Eichmann: Man of Slaughter – “Documented facts and intimate details never before revealed” about the arch-murderer Adolf Eichmann. By John Donovan, published by Avon Books, New York, 1960 – first edition. The personal copy of Isser Harel, head of the Israeli Mossad, who commanded the operation to capture Adolf Eichmann. With his signature on the title page.
On the cover: “The murder of 6,000,000 Jews: Hitler demanded it, Himmler ordered it ADOLF EICHMANN DID IT!”
A significant publication released shortly after the capture of the war criminal Adolf Eichmann by the Israeli Mossad, and before the opening of his trial in Jerusalem. In this book, John Donovan presents gripping details about Eichmann’s central role in planning and organizing the extermination of European Jewry, including the logistics of deporting millions of Jews to the death camps, and his personal responsibility for the murder of six million Jews. The book also offers insights into Eichmann’s personal life, his early years, how the “monster” was created, details about his wife Vera Eichmann, his promotion through the Nazi ranks, and his obsessive focus on the Jewish Question even before the outbreak of World War II, particularly during the years when he headed the Jewish Affairs Department. It covers his involvement in the Wannsee Conference decisions on the Final Solution, and the establishment of the Jewish Emigration Office in Austria under his command, an office responsible for the confiscation of Jewish property and their forced expulsion. Eichmann meticulously defined which types of people were to be deported, and which cases were considered exceptions. With the implementation of these directives, the systematic deportation and extermination of Europe’s Jews began. In his autobiography, Rudolf Höss recounted how he and his colleagues would tremble when sending children to the gas chambers, but it was Eichmann who rebuked them, passionately explaining the importance of the task. Höss wrote that Eichmann insisted the children must be killed first, arguing there was no logic in killing a generation of adults while leaving behind a generation of possible avengers who could one day revive their people. The book also details Eichmann’s orchestration of the deportation of 440,000 Hungarian Jews, for which he served as the chief overseer, his capture and escape from the American detention camp in January 1946, his years of hiding in Argentina, and the operation that led to his capture by the Israeli Mossad.
Issar Harel [1912–2003] – Israeli intelligence officer, one of the founding figures of the Israeli intelligence community, first head of the Shin Bet, second head of the Mossad, and Member of Knesset. Harel’s most notable achievement was the discovery of Adolf Eichmann’s whereabouts. Eichmann was located in a hiding place in Argentina and was captured in a daring Mossad operation, personally led by Harel on the ground, on May 11, 1960.
He was brought to Israel on May 21, 1960, to stand trial in a historic legal proceeding in which he was sentenced to death and executed by hanging on May 31, 1962. The capture of Eichmann marked the high point of Harel’s career, he was the mastermind and executor of the operation.
109, [17] pp. Very good condition.
