war ii, and talked about on a daily basis about his war process. And the personal reflections. The university hosted the event in october of 2007. Good evening, i am thomas j. Dogs grandson. I spent affirmative time reading through this book and reflecting on the story that was told, and the lessons that were to be learned. I was struck constantly by the humanness of the story. How its a story of love and ambition, home within the context of one of the truly Landmark Events of the
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