# Adolf Eichmann

Eichmann in 1942, wearing his SS uniform
**Otto Adolf Eichmann** (19 March 1906 in Solingen – 31 May 1962 in Ramla) was an important SS officer in Nazi Germany.

Eichmann played a key role in planning the Holocaust (which killed 6 million Jews and millions of others between 1941-1945).

He was executed for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ramla, Israel on 1 June 1962, at the age of 56.

## Early life

On 19 March 1906 Eichmann was born in Solingen, Prussia, in the German Empire. Seven years later, his family moved to Linz in Austria-Hungary.

On 1 April 1932, he joined both the Austrian Nazi Party and the Austrian Branch of the National Socialist German Worker's Party (NSDAP).

Two years later, he also joined the Schutzstaffel (SS), a Nazi paramilitary organization led by Heinrich Himmler and deputy head Reinhard Heydrich.

## Career in the SS

Eichmann reached the rank of SS-Obersturmbannführer (which was equal to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the German Army). He led the Jewish Department of the Reich Main Security Office (*Reichssicherheitshauptamt, Referat IV B4*).

*Sonderkommando* are forced to burn bodies at Auschwitz. Eichmann organized the deportation of Jews to all the Nazi concentration camps

Senior Nazi officials, including Reinhard Heydrich, gave Eichmann the power to plan the logistics of the "Final Solution to the Jewish question." Berenbaum (2024) writes:

> "[A]lthough it was not yet generally known that the “final solution” was mass execution, Eichmann had in effect been named chief executioner. Thereupon he organized the identification, assembly [gathering together], and transportation of Jews from all over occupied Europe to their final destinations at Auschwitz and other extermination camps in German-occupied Poland."
>
>

## Escape and capture

Eichmann escaped Germany after World War II ended. In 1960 the Mossad (the Israeli secret service) located him living with his wife in Argentina. Mossad agents kidnapped Eichmann and took him back to Israel so he could be put on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

An Israeli court found Eichmann guilty on December 11, 1961. One of the few people ever to be executed by Israel, he was hanged in Ramla the following May. His body was cremated in an unusually hot furnace, and the ashes were scattered in the sea.

## Impact

Adolf Eichmann takes notes during his trial.
Eichmann's trial was broadcast on radio in Israel, and millions of people around the world watched it on television. This was the first time that victims of the Holocaust talked openly about what had happened. As a result, people became much more aware of the Holocaust and its effects. Research, publications, and discussions about the Holocaust increased. In the newly formed nation of Israel, the trial helped bring together and unify people.

According to Neil Bascomb:

> The purpose of catching Eichmann was clear from the beginning — one, to remind the world what the Germans did to the Jews, and two, to remind Israeli youth why the state of Israel needs to exist. [...] The whole purpose and execution of the trial was to that end, and it was quite successful.”
>
>

SS Officer ranks of Adolf Eichmann| SS Rank | Equivalent German Army Officer Rank | Date and Year |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Untersturmfuhrer/Obersturmfuhrer | Lieutenant | 1935-1937 |
| Hauptsturmfuhrer | Captain | 1937 |
| Sturmbannfuhrer | Major | 1937-1938 |
| Obersturmbannfuhrer | Lieutenant-Colonel | 1938-1945 |