Germany in fight to keep files secret on 'Holocaust architect' Eichmann

Published on Thursday 18 March 2010 20:42

ADOLF Eichmann's story is well-documented: known as the "architect of the Holocaust" for his role in co-ordinating the Nazi genocide policy, he fled Germany, was captured in Argentina by Israel's Mossad and hanged after a trial in Jerusalem.

However, the German intelligence service, the BND, is sitting on 4,500 pages of files on Eichmann which a journalist believes could fill in gaps about his post-war life: who helped him escape? How much did Germany know about where he was?

The files might also shed light on claims that the Vatican helped war criminals hide or escape after the Second World War – allegations Church officials have always strenuously denied.

The BND claimed the files must remain secret, so freelance reporter Gabriele Weber sued to have them released. They are now being reviewed by three judges at the federal administrative court in Leipzig. Ms Weber said she anticipated a ruling in the next month or two, and expected to obtain at least some access.

"I think it's impossible that in Germany we are hiding documents about a convicted Nazi mass murderer," she said.

The American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants group has now called for the release of the files.

"The withholding of files on Eichmann more than a half century after the war is unconscionable and indecent," said vice-president Elan Steinberg.

The BND said yesterday it could not comment because of the legal action. However, according to court records, the agency maintains releasing the files would jeopardise the work of an informant, and has also argued that as much of the information came from a "foreign intelligence service", opening them up to public scrutiny would harm future co-operation with that unidentified country, said Ms Weber's lawyer, Remo Klinger.

The BND has clarified that the intelligence did not come from the Americans, so it is widely assumed many of the files came from Israel, Mr Klinger said.

Rafi Eitan, an Israeli politician and former officer with the Mossad intelligence agency who helped capture Eichmann, has never heard of the documents and knows nothing about what they may contain, his office said.

Mr Klinger disputed the BND's reasons for withholding the files, saying it would be easy to black out anything indicating the source of the document. He thinks the real reason is that they might be embarrassing.

In 2006, the CIA released documents showing that its agents wrote to the BND in 1958, saying they had information that Eichmann "is reported to have lived in Argentina under the alias 'Clemens' since 1952" – his correct whereabouts and only a slightly different alias, which was Ricardo Klement.

But neither side acted on that information, as they were apparently worried about what he might say about Hans Globke, a former Nazi who was a chief adviser in West Germany helping the United States co-ordinate anticommunist initiatives.

It was not until 1960 that Israeli agents abducted Eichmann in Buenos Aires and took him to Jerusalem for trial. Eichmann was found guilty of war crimes and hanged in 1962.