Adolf Eichmann (1906–1962)
Head of the organisation of expropriation, expulsion and deportation to the Shoah
Adolf Eichmann, raised in Linz, Upper Austria, was the quintessential “desk murderer” (“Schreibtischtäter”). Following the so-called Anschluss, he developed a system for the dispossession, forced emigration and deportation of the Jewish population. His model was the basis for the deportation and murder of over six million Jews across Europe — many of whom died at the concentration and death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Eichmann was able to flee after the war ended. It was not until 1960 that the Israeli secret service found him in Argentina. The whole world watched the court procedure in Jerusalem where he was sentenced to death. During the proceedings, Austria revoked his citizenship and tried to claim Eichmann was German.