Adolf Eichmann

Adolf Eichmann (March 19, 1906 - May 31, 1962) was a high-ranking official in Nazi Germany, and a member of the SS (Schutzstaffel). He was largely responsible for the logistics of the extermination of millions of people during the Holocaust, in particular, Jews, which was called the "final solution" (Endlösung). He organised the identification and transportation of people to the various concentration camps. Therefore, he is often referred to as the 'Chief Executioner' of the Third Reich.

As a child, Eichmann was rather dark-complexioned, and other children taunted him for looking like "a Jew."

In 1934 he served as an SS corporal at Dachau concentration camp where he attracted the attention of Reinhard Heydrich. In 1935 he visited Palestine to assess the possibility of exiling the Jews en masse to Palestine, however the occupying British authorities came to learn of his negotiations with local Arab leaders and forced him to depart.

Eichmann attended the Wannsee conference in 1942, which was responsible for the determination of issues relating to 'the final solution of the Jewish question'. Receiving the rank of SS-Obersturmbannführer (Lieutenant Colonel), Eichmann was made head of Gestapo Department IV B 4, which was responsible for all the logistics relating to the extermination underway.

After World War II, Eichmann was captured by US troops. However, in 1946 he managed to escape from a prison camp. After many travels (mainly in the Middle East) he settled in Argentina in 1958, under the name of Ricardo Klement. Kidnapped by Peter Malkin of the Mossad (Israeli secret service) on May 11, 1960 and flown to Israel as part of a covert operation, he faced trial in front of an Israeli court in Jerusalem starting on February 11, 1961. He was sentenced to death (the only death penalty ever carried out in Israel) and hanged on May 31, 1962.