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Eichmann trial
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Report: Germany considered bribing Eichmann judge

Document published by Der Spiegel reveals West Germany considered bribing justice in trial of Holocaust's 'chief organizer' to make sure Israel does not prosecute high-ranking Nazis

Two days before Israel commemorates the 50th anniversary of the beginning of Adolf Eichmann's trial, a leaked document reveals that West Germany attempted to influence one of the judges in the case.

 

According to the document, which was released by German newspaper Der Spiegel, West German authorities considered assisting the judge with getting reparations. Though the measure was eventually ruled out, it betokens the fear that prevailed in West Germany at that time that Israel would demand to try other, higher-ranking Nazi officials.

 

One of the primary concerns expressed in the document was that Israel would demand to prosecute Hans Globke, a chief aide to Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and one of the most prominent figures in West Germany at that time.

 

Globke was involved in the formulation of the racist Nuremberg Laws, which were the first in a series of steps that led to the Holocaust.

 

According to the document, the decision to attempt to influence the course of the trial was scrapped after German officials met with senior Israeli officials, who assured them that Israel does not intend to deviate from the plan to try only Eichmann, known as the chief organizer behind the Nazi mass murder of Europe's Jews.

 

Der Spiegel noted in the report that Justice Gabriel Bach, the last living judge who took part in the Eichmann trial, claims he did not encounter any German effort to sway the court.

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 04.09.11, 22:36
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