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WIGHTON,CHARLES**: : EICHMANN:HIS CAREER AND CRIMES.**

LONDON.ODHAMS,1961.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.VG+/VG.No owner inscrptn,no price-clip to dw/dj.Very light creasing+rubbing to top+bottom edges of dw/dj.Fore-edges slightly aged and foxed.Orange/red cloth bds,gilt letters to spine/backstrip.8vo,288pp includes b/w frntis,16pp b/w photographs and an index. The mysterious and dramatic kidnapping of Adolf Eichmann,the most incredible mass-murderer in history,by Jewish secret agents in May,1960,startled the world.The subsequent decision of the Israeli Government to try him early in 1961 for the murder of millions of Jews aroused world-wide controversy.In this important study of Eichmann's life, written entirely since the arrest,a leading British authority on modern Germany reveals the story behind the story of the much-discussed "Eichmann case".For the past fifteen years, Wighton has had detailed knowledge of the cloak-and-dagger operations that relentlessly tracked down top Nazis:and here,for the first time,are the complete facts of Eichmann's activities,from his disappearence in Berlin in 1945 to his arrival as a prisoner in Israel. Wighton has been able to draw his material not only from the official documents of several governments,but also from secret files,including captured Gestapo dossiers,and having fully discussed the case with the Israeli prosecution authorities,he poses the question:"Is Eichmann's trial justice or racial revenge?" In pursuit of an objective answer,Wighton uses his expert insight into the German mind and his first-hand knowledge,as a war correspondent,of Nazi atrocities,to put this chief executive of the "Final Solution" into historical perspective as the symbol of a regime. As a youth in Vienna,Eichmann met his first Jews:and,himself somewhat Semitic looking,heard the terrible words:"Jude - raus!" ("Jew-get out!") spat in his own direction.Thus began his nightmare pre-occupation with the race he was later to scourge.But his real career started in Munich at the age of 28,in the notorious SD - the Nazi Security Service - where he was a highly efficient clerk.Befehl ist befehl - an order is an order - and Eichmann,like so many of his countrymen, devotedly carried out all instructions. The obsession that had impelled Eichmann to learn Yiddish and Hebrew,in 1936 led Heydrich to put him in charge of the SD's newly-founded sub-section for Jewish Affairs.The SD chief approved both of Eichmann's anti-Semitism and of his sexual appetites which,like Heydrich's own,were insatiable.The two men collaborated in both.For some time Eichmann preferred to remain in the shadow - it was imperative that the world should not guess the Nazi's real plans for the Jews of Europe (as late as 1942 Heydrich could still refer to their "evacuation" when he meant elimination).Eichmann was never, therefore, accorded a rank in keeping with his vast powers.Eventually responsible for the arrest and transportation to death of Jews over nearly all Europe,Eichmann took immense pride in his smooth organization:but enormous power and un-controllable anti-Semitism finally corrupted even his obedience to the Fuhrer.Wighton's study of the psychological processes that by 1945 had transformed the coldly efficient administrator into an almost Messianic believer in his mission against European Jewry provides a chillingly unforgettable record of intensifying meglomania.Many may disagree with the conclusions reached in this penetrating, documented analysis of not only the career,but also the underlying motivations,of a mass exterminator:but wherever Eichmann is discussed during the months of his trial, and afterwards,here is the book - unsparing and unsensational - that makes essential reading and gives essential facts. Please contact seller, because of the value of this item, for correct, insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.

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