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Eichmann pardon request uncovered

Pardon request by key figure in the Holocaust, still Israel's only executed convict, was sent to Israel's then-president Yitzhak Ben-Zvi and claimed that the Nazi never had enough authority to make high-level decisions

High-ranking Nazi Adolf Eichmann requested a pardon from Israel's president Yitzhak Ben-Zvi two days before was hanged to death, rare documents released in honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day showed on Wednesday.

Eichmann made the request after being found guilty of 15 charges, including crimes against the Jewish people, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

 

 

The document is one of several released ahead of an event scheduled for Wednesday at the President's Residence. Among the other artifacts are Ben-Zvi's letter rejecting Eichmann's request and the pages on which chief prosecutor Gideon Hausner wrote the famous line invoking "six million accusers" in the trial.

 

Adolf Eichmann during his trial
Adolf Eichmann during his trial

 


"The judges made a critical mistake when assessing my personality, because they cannot place themselves in the time and situation I was in during the war years," Eichmann wrote to Israel's second president. "It is untrue that I was such an important personage that I could oversee or would independently oversee the persecution of the Jews." Eichmann argued that the judges ignored his claim that he "never served in such a high-ranking position that would have involved such decisive and independent authorities."

 

 

The war criminal, who was among those most involved in carrying out the Holocaust, further wrote: "I also never gave any orders in my name, but always operated according to orders. Had I been, as the judges assume, the fanatical driving force in the persecution of the Jews, this should have been reflected in a promotion and other rewards, but I was never granted any benefit. A line must be drawn between the leaders who are responsible and people like me, who were forced to be tools by the leadership. I was not in charge of things, and therefore I do not feel that I am guilty. And I ask of you, honorable president, to use your right of pardon and order that this death sentence not be carried out."

 

Presiding Judges Yitzhak Raveh, Benjamin Halevi, and Moshe Landau
Presiding Judges Yitzhak Raveh, Benjamin Halevi, and Moshe Landau

 

Vera Eichmann, the notorious Nazi's wife, also wrote to Ben-Tzi with a request for a pardon "as a fire and mother to four children". A letter by Eichmann's five brothers was attached to Adolf's letter, which argued that the trial exposed the horrors of the past to the world. "If people thus attain tolerance and an understanding of brotherhood, the purpose of the trial was achieved. As a conclusion to this worldwide rebuke, an act of mercy would emphasize the altruism of the Jewish people and help it by means of advancing friendship between peoples and races."

 

Eichmann's German attorney, Dr. Robert Servatius, noted in the request that his client was "an unimportant person who was thrust by fate into political events." The lawyer added that the court had not taken into account the historical context of events, which he claimed were grounds for overturning the death sentence. "The condemned did not act out of a position of anti-Semitism, but because he was bound by the bureaucratic coercion system."

 

 

Ben-Zvi rejected the request in a concise letter. "After considering the parson requests submitted regarding the Adolf Eichmann case, and after I gave my attention to all the materials available to me, I reached the conclusion that there is no justification for giving Eichmann a pardon or mitigate the punishment passed down by the Jerusalem District Court on December 15, 1961, and which was approved by the Supreme Court on May 29, 1962," wrote Ben-Zvi. "Thus, I am informing you that I have decided to refuse the requests and not use my powers to pardon and reduce punishments in this case."

 

Also revealed was the handwritten text of then-attorney general Gideon Hausner's opening statement. "When I stand before you, judges of Israel, to lead the prosecution of Adolf Eichmann, I do not stand alone," Hausner said in the memorable statement. |With me here are six million accusers. But they cannot rise to their feet and point their finger at the man in the dock with the cry 'J'accuse!' on their lips. For they are now only ashes – ashes piled high on the hills of Auschwitz and the fields of Treblinka and strewn in the forests of Poland. Their graves are scattered throughout Europe. Their blood cries out, but their voice is stilled. Therefore will I be their spokesman. In their name will I unfold this terrible indictment."

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 01.27.16, 09:44
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