The notorious Holocaust planner Adolf Eichmann was helped
out of Germany by members of the German intelligence service and the
Roman Catholic Church, according to a series of articles by Spiegel
based on secret documents.The documents show that Germany could have captured Eichmann much earlier had it wanted to, and that Germany was terrified that Eichmann’s trial might turn up information it would rather keep hidden.
Josef Urban, a member of Germany’s intelligence organization, was
part of the network that helped Eichmann escape the American prisoner of
war camp.
Eichmann then remained in Germany for several years, before
escaping to Argentina via Italy.
Eichmann himself stated that many priests helped him escape to Argentina “without asking questions”.
Historian Gerald Steinacher wrote that Argentine authorities and
Catholic priests worked “hand in hand” to protect Nazis.
Bishop Alois
Hudal helped Eichmann get the documents he needed to escape.
Freelance journalist Gabriele Weber fought a legal battle to force
the Germany intelligence service to publish some of its files. They have
published files bit by bit; Weber suspects they are hiding more.
The CIA reported that Chancellor Konrad Adenauer’s government was
following the Eichmann trial “with growing apprehension, sometimes
bordering on hysteria”.
A Foreign Ministry state secretary said it was
“quite possible that incriminating material against employees of the
federal and state governments will come to light”.
Germany was worried about the Eichmann trial because “Eichmann was
like a walking bomb because he knew so much … and if he had spilled the
beans he would have sent quite a few people into a spin,” according to
Weber.
In fact, Weber said that so little remarkable information came out in
Eichamnn’s trial that some suspected Germany and Israel made a “deal
behind the scenes.”
After initially fretting, then German Chancellor
Conrad Adenauer said the Eichmann trial “was excellent.”
Shortly after,
his government gave 240 million marks to Israel’s military.
The case shows the high degree of cooperation between the Catholics
and the Nazis, and how willing German officials were to help Nazis
escape, even well after the war.
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