Evening star., 1961-04-23

OF the meaning OF Cne ElCnmann
trial.
When World War II ended, and
the Nazi chapter in human his
tory was brought to a close. juristS
representing the four Allied pow
erS, in a special international tri-
bunal in Nuremberg, sat in judg-
ment upon the surviving leaders
of Nazism who had unleashed the
greatest blood bath in the annals
Of mankind. At the Nuremberg
trial, Goering. Hess, Streicher,
Ribbentrop, Alfred Rosenberg and
other figures Of infamy were tried
and convicted for war crimes and
crimes against humanity. 1t is
important to note that that inter
national trial was not only a judi
cial proceeding at which individ-
uaS were tried and convicted. A
leading American lawyer. Robert
G. Storey, executive trial counsel
at Nuremberg and past president
OF the American Bar Association,
characterized the Nuremberg trial
in the following words:
The purpose of the Nuremberg
trial was not merely. or even prin-
Cipally, to convict the leaders Of
Nazi Germany and affix punish
ment upon them commensurate
with their guilt. OF far greater
Importance was the making
of record Of the Hitler regime
which would withstand the test of
history"
Absent From Nurembure
At the Nuremberg trial some
Of the accused were conspicuous
by their absence. One of these
was Adolph Eichmann. In the
Nuremberg judgment of October
/, 1946, Eichmann's name figured
prominently together with such
other non-defendants as Hitler.
Himmler and Goebbels. The judg-
ment specified that:
-. in the summer Of l941
plans were made for the
final solution Of the Jewish ques-
ton in Europe. The final solu-
ton meant the determination OF
the Jews . and a special sec
tion Of the GeStapo under Adolph
Eichmann was formed to
carry out that policy Adolph
Eichmann has estimated that
the policy pursued resulted in the
killing Of 6 million Jews, Of which
4 million were killed in the exter-
mination institutions"
The indictment was thus clear.
1t was a blood-curdling, unique
indictment. Never in history had
one man been charged with the
murder Of 6 million people, I1a
million of them children. But
Adolph Eichmann, the man so
indicted, escaped. The circum-
stance of Eichmann's escape thus
left two problems on the troubled
agenda of the civilized world.
l. An accused criminal, indeed,
an accused arch-criminal had
escaped and was at large. 1t was
obviously important that he be
apprehended and brought to JUS
tice. Hundreds Of other Nazi
criminals have been prosecuted,
and others are being prosecuted
today, in Germany, Poland, Lithu-
ania, Czechoslovakia. To do this
is to adhere to standard, univer-
sally accepted principles in the
legal and judicial arrangements
governing civilized societies. There
is no statute of limitations on
the crime Of murder. It is the
duty Of society to pursue, seize
try, and punish the murderer OF
a single human being. And it is
perversion of reasoning to sug-
gest, as some did suggest, that
in the case Of one accused of
numbering six million people, civil
lized legal principles ought to be
suspended. and Israel sought to
forgive and forget" for otherwise
Jews would be accused Of venge-
fulnesS and vindictiVeness.
Had Eichman remained at large,
had he not been seized and brought
to trial, the fabric of human JUS
tice would have been marred by
a serious and tragic defect. Since
no one else seized Eichmann or
seemed the least bit interested in
doing so. Israeps seizure of him
was a service to the moral con-
science Of mankind. That he was
apprehended and is now being tried
is, from the moral point of view,
a welcome fact, and thus this
aspect Of the problem is removed
from the agenda of mankind.
Some Questions
2. The second problem engen-
dered by Eichmann's escape was
even more important. His escape,
and the fact he was not tried at
Nuremberg, left areas of doubt
and uncertainty about the most
horrendous episode in known
human history, namely, the
planned mass determination Of
people. While the facts are gen.
orally well-known, the one re-
naming missing link. the one
person whose public trial could es-
tablish authoritatively and beyond
doubt the full, planned, calculated
enormity Of the organized ma
chine of mass-murder. was and is
Adolph Eichmann. He is alleged
to have been its grim architect.
His trial and the testimony