SLOVENKO SAYS
A
Eichmann—'he hated humanity'
Adolph Eichmann, World War II head of Hitler's concentration camps, was a passive, mechanically punctual man who sincerely believed that he was a cogwheel in the Nazi mechanism, and not responsible for the execution of six million Jews.
This was the opinion visiting law professor Ralph Slovenko, of the Menninger Foundation, gave last night at the Jewish Hiliel Counselorship buffet.
PROF. SLOVENKO presented the result of Eichmann's official psychiatric examinations, given by Dr I. S. Kulesar, head psychiatrist, Tel Aviv Hospital, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Eichmann was a cold, cynical
The examinations, 21 hours in total, were conducted before the 1961 trial in which the former German official was convicted of mass murder and executed.
man who believed he was predestined to his task in Hitler's regime. He believed fate was the reason for the course of vents, and he saw the world as inhuman and mechanical.
CALLED "A stranger to the human race," he accepted his role as mass executioner with little physical realization of what was going on under his jurisdiction. During his one or two visits to concentration camps, he was physically revolted by what he saw, and begged to be led away.
According to Prof. Slovenko, Eichmann did not hate the Jews — "he hated humanity." If given the opportunity, he would have killed the Russians, the Czechoslovakians, or any other group to which he might have been assigned. "He experienced actions as events without comprehension
of their motives," Prof. Slovenko said.
Eichmann was essentially passive in character, a trait which allowed him to fit easily into the Nazi organization: "By choosing his role of punctuality, lifeless chilliness, cynicism and superficial adaptivity, he could gratify his own destructive instincts while executing the destructive task bestowed on him." Prof. Slovenko read from Dr. Kulesar's official report.
"FOR HITLER this was the ideal case of the right man in the right place. For the Third Reich, the motives that drove one of their diligent executives to murder were of no relevance—and Eichmann was not the one to care what 'ideals' were involved in order to assign the task to him."
Throughout the examinations "Kulcsar felt Eichmann went to
great lengths to give good answers—to say what he felt Kulcsar wanted to hear," Prof. Slovenko said. "Eichmann presented a very good personality."
He adapted to any situation he found himself in. Accustomed to receiving two pieces of bread with his meals, Eichmann one day received six. He ate every slice. When a guard discovered this he offered to increase the ration at every meal. Eichmann said two pieces were enough. He had eaten the extra four because he thought he had to.
AT TIMES Eichmann's reasoning was inconsistent. When Dr. Kulcsar mentioned Pontius Pilate, who sentenced Christ to crucifixion, Eichmann felt instant identity with the man. He thought both he and Pilate had acted under similar situations.
Dr. Kulcsar pointed out that Pilate was not known for his good deeds, but for his bad ones. Eichmann reversed his stand, and declared he saw no comparisons between the two cases. Yet during his trial, Eichmann plagiarized the doctor's original argument, and twisted it to fit his own purposes.
"HIS LANGUAGE was formalized, dehumanized. One could infer the type of personality the man had," Prof. Slovenko said. Eichmann had a love of order and punctuality that he carried to all aspects of his job. Trains carrying people to the concentration camps had to run on time.
12 Daily Kansan Monday, March 7, 1966
spring may not be here yet, but
the spring LADYBUG collection is.
At the Town Shop
House Downtown
839 Mass
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