Shalom Nagar

Shalom Nagar (1936 – 26 November 2024) was a Yemeni-born Israeli prison guard.

Nagar became known executing  Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann. After World War II, Echmann was tracked down by Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal in 1960. He was captured by the Israeli secret services and abducted by them to Israel. Eichmann was sentenced to death by an Israeli court for his role in the mass murder of 6 million Jews, Roma and Sinti during World War II. Two years later on 1 June 1962, he was hanged in prison.

Who carried out the execution of Eichmann remained unknown for decades, for fear of reprisals from his followers. In 1992, his name was made public after an investigation by an Israeli radio station. The following years, he gave several interviews about his time as a prison guard. For example, he said that he had to taste Eichmann's food.

In 2010, a documentary was made about Nagar, The Hangman. In this documentary he told how a draw concluded who had to carry out the execution, but that he actually did not want to it. Nagar said that he had slept badly for years.

In the late 1980s, he was asked again to carry out an execution, this time of the Ukrainian war criminal Ivan Demjanjuk.  Nagar was asked if he was willing to do the execuction, but he refused. Eventually Demjanjuk got a prison sentence.

Nagar died in Israel on 26 November 2024, at the age of 88 years old.

References

Category:Israeli people
Category:Police officers
Category:1930s births
Category:2024 deaths
Category:Yemeni people